Which AI receptionist is best for a small business? 9 options compared

What should a small business look for in an AI receptionist?

Look for one that covers your customers' channels, books into your real calendar, answers only from your information, hands off cleanly to a person and is priced to suit your volume. The full checklist, with questions to ask any vendor, is in AI receptionist for small business.

The nine options at a glance

The cards set the nine products side by side on what each vendor publishes. The order is not a ranking, and there are no scores.

"Not published" means the vendor's site lists no figure. Each product also has its own side-by-side page, with pricing model, integrations and terms, in the comparison pages.

Which AI receptionist fits which small business?

The right AI receptionist is the one built for the job you need done. Based only on what each vendor publishes, here is who each option suits; shortlist two or three and test them.

• Lowest paid starting prices for phone answering, among the nine on this page: Dialzara from $29/month, then Rosie from $49/month.
• Live human receptionists on your calls: Smith.ai (its AI plan can also transfer to a live receptionist) or Ruby (live people on all calls and chats, 24/7).
• Per-customer pricing with minutes not metered, and transfers to a person or department: Goodcall from $79/month.
• Building your own voice agents, with technical staff: Synthflow, a voice AI agent platform, free to build on with pay-as-you-go usage.
• Website chat and messaging only, no phone: Tidio (free plan available; paid plans from $29/month; Lyro AI from $39/month for 50 AI conversations).
• Lowest entry price for an all-in-one AI receptionist, among the nine on this page: My AI Front Desk from $99/month ($79/month billed annually), which also lists outbound call campaigns.
• Phone, website chat and voice, and text in one inbox your own team can take over, on a flat plan: Frontivo.io from $199/month (Phone Only) or $299/month (Starter), with WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger added on Growth. WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger open soon, once Meta's approval is through: reserve WhatsApp Only, Instagram Only, Messenger Only or Growth at no charge.

Frontivo.io publishes this guide, so weigh its entry with that in mind and test it like the others. Each comparison page also says when the other product may be the better fit.

How the pricing models differ

The nine products bill in different ways (per call, per minute, per customer, per conversation or a flat plan), so the same month of calls can cost very different amounts; price your normal month on each vendor's own page.

• Smith.ai: Per call, in monthly call bundles. AI extra calls about $2.00-$3.00 each; human-plan extra calls $8.50-$11.50 each.
• Ruby: Per minute (receptionists) and per chat, in monthly bundles. Overage rate: Not published.
• Rosie: Flat monthly plan with included minutes. Overage rate: Not published.
• Goodcall: Per unique customer each month; minutes are not metered; 79¢ per extra customer on the entry plan (lower on higher plans).
• My AI Front Desk: Flat monthly plan plus prepaid credits for extra usage (about $0.25 per extra voice minute).
• Dialzara: Flat monthly plan with included minutes; $0.35-$0.48 per extra minute depending on plan.
• Synthflow: Pay-as-you-go for calls and chats; per-minute rate: Not published.
• Tidio: Per conversation (human and AI conversations counted separately); per-resolution billing on the top plan.
• Frontivo.io: Flat plan with included usage and published overage, at $0.35 per extra voice minute and $0.25 per extra conversation.

A per-call or per-minute plan can cost less in a quiet month and more in a busy one; a flat plan costs the same until you pass the allowance. For the details, see virtual receptionist pricing and How much does an AI receptionist cost?.

What Frontivo.io does not do

Frontivo.io is an AI-only receptionist for conversations customers start, and it has clear limits today. If any of these matter, another option may fit better.

• No staffed human receptionists. The AI hands off to your own team by live call transfer or a message and alert.
• No HIPAA business associate agreements. Frontivo.io does not currently sign BAAs.
• No payment processing. It can send booking or payment links but does not take payments.
• No outbound campaigns. It answers the conversations customers start, and its only calls out are to people who contacted you first: missed callers and new website leads, when you turn that on. Your team can message a customer first, one at a time, and send one notice to everyone booked on a day, but it does not run cold calling or bulk text campaigns.
• One number and one location per account today. Each extra location is set up as its own Frontivo.io business.
• Two receptionist voices. Every plan includes one female and one male voice.
• WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger are not on Phone Only or Starter. They come with Growth ($549/month) or on their own as WhatsApp Only, Instagram Only or Messenger Only ($99/month each). WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger open soon, once Meta's approval is through: reserve WhatsApp Only, Instagram Only, Messenger Only or Growth at no charge.

The full list, with what Frontivo.io does instead, is on Why Frontivo.io.

How to test an AI receptionist before you commit

Test each shortlisted product with your own information and calendar, not only the vendor's demo.

1. 1List your channels and monthly volume. Note how customers reach you and how many calls and messages a normal month brings, missed ones included.
2. 2Price your volume on each vendor's page. Apply your own numbers to each pricing model and note the overage rate.
3. 3Call or chat with each demo. Where a vendor offers a live demo, ask your customers' real questions and notice whether it answers from facts or guesses.
4. 4Test a transfer and a booking with your own calendar. During a trial, book a test appointment on your real calendar, then ask for a person and see what reaches you.
5. 5Check cancellation and money-back terms. Confirm the contract length, notice period, setup fees and refund policy before you pay.

For Frontivo.io, start the free trial: 14 days, no card, and a 14-day money-back guarantee on your first payment. Website chat and voice work right away and you can talk to your AI by voice in your browser; your phone number is connected when you subscribe, and WhatsApp comes with WhatsApp Only or Growth, which open soon.

How we put this guide together

Frontivo.io publishes this guide and is one of the nine products in it, so we followed four rules to keep it fair.

• Vendor pages only. Every fact about another product comes from that vendor's own public pricing and feature pages, checked between September 28, 2026 and October 9, 2026 and listed under Sources.
• "Not published" when there is no figure. We do not estimate a price, rate or limit a vendor does not list.
• No review sites, scores or ranking. We used no star ratings or third-party lists, and the order of the cards is not a recommendation.
• Frontivo.io's figures come from its own plan data. They are filled in from the same settings the pricing page uses, so they change when the plans change.

Prices and features change; check each vendor's site. Trademarks belong to their owners. Frontivo.io is not affiliated with or endorsed by these companies.