Smith.ai is one of the most respected names in call answering, and its pricing is refreshingly public. The short answer: their AI receptionist runs $0 to $500 per month depending on call volume, and their human virtual receptionist service runs $300 to $2,100 per month, with everything billed per call rather than per minute (per Smith.ai's published pricing, August 2026).
The longer answer is where most of the surprises live. Because the billing is per call, your monthly total depends on three things: which product you pick, how many calls you actually get, and which per-call add-ons you turn on. This guide walks through all three, with worked examples at 30, 90, and 300 calls so you can see what a month really runs.
Two products, two very different price tags
Smith.ai sells two distinct things, and mixing them up is the fastest way to misread their pricing.
The first is their virtual receptionist service: real people answering your phone, live-staffed 24/7. This is Smith.ai's signature product and the reason the company built its reputation, especially in legal intake. Humans cost more than software, so these plans start at $300 per month.
The second is their AI receptionist: an AI voice agent that answers calls without a human on the line. It is far cheaper, starting at free for low volumes, because you are paying for software rather than staff. Per their published pricing, live-agent involvement is available as a per-call add-on when you request an escalation.
Both products bill the same way: a monthly plan that includes a set number of calls, plus a per-call rate once you go past that allowance.
How Smith.ai bills: what counts as a call
Smith.ai charges per call, not per minute. Every call their receptionists (or their AI) handle counts as one call against your monthly allowance, whether it wraps in forty-five seconds or runs ten minutes. That is different from services like Ruby, which meter by the minute.
Two details from their pricing page are worth knowing. First, spam calls are not charged; their site says plainly that spam does not count toward your quota, which is a genuinely customer-friendly policy. Second, once you pass your plan's included calls, each additional call bills at your plan's overage rate, which on the human plans runs $8.50 to $11.50 per call.
Add-ons are also billed per call. If you turn on appointment booking and SMS notifications, those fees attach to each call they apply to, on top of the plan price. More on that below.
What the plans cost (per Smith.ai's published pricing, August 2026)
Virtual receptionists (humans):
| Plan | Monthly price | Calls included | Overage per call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $300 | 30 | $11.50 |
| Basic | $810 | 90 | $10.50 |
| Pro | $2,100 | 300 | $8.50 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom |
All human plans include 24/7 live staffing, lead screening and intake, a dedicated phone number, and your first CRM integration. There are no setup fees, contracts are month-to-month, a 12-month subscription earns a 10% discount, and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee (capped at $1,000).
AI receptionist:
| Plan | Monthly price | Calls included | Additional calls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 25 | $3.00 per call |
| Pro | $150 | ~60 (2–3 per day) | ~$2.00 per call |
| Enterprise | $500 | ~300 (10 per day) | ~$1.67 per call |
The AI plans also carry no setup fees or contracts, and Smith.ai offers custom plans and 6-month agreements with better rates through their sales team.
Notice the gap: at 300 calls a month, the human service is $2,100 and the AI service is $500. That is not Smith.ai overcharging anyone. It is the honest cost difference between staffing people around the clock and running software, and it is the central question you are answering when you shop here: do you want a human voice on the line?
The add-ons that move the bill
The plan price is the floor, not the total. Smith.ai's human receptionist plans offer a long menu of per-call add-ons, and the two most businesses want are exactly the two that show up on almost every call:
- Appointment booking: $1.50 per call. If a receptionist books a slot on your calendar, that call costs $1.50 extra.
- SMS or Slack notifications: $0.50 per call. A text alert after each call adds fifty cents, every time.
Other per-call add-ons include text and email follow-up ($0.50), call recording and transcription ($0.25), a dedicated Spanish line ($1.00), payment collection ($1.00), complex call routing ($1.50), and extended intake ($1.50). There are also flat monthly add-ons: outbound business caller ID ($10), additional transfer destinations ($15 each beyond your plan's included count), and inbound call tracking numbers ($5).
None of these are hidden; they are listed on the pricing page. But they stack per call, so a booked appointment with an SMS notification and a follow-up text is your plan's per-call cost plus $2.50. Across a busy month, that line item grows in direct proportion to how well the service is working for you.
What a month really runs: 30, 90, and 300 calls
Here is the human receptionist service at three volumes, assuming a typical setup: appointment booking enabled (booked on about a quarter of calls) and SMS notifications on every call.
| Monthly calls | Right-sized plan | Base | Booking add-on | SMS add-on | Realistic total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Starter | $300 | ~$12 (8 bookings) | $15 | ~$327 |
| 90 | Basic | $810 | ~$33 (22 bookings) | $45 | ~$888 |
| 300 | Pro | $2,100 | ~$113 (75 bookings) | $150 | ~$2,363 |
Now the overage scenarios, which is where per-call billing needs watching:
- A slightly busy month on Starter. 40 calls instead of 30 means $300 plus 10 overage calls at $11.50, or $415 before add-ons.
- Outgrowing your tier without noticing. 90 calls on the Starter plan costs $300 plus 60 × $11.50 = $990. The same 90 calls on the Basic plan cost $810. Reviewing your call count every month or two and moving tiers promptly is worth real money.
- A busy month on Pro. 330 calls runs $2,100 plus 30 × $8.50 = $2,355 before add-ons.
For comparison, the AI receptionist at the same volumes: roughly $15 at 30 calls (Free plan plus 5 overage calls), roughly $210 at 90 calls (Pro plus ~30 additional), and $500 at 300 calls (Enterprise). Same company, same call counts, a fraction of the price, because no humans are involved.
Who Smith.ai fits well, and where per-call billing stings
Smith.ai's human service is a strong fit if a live person answering your phone is the point. Law offices doing client intake lean on them for good reason. So do businesses using them as overflow or after-hours coverage behind an in-house receptionist, where the monthly call count stays modest and predictable. And if your calls are high-stakes conversations where human judgment matters, paying $9 to $11 per call can be money well spent.
You may not need Smith.ai at all if you only get a handful of calls a week. Their own free AI plan covers 25 calls a month at no cost, and for some small operations, a good voicemail greeting and prompt callbacks are honestly enough.
Where the per-call model stings is variability. A chatty month costs more than a quiet one, overages on the human plans run $8.50 to $11.50 each, and the per-call add-ons rise with your volume, so your best months are also your most expensive. That is not a flaw so much as a structure. Per-call pricing is fair and transparent; it just means your bill is a moving target, and budgeting requires knowing your call volume. Credit where due: the no-charge-for-spam policy removes one of the classic gripes with answering services.
Alternatives by budget
If you have run the math and per-call pricing does not fit how your months actually look, here is the flat-fee landscape (as of August 2026, per vendor pricing pages):
| Budget | Option | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Under $50/mo | My AI Front Desk ($20), Dialzara (from $29), Rosie (from $49) | Entry AI answering, billed by minutes; overages ~$0.25/min |
| $50–150/mo | Goodcall ($79–$249 per agent), My AI Front Desk bundle ($99, 200 voice min) | AI answering; Goodcall includes unlimited minutes |
| $150–300/mo | Velonyx Growth ($229/mo flat) | AI front desk for web chat, two-way SMS, Instagram and Messenger, with booking and follow-ups; a 1,000-conversation allowance that most businesses never approach; after 12 payments you own the entire system |
| Human help | Ruby ($250–$1,725 by minutes), Smith.ai human plans ($300–$2,100) | Real people answering, metered by minute or call |
One-line disclosure: Velonyx is our product, so read that row knowing we are not neutral. Two honest notes go with it. First, Growth does not answer phone calls; AI voice is part of our Elite plan at $499/mo, so if live phone answering is your whole requirement, compare Elite (or Smith.ai's own AI receptionist) instead; full details are on the pricing section. Second, Smith.ai's human service does something no AI does: put a person on the line. If that is what you want, they are one of the best-known providers of it.
If you want to feel the difference before deciding, you can talk to a live AI receptionist in our playground right now, no signup needed.
FAQ
What is the cheapest Smith.ai plan?
The cheapest way to use Smith.ai is the AI receptionist's Free plan: $0 per month for 25 calls, with additional calls at $3.00 each (per Smith.ai's published pricing, August 2026). The cheapest paid AI plan is Pro at $150 per month.
If you specifically want human receptionists, the least expensive option is the Starter plan at $300 per month for 30 calls, which works out to $10 per call before any add-ons.
What is an "overage," and how do people end up paying one?
An overage is the per-call fee charged once you use more calls than your plan includes. On Smith.ai's human plans it runs $8.50 to $11.50 per call depending on your tier. People hit overages in two ways: a genuinely busy month, or staying on a plan they have outgrown. The second is the expensive one; 90 calls on the 30-call Starter plan costs about $990, while the same calls on the 90-call Basic plan cost $810. Checking your call count monthly and moving tiers when the trend is clear keeps the bill honest.
Does Smith.ai charge for spam calls?
No. Their pricing page states there is no charge for spam, and spam calls do not count toward your monthly quota. That is a better policy than much of the industry and worth noting in Smith.ai's favor when you compare providers.
Does Smith.ai handle texting and social media DMs?
The receptionist plans are built around phone calls. Texting shows up in their published pricing as per-call add-ons: SMS notifications at $0.50 per call and text-and-email follow-up at $0.50 per call, which alert you and follow up after a call rather than running ongoing two-way conversations. If customers reaching you by text, Instagram, or Messenger is a core need rather than a nice-to-have, confirm current capabilities with their team, or look at platforms designed around messaging channels.
Per-call or flat monthly: which is cheaper at my volume?
Here is a simple rule of thumb. Take a flat plan's monthly price and divide it by the human per-call rate of roughly $9 to $11. That is your break-even call count. A $229 flat plan breaks even against per-call human service at about 22 to 25 calls a month; take more calls than that, and flat pricing wins on cost, with the gap widening every call after.
The honest caveat: cost is only half the decision. If your calls need human judgment, per-call human service can be worth the premium at any volume. If your calls are mostly routine (questions, bookings, intake), flat-fee AI handles them at a price that does not rise with your busiest months.