Smith.ai AI Receptionist vs Auto-Respond AI Answering Service
The short answer
- Smith.ai AI Receptionist costs least at both 100 and 500 calls a month.
- Auto-Respond AI Answering Service has the lowest advertised price ($10), but costs $310 at 100 calls.
 Smith.ai AI ReceptionistVisit site |  Auto-Respond AI Answering Servicecontractors and home-service crews who miss calls while on the jobVisit site | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| At 100 calls a month | Smith.ai AI Receptionist$212.50Lowest | Auto-Respond AI Answering Service$310 |
| At 500 calls a month | Smith.ai AI Receptionist$800 via salesLowest | Auto-Respond AI Answering Service$1510 |
| Advertised from | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistFree, then $150 a month | Auto-Respond AI Answering Service$10 a month |
| The advertised plan covers | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistThe $150 plan covers 75 of 100 calls.25 cost extra. | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceThe $10 plan covers 0 of 100 calls.100 cost extra. |
| Bills | Smith.ai AI Receptionistper call | Auto-Respond AI Answering Serviceper minute |
| Keeps answering past your allowance | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistYesEvery plan publishes a per-call overage: $3.00 on Free, $2.50, $2.30 and $2.17 on Pro 75… | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceYesThere is no allowance to exceed: every minute is metered at the same rate… |
| Free trial or plan | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistYesA standing Free plan, not a trial: 25 real calls a month with no time limit… | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServicePartlyA 7-day trial covers the voice agent on your own line… |
| Month to month, cancel online | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistPartlyMonth to month with no long-term contract, but cancelling needs 30 days' notice… | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceYesSubscriptions renew monthly with no fixed term… |
| On the call | ||
| Books appointments | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistPartlyBooks live into Calendly, Acuity, Lawmatics, Housecall Pro or ServiceTitan during the call | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceYesWhen scheduling is enabled the agent checks live availability… |
| Transfers to a person | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistYesTransfers to your own numbers on every plan, per caller type or by team member name… | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceYesTransfer is an opt-in toggle with written criteria… |
| Human receptionists as backup | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistPartlySmith.ai's own live agents can take over AI calls on any plan… | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceNoNo staffed fallback exists: when transfer is off or nobody answers… |
| After-hours rules | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistPartlyAnswers 24/7 on every plan, and it knows your opening hours… | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceYesCall hours default to 24/7 and can be set per day in windows |
| Urgent calls escalated | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistPartlyUrgent call types can trigger an immediate SMS or email to a chosen staff member… | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceYesYou write the emergency triggers in plain words and matching calls ring your on-call… |
| Texts your callers | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistPartlySends one-way follow-up texts to callers after the call… | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServicePartlyTwo-way texting with a caller exists but only through the paid SMS Messaging add-on… |
| Call summary by text | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistPartlyInstant call summaries go by email, Slack or Teams by default | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceYesPost-call summaries can be pushed by SMS, Slack or Telegram as well as email… |
| Language, privacy and trying it | ||
| Languages | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistYesEnglish and Spanish | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceNot stated |
| HIPAA, with a signed BAA | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistNoSmith.ai states plainly that it is not HIPAA compliant and cannot handle protected health… | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceNot stated |
| Hear it before you buy | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistPartlyNo public demo number | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServicePartlyA recorded product walkthrough is published and you can call your own agent during setup… |
| What it connects to | ||
| Google Calendar | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistNot stated | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceNoGoogle Calendar, Outlook and Calendly are not in that list… |
| Outlook | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistNot stated | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceNoGoogle Calendar, Outlook and Calendly are not in that list… |
| Calendly | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistYesNative AI booking into Calendly (paid Calendly plan required)… | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceNoGoogle Calendar, Outlook and Calendly are not in that list… |
| Your trade’s software | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistYesNative integrations with ServiceTitan and Housecall Pro for home services… | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServicePartlyField-service and trade tools are covered… |
| Keep your number | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistYesYou keep your existing number and forward it to the dedicated Smith.ai number | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceYesKeeping your existing number and forwarding it is the documented default, with always… |
| In short | ||
| What it is | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistSmith.ai AI Receptionist is the AI-first phone answering product from Smith.ai, a company that has run human virtual receptionists for more than ten years. It is priced and sold separately from those human receptionist plans, and leans toward law firms and home-services businesses.All answers for Smith.ai AI Receptionist | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceAuto-Respond is an AI answering service for contractors: a voice agent answers calls forwarded from the existing business line, answers from uploaded business details, books jobs and transfers urgent callers. The same account also answers Yelp, Thumbtack, Facebook, Instagram and Google LSA message leads.All answers for Auto-Respond AI Answering Service |
| Checked | Smith.ai AI ReceptionistOctober 14, 2026 | Auto-Respond AI Answering ServiceOctober 14, 2026 |
Costs are for 100 or 500 calls a month of 2½ minutes each, on the cheapest public plan. How we price