The Smith.ai alternatives worth comparing are Cartesia Managed Agents, Rosie, Goodcall, Ruby, and Retell AI. Smith.ai sells a front desk for small businesses: AI receptionists, live receptionists, or a mix of the two, billed per call. Which alternative fits depends on whether you want a person on every call, a ready-made AI receptionist, or an agent built around your own calendar, price list, and call rules.
We build Cartesia, so weigh our view accordingly. Every competitor price and feature below comes from that vendor’s own site, read on November 10, 2026.
What Smith.ai charges, for reference
Smith.ai lists two price sheets. On its AI receptionist page, the AI answers, screens, books, and warm-transfers in English and Spanish:
| AI receptionist plan | Monthly fee | Per call |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 25 calls included, then $3.00 |
| Pro | $150 | $2.00 |
| Enterprise | $500 | $1.67 |
Live agents can step in on any plan as a per-call add-on. The pricing page lists the live, staffed front desk:
| Live plan | Monthly fee | Calls included | Extra calls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $300 | 30 | $11.50 |
| Basic | $810 | 90 | $10.50 |
| Pro | $2,100 | 300 | $8.50 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Many tasks are per-call add-ons on top: $1.50 to book an appointment, $1.00 to take a payment, $1.00 for a dedicated Spanish line, and $0.25 for recording and transcription. A call that books an appointment and sends a text follow-up costs $2.00 more than the plan rate.
Alternatives at a glance
| Option | Who answers | Listed price (Nov 10, 2026) | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cartesia Managed Agents | AI agent | $0.03/min, plus $0.014/min for a Cartesia number | Your own call rules, calendar, and tools |
| Rosie | AI agent | From $49/month for 250 minutes | Ready-made receptionist, fixed minutes |
| Goodcall | AI agent | From $79/month for 100 unique callers | Billing by caller, not by minute |
| Ruby | People | From $250/month for 50 minutes | Live answering on every call |
| Retell AI | AI agent | $0.07 to $0.31/min | A team with someone to build the flows |
Cartesia Managed Agents
Managed Agents is a platform for building a phone agent that answers your line. You write the instructions, connect your calendar and records, and decide which calls ring through to you. Our AI receptionist for small business shows one for a one-person grooming business: it quotes prices from the owner’s list, books only open slots, takes the dog’s name and address, and rings the owner only for the three call types she chose. The same setup covers an after-hours answering service.
Calls cost $0.03 a minute, plus $0.014 a minute on a Cartesia-provided phone number, with the LLM billed separately (pricing). There is no per-call fee for booking or transfers; those are tools the agent calls. A three-minute call that books an appointment costs about 13 cents before the LLM. The free plan includes $1 of agent usage a month and one phone number, and Pro adds three numbers for $5 a month.
The agent speaks with Sonic 3.6, which ranked first of 94 models on the Artificial Analysis Provider Voice Arena as of August 2026, and the voice model speaks 40+ languages.
Pick it when your calls follow rules specific to your business and you want to pay by the minute. Our AI receptionist guide covers buying versus building and how to test before you forward your number.
Rosie
Rosie’s pricing page lists three monthly plans: Professional at $49 for 250 minutes, Scale at $149 for 1,000 minutes, and Growth at $299 for 2,000 minutes. Calendar booking and warm transfers start on Scale; Professional texts callers an appointment link instead. Every plan answers in English and Spanish and connects to other apps through Zapier. There is a 7-day free trial.
Pick it when you want a ready-made receptionist on a fixed monthly bill.
Goodcall
Goodcall bills by unique customer rather than by minute or call. Its pricing page lists Starter at $79 a month for 100 unique customers, Growth at $129 for 500, and Scale at $299 for 2,000, with extra customers at 79, 26, or 15 cents depending on the plan. You can build and test a demo agent for free and pay once you connect a number.
Pick it when the same customers call you repeatedly and per-minute billing would overcount them.
Ruby
Ruby sells live receptionists. Its pricing page lists plans by minutes: $250 a month for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200, and $1,725 for 500. Answering is 24/7, Spanish and bilingual handling is available, and live chat plans are sold separately.
Pick it when every caller should reach a person.
Retell AI
Retell is a voice agent platform with a no-code studio, aimed at teams that will build their own call flows. Its pricing page lists $0.07 to $0.31 a minute, depending on the voice and LLM.
Pick it when you have someone who will build and maintain the call flows.
How to choose
- Count your calls and minutes. Pull a month of call logs. Per-call pricing (Smith.ai), per-minute pricing (Cartesia, Rosie, Ruby, Retell), and per-caller pricing (Goodcall) favor different call patterns.
- List what a call has to do. Booking, payments, intake questions, and Spanish are add-ons on some plans and included on others. Price the calls you actually get.
- Decide who takes the hard calls. Write down which calls must reach you or your staff, and test what happens when nobody picks up.
- Test with your own script. Call each finalist as a customer would: ask about prices, book a slot, change your mind halfway through.
Try Cartesia Managed Agents
Build a receptionist and call it from your browser in the Cartesia playground on the free plan, which includes $1 of agent usage a month.