The best AI receptionists compared
Bright Canoe, Smith.ai, Ruby, Goodcall, Rosie, My AI Front Desk and ElevenLabs side by side: what each one is, what it costs, and whether it can book the appointment and get the right calls to you.
AI receptionist + scheduling
Bright Canoe
An AI receptionist built into a scheduling platform: it answers, books into your own calendar, and sends the right calls to a person.
AI receptionist, human backup
Smith.ai
Per-call AI receptionist with a North America-based human team behind it.
Human receptionists
Ruby
Live human receptionists billed by the minute, with optional AI help.
AI receptionist
Goodcall
AI agent billed by unique callers each month rather than minutes.
AI answering service
Rosie
Minute-based AI answering service for small businesses, in English and Spanish.
AI receptionist
My AI Front Desk
AI receptionist bundled with texting, a chatbot and email drafts, paid partly in credits.
Developer voice platform
ElevenLabs Agents
Voice AI building blocks for developers. You build and host the receptionist yourself.
Side by side
Price, booking and handoff
Prices are each vendor's published entry plan as of November 2026. Where a vendor's pricing page does not say, the table says so.
| Area | Bright Canoe | Smith.ai | Ruby | Goodcall | Rosie | My AI Front Desk | ElevenLabs Agents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | AI receptionist inside a full scheduling platform: booking pages, calendar, client records, reminders and payments. | AI receptionist with optional transfer to live receptionists. | Live human receptionists. No AI-only plan. | Standalone AI phone agent. | Standalone AI answering service. | AI receptionist plus texting, website chat and email drafts. | Voice AI for developers. Not a ready-made receptionist. |
| Starting price | $19/mo AI receptionist add-on with 100 minutes and a local number. | Free tier, then $150/mo for 75 calls on Pro. | $250/mo for 50 minutes. | $79/mo for 100 unique callers. | $49/mo for 250 minutes. | $99/mo, or $79/mo billed yearly, for 200 minutes. | About $0.08 per minute plus separate AI model costs. Phone line and build not included. |
| Billed by | Minutes. Extra minutes $7.99 per 100, and they do not expire. | Calls, about $1.60 to $3.00 per call depending on plan. | Minutes, about $3.45 to $5.00 per minute. | Unique callers per month. Call length does not matter. | Minutes. Overage rate not stated on the pricing page. | Minutes, then credits at about $0.25 per extra minute. | Minutes of audio, plus AI model tokens. |
| Books appointments | Yes, straight into Bright Canoe's own calendar, with your services, staff and hours. No connector needed. | Yes, through scheduling tools such as Calendly. | Yes, receptionists schedule for you. | Not stated per plan. | Sends a booking link on the entry plan. Books on your calendar from $149/mo. | Handles appointments. Calendars connect through Zapier. | Only what you build. |
| Sends calls to a person | Yes. You choose which calls reach you (emergencies, existing clients, new customers). You press 1 to accept, otherwise the AI takes a message. | Yes, to its live receptionists. | Every call is answered by a person. | Yes. You choose who receives transfers. | From $149/mo, with warm and live transfers. | Yes, 2 transfer actions on the main plan. | Only what you build. |
| Languages | Answers in the caller's language and keeps it for the whole call. | Bilingual answering mentioned. Plan details not stated. | English and Spanish, 24/7. | Not stated on the pricing page. | English and Spanish. | 20+ languages. | Many languages, depending on your build. |
| Knows your business | Learns from your website, documents and FAQs, and says it does not know rather than guessing. | Set up from your intake scripts and integrations. | Receptionists follow your call instructions. | Configured per agent, with external tools on higher plans. | Trained on your business details, with custom message-taking scenarios. | Configured knowledge, plus agent actions. | Only what you build. |
| After the call | Recording, transcript and summary on the client's record, plus a follow-up task when a call needs one. | Call summaries and CRM integrations such as Clio and Zapier. | Messages and call details from the receptionist. | Call history kept 30 days to unlimited, by plan. | Messages and call details. | Texts, email drafts and Zapier. | Only what you build. |
| Best for | Appointment businesses that want calls, booking and client follow-up in one place. | Firms that want AI with a human team on standby, such as law offices. | Businesses that want every caller to hear a person and can pay for it. | High-volume lines where long calls would be costly per minute. | Very small businesses that mainly need messages taken. | Owners who also want texting and website chat in the same tool. | Teams with developers building their own voice product. |
How to choose
Start with what should happen after the call
Every tool here can answer the phone. They differ in what they do next: take a message, book the job, or get you on the line.
Calls should end in a booking
Choose a receptionist that books into the calendar you run the business from. Bright Canoe does this without a connector.
Some calls need you, fast
Look for rules about which calls get transferred, and what happens when you cannot pick up.
Every caller must hear a person
A human service like Ruby, or Smith.ai's live team, costs more per call but never sounds automated.
You have developers
ElevenLabs gives you the voice to build your own, but the phone line, booking and hosting are yours to build.
Questions
Choosing an AI receptionist
What is the best AI receptionist for a small business? expand_more
It depends on what happens after the call. If most calls should end in a booked appointment, choose a receptionist that books into the calendar you already run the business from, such as Bright Canoe. If you mainly need messages taken, a simple answering service like Rosie is enough. If every caller must reach a person, a human service like Ruby fits, at a higher price.
How much does an AI receptionist cost? expand_more
As of November 2026, ready-made AI receptionists start between $19 and $150 a month. Bright Canoe starts at $19 a month with 100 minutes, Rosie at $49, Goodcall at $79, My AI Front Desk at $99 and Smith.ai Pro at $150. Human receptionist services like Ruby start around $250 a month for 50 minutes.
Is ElevenLabs an AI receptionist? expand_more
No. ElevenLabs sells voice AI to developers. You can build a receptionist with it, but you also need a phone line, a calendar connection, call handling and hosting. Bright Canoe, Goodcall, Rosie, My AI Front Desk and Smith.ai are ready to use without code.
Can an AI receptionist transfer calls to a person? expand_more
Most can. In Bright Canoe you choose which calls should reach you, such as emergencies, existing clients or new customers. You press 1 to take the call, and if you cannot, the AI comes back on and takes a message so nothing is lost.
Should I pay per call or per minute? expand_more
Per-minute pricing suits short booking calls. Per-call or per-caller pricing suits long calls. Smith.ai charges per call, Goodcall per unique caller, and Bright Canoe, Rosie, Ruby and My AI Front Desk per minute.
Sources
Taken from each vendor's public pricing page in November 2026. Prices and plans change, so check with the vendor before you buy. All names are trademarks of their owners.
From $19 a month
An AI receptionist that books the appointment
Start free with scheduling, then add the AI receptionist with a local number and 100 minutes a month.