Upfirst vs SkipCalls
The short answer
- SkipCalls costs least: $19.99 a month for 100 calls and $176.50 for 500.
- Pick Upfirst if you want a signed HIPAA agreement (from the Custom plan).
- Pick SkipCalls if you want Spanish.
 Upfirstsmall businesses whose phone goes unanswered while the owner is out on the jobVisit site |  SkipCallssolo trades and service businesses that miss calls while on the jobVisit site | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| At 100 calls a month | UpfirstNot priced yet | SkipCalls$19.99Lowest |
| At 500 calls a month | UpfirstNot priced yet | SkipCalls$176.50Lowest |
| Advertised from | Upfirst$24.95 a month | SkipCalls$19.99 a month |
| The advertised plan covers | UpfirstNot counted | SkipCallsThe $19.99 plan covers all 100 calls. |
| Bills | Upfirst | SkipCallsper call |
| Keeps answering past your allowance | UpfirstYesCalls past the allowance keep being answered | SkipCallsPartlyNothing is cut off or auto-charged past the call allowance on Starter and PRO |
| Free trial or plan | UpfirstPartlyYou can put it on your real line before paying, but only for the fourteen-day trial | SkipCallsPartlyA seven-day free trial lets you run it on your real line before paying |
| Month to month, cancel online | UpfirstYesMonth to month with cancellation, upgrade or downgrade at any time and no call required | SkipCallsYesMonth-to-month with no contract, cancellable from the app without contacting anyone |
| On the call | ||
| Books appointments | UpfirstYesIt checks the connected calendar during the call, offers open times | SkipCallsYesThe agent checks live calendar availability during the call and writes the event itself |
| Transfers to a person | UpfirstYesRule-based transfers to a person, department or extension, and warm transfers brief you on | SkipCallsYesBoth warm and cold transfers are offered |
| Human receptionists as backup | UpfirstNoUpfirst supplies no human agents for calls | SkipCallsNoThere is no vendor-staffed human answering tier |
| After-hours rules | UpfirstYesCoverage is a choice per account: all calls, overflow only, or after hours only | SkipCallsYesAnswering runs nights, weekends and holidays |
| Urgent calls escalated | UpfirstYesEmergencies are recognized from what the caller describes and handled by your own rules | SkipCallsYesYou define keyword triggers per agent |
| Texts your callers | UpfirstPartlyIt can text the caller mid-call on every plan with no extra charge | SkipCallsPartlyAutomatic SMS follow-ups come on every plan |
| Call summary by text | UpfirstYesA summary of the key details goes out by text or email the moment the call ends | SkipCallsYesSummaries are pushed by text as well as email and the dashboard |
| Language, privacy and trying it | ||
| Languages | UpfirstYes35+ languages | SkipCallsYes10 languages |
| HIPAA, with a signed BAA | UpfirstPartlyA Business Associate Agreement is listed only in the Custom tier's feature set | SkipCallsNoThe vendor states plainly on its transcription page |
| Hear it before you buy | UpfirstYesA public number answered by its own AI receptionist is published on the site | SkipCallsYesA public demo number answers without signup |
| What it connects to | ||
| Google Calendar | UpfirstYesGoogle Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Square | SkipCallsYesGoogle Calendar, Outlook/Microsoft 365, Calendly, Cal.com, Apple Calendar, TidyCal |
| Outlook | UpfirstYesGoogle Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Square | SkipCallsYesGoogle Calendar, Outlook/Microsoft 365, Calendly, Cal.com, Apple Calendar, TidyCal |
| Calendly | UpfirstYesGoogle Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Square | SkipCallsYesGoogle Calendar, Outlook/Microsoft 365, Calendly, Cal.com, Apple Calendar, TidyCal |
| Your trade’s software | UpfirstPartlyField service tools such as ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro | SkipCallsPartlyHousecall Pro and Jobber are supported for home-services scheduling and job creation |
| Keep your number | UpfirstYesEvery plan includes an Upfirst number and you keep your existing line | SkipCallsYesYou keep your number and carrier and switch on forwarding |
| In short | ||
| What it is | UpfirstUpfirst is an AI receptionist that answers a small business's phone around the clock, answers caller questions from the owner's own information, books appointments and transfers urgent callers. Plans are sold by monthly call allowance and set up self-serve from the business website.All answers for Upfirst | SkipCallsSkipCalls is an AI receptionist and answering service for small businesses that answers calls on a forwarded or SkipCalls number, books appointments, screens spam and sends summaries. It is run from an iOS, Android or web app.All answers for SkipCalls |
| Checked | UpfirstOctober 16, 2026 | SkipCallsOctober 14, 2026 |
Costs are for 100 or 500 calls a month of 2½ minutes each, on the cheapest public plan. How we price