Independent pricing guide · facts checked 2026-08-23
Smith.ai pricing,
explained plainly.
Smith.ai publishes live-receptionist plans with included call quotas and per-call overage. Here is the current public rate card, what is included, and where add-on charges begin.
Smith.ai’s published Starter plan is $300/month for 30 calls, with $11.50 charged for each call over 30. Basic is $810/month for 90 calls and Pro is $2,100/month for 300 calls. Appointment booking is a $1.50/call add-on. Source fetched August 23, 2026: https://smith.ai/pricing.
THE FULL PRICE LIST
Smith.ai plans, broken down.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Live Receptionist — Starter | $300/mo | 30 calls; $11.50/call overage; 1 free transfer destination |
| Live Receptionist — Basic | $810/mo | 90 calls; $10.50/call overage; 2 free transfer destinations |
| Live Receptionist — Pro | $2,100/mo | 300 calls; $8.50/call overage; 10 free transfer destinations |
| Enterprise | Custom quote | Custom call volume and workflows |
Verified August 23, 2026 from Smith.ai’s live public pricing page: https://smith.ai/pricing. Confirm current rates before buying.
Add-ons, overage, and the fine print
- Overage: $11.50/call on Starter, $10.50/call on Basic, $8.50/call on Pro
- Appointment booking: $1.50 per call
- SMS or Slack transfer notifications: $0.50 per notification
- 30-day money-back guarantee for new clients; month-to-month billing
WHAT THE PRICE COVERS
Included — and not.
What’s included
- 24/7 staffed live answering
- Lead qualification and intake; appointment scheduling is available as an add-on
- Call summaries and transcripts
- CRM integrations and call transfer
- Spam and robocall blocking
What’s extra or missing
- A business phone system — Smith.ai answers your existing line; the line, texting inbox, and records live elsewhere
- Unlimited or minute-based usage — every answered call consumes quota regardless of length or value
- Appointment booking in the base plan — it is a $1.50/call add-on
READ BEFORE YOU BUY
The gotchas in
the Smith.ai math.
Every call is a billable unit
Per-call billing means a 20-second "are you open today?" costs the same quota slot as a 10-minute qualified intake. Starter overage is $11.50 per call, so high-volume weeks can get expensive fast.
Scheduling is billed separately
Smith.ai’s live pricing page lists appointment booking as a $1.50 per-call add-on. Include it in your comparison if booking is a core reason you want an answering service.
Higher tiers still meter by call
Basic and Pro reduce the overage rate, but they still use call quotas. Model your busy months, not only the included allowance.
WHEN SMITH.AI IS WORTH IT
Smith.ai is worth it when trained human judgment on every call is the actual requirement — high-stakes legal intake, complex qualification, white-glove client experience — and your call volume is modest enough that per-call economics work. Their receptionists are genuinely well regarded, and the 30-day money-back guarantee lowers the risk of finding out.
THE COMPARISON
Smith.ai vs PhoneMachine.
| Smith.ai | PhoneMachine | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing unit | Per call, with quotas + overage | Flat monthly + included AI minutes |
| Entry price | $300/mo (30 calls) | $39/mo billed annually ($49 monthly) |
| Cost of a busy month | Grows $11.50/call over Starter quota | Same flat rate; $0.40/min only past included minutes |
| Appointment booking | $1.50/call add-on | ✓ included |
| Pricing published | ✓ public rate card | ✓ full rate card public |
| Two-way texting inbox | Answering-service focus | ✓ included with AI-drafted replies |
| Bilingual English + Spanish | Available | ✓ included on every plan |
| Trial / guarantee | 30-day money-back guarantee | 7-day free trial; card required |
PhoneMachine — the flat-rate side of the table
- Starter $39/mo billed annually ($49 month-to-month) — 120 AI minutes, 2 users + 1 number
- Business $99/mo billed annually ($129 month-to-month) — 300 AI minutes, 5 users + 2 numbers
- Business Pro $239/mo ($299 monthly) — 600 AI minutes + outbound automation
- Bilingual English + Spanish answering included on every plan
- Flat-rate plans, no per-call fees; overage $0.40/min · $0.07/SMS, published
- 7-day free trial with a card required; month-to-month, keep your number if you leave
Want the deeper head-to-head?
This page covers what Smith.ai costs. The full feature-by-feature comparison — who answers, texting, booking, transfers, and switching steps — lives on the alternative page.
Smith.ai vs PhoneMachine →FAIR QUESTIONS
Smith.ai pricing, asked plainly.
How much does Smith.ai cost per month?
Smith.ai’s live pricing page on August 23, 2026 listed Starter at $300/month for 30 calls, Basic at $810/month for 90 calls, and Pro at $2,100/month for 300 calls. Source: https://smith.ai/pricing.
Does Smith.ai charge per call or per minute?
Per call. Each answered call counts against the monthly quota regardless of duration. Published overage was $11.50/call on Starter, $10.50/call on Basic, and $8.50/call on Pro when fetched August 23, 2026.
Does Smith.ai charge extra for appointment booking?
Yes. Smith.ai’s live pricing page listed appointment booking as a $1.50 per-call add-on on August 23, 2026. Source: https://smith.ai/pricing.
What’s the flat-rate alternative to Smith.ai?
PhoneMachine answers 24/7 on flat plans from $39/month billed annually — 120 to 600 included AI minutes, no per-call fees, bilingual English/Spanish, texting, and booking included. Hear a personalized sample at /tools/hear-your-ai before starting the card-required 7-day trial at /start.
THE ONLY DEMO THAT MATTERS
Hear the flat-rate alternative answer.
7-day free trial · cancel anytime · keep your number