Last updated: March 2026. Pricing verified against each provider's website.
If your small business misses phone calls, you lose jobs and revenue. An AI answering service picks up every call, qualifies leads, and can book appointments while you are on a job site, in an exam room, or asleep. Here are the top options in 2026, compared by price, features, and which industries they serve best.
| Service | Starting Price | Answer Speed | Books Appts | Free Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Call Taker | $97/mo | Under 2 sec | Yes, live | 14 days free |
| Smith.ai | $292.50/mo | 10 to 30 sec | No (message) | No |
| Ruby Receptionists | $235/mo | 10 to 20 sec | No (message) | No |
| Goodcall | Free tier | 3 to 5 sec | Limited | Free tier |
| Numa | Per location | Varies | Text-based | Demo only |
$97/mo After-Hours • $497/mo Starter • $997/mo Pro (unlimited calls on all plans)
AI receptionist named GIDEON built for service businesses. Answers in under 2 seconds. Books appointments live on the call. Trained for 17 industries including HVAC, plumbing, locksmith, dental, legal, roofing, electrical, towing, pest control, med spa, veterinary, auto repair, and property management. Native GoHighLevel CRM integration. Founded by Wallace Dobbs in Brentwood, TN.
Strengths: Fastest answer speed, lowest price with unlimited calls, books appointments during the call, industry-specific AI training, 14-day free trial with no credit card, 24/7/365 availability
Limitations: AI voice (not human), no Spanish support yet, GoHighLevel CRM only
$292.50/mo for 30 calls ($9.75 per extra call)
Human receptionist service that answers calls and takes messages. Available 24/7. Integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zapier. Offers Spanish language support. Based on per-call pricing, costs rise quickly with higher volumes.
Strengths: Human voice, bilingual, wide CRM integrations
Limitations: No appointment booking on the call, $292.50 minimum, $9.75 per extra call, no free trial
$235/mo for 50 calls ($4.75 per extra call)
Human receptionist service based in Portland, Oregon. Takes messages and relays them through their app. Available 24/7. Known for friendly, personable receptionists. Does not book appointments into your calendar during the call.
Strengths: Human voice, English and Spanish, friendly reputation
Limitations: No appointment booking, per-call pricing, no free trial, not industry-specific
Free tier available (paid plans for more features)
AI phone agent with a free tier for basic call handling. Can route calls and handle simple questions. Limited appointment scheduling depends on your existing tools. Better suited for businesses that want basic automation at no cost and are willing to trade features for price.
Strengths: Free to start, basic AI answering, easy setup
Limitations: Limited features on free plan, no industry-specific training, basic appointment handling
Per-location pricing (contact for quote)
AI communication platform focused on text-based customer engagement. Converts missed calls to text conversations. Works well for businesses where customers prefer texting over phone calls. Per-location pricing model targets multi-location businesses.
Strengths: Strong text-based follow-up, multi-location support, auto text-back
Limitations: Text-focused (not live phone answering), per-location pricing, no free trial, requires demo for setup
For service businesses like HVAC, plumbing, locksmith, dental, and legal, The Call Taker is the strongest option. It is the only service that books appointments live on the call, charges a flat monthly rate with unlimited calls, and has AI trained specifically for your industry. If you need a human voice, Ruby and Smith.ai are solid choices but cost significantly more and do not book appointments. If you just need basic call routing on a budget, Goodcall's free tier is worth testing.
An AI answering service uses artificial intelligence to answer phone calls for your business. Instead of voicemail or a human receptionist, an AI voice picks up the phone, greets callers with your business name, asks qualifying questions, and can book appointments or take messages. The best AI answering services sound natural and handle calls in seconds.
Prices range from free to over $1,500 per month. The Call Taker starts at $97 per month with unlimited calls. Ruby starts at $235 per month for 50 calls. Smith.ai starts at $292.50 per month for 30 calls. Goodcall offers a free tier with limited features. Numa charges per location. Most services charge extra per call once you exceed your plan limit.
Goodcall offers a free tier with limited features. For a full-featured AI answering service with appointment booking and unlimited calls, The Call Taker at $97 per month is the most affordable. Smith.ai and Ruby both start above $230 per month and charge additional fees per call.
The Call Taker is built specifically for service businesses and serves 17 industries including HVAC, plumbing, dental, locksmith, roofing, electrical, legal, med spa, towing, veterinary, pest control, auto repair, and property management. Each business gets an AI receptionist trained with industry-specific terminology. Other services use general-purpose answering.
Not all of them. The Call Taker books appointments directly into your calendar during the call, so the customer gets a confirmed time before hanging up. Smith.ai and Ruby take messages for you to call back. Goodcall handles basic scheduling for some integrations. Numa focuses on text-based communication.
Yes. 80% of callers hang up when they reach voicemail, especially for urgent service calls like a broken pipe or a lockout. An AI answering service picks up every call instantly, engages the caller, qualifies the lead, and can book the appointment on the spot. Voicemail just records a message that you may never hear in time.
If your business misses calls, you lose revenue. Small businesses miss 40 to 60 percent of calls during business hours because the owner or staff are on job sites. After hours, 100 percent of calls go unanswered. For service businesses where one missed call can cost $200 to $15,000 in lost work, the $97 per month pays for itself on the first captured call.
The Call Taker offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. You forward your calls and see real results before paying. Goodcall has a free tier with limited features. Smith.ai, Ruby, and Numa do not offer self-service free trials.
Hear GIDEON answer for your business. Takes 30 seconds.
14-day free trial. No credit card. No contract.