"Virtual receptionist" used to mean one thing: a person, working remotely for an answering company, picking up your calls in your company's name. Today the same phrase is used for AI software too, and vendors blur the line on purpose. Before you compare prices, find out which you're buying.
- A virtual receptionist (in this guide) is a human at a remote answering service. Examples: Ruby, Smith.ai's human receptionists.
- An AI receptionist is software that talks with callers in a natural voice. Examples: Rosie, Goodcall, Smith.ai's AI receptionist, Connie.
- A hybrid has AI answer first and hands harder calls to a person.
We make Connie, an AI receptionist, so weigh our view accordingly. We've tried to be straight about where a human is the better buy.
What each one does on a call
On a routine call, the two look similar from the caller's side. Both answer in your company's name, take the name, number and address, ask your screening questions, and send you a summary. The differences show up at the edges.
| Human virtual receptionist | AI receptionist | |
|---|---|---|
| Who answers | A trained agent, often a different one each call | The same software every time |
| Many calls at once | Limited by staffing; hold times can grow in a rush | Answers many calls at once |
| Confused, upset or elderly callers | Strong; can read tone and improvise | Improving, still weaker on very unclear calls |
| Following your script | Usually, varies by agent and by how busy they are | Exactly, every call |
| Booking into your calendar | Some services do, often at a higher tier | Most do, usually included |
| Recordings and transcripts | Varies | Usually included |
| Nights, weekends, holidays | Depends on the plan and staffing | Always on |
| Typical cost | Hundreds to thousands per month | Tens to low hundreds per month |
What they cost (checked November 10, 2026)
Human services charge for agent time, by the minute or by the call. AI services charge less because there's no person on the line.
| Service | Type | Published price |
|---|---|---|
| Ruby1 | Human | $250/mo for 50 min, $395 for 100, $720 for 200, $1,725 for 500 |
| Smith.ai receptionists2 | Human | $300/mo for 30 calls ($11.50 each extra), $810 for 90, $2,100 for 300 |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist3 | AI | Free for 25 calls; Pro $150/mo for 75 calls ($2.50 each extra) |
| Rosie4 | AI | $49/mo for 250 min, $149 for 1,000 |
| Goodcall5 | AI | $79/mo for 100 unique customers, $129 for 500 |
| Connie (pre-launch) | AI, overflow only | $79/mo for 150 min, $149 for 400, $249 for 1,000; extra minutes $0.35 on Starter, $0.25 on Pro, $0.20 on Scale (founding: $49, 300 min fair use) |
Example only. A plumbing company misses 40 calls a month, each about a minute and a half: 60 minutes. On Ruby that's above the 50-minute plan, so the 100-minute plan at $395. On Smith.ai's human plans it's the 30-call plan plus 10 extra calls: $415. On most AI plans it's under $100. Over a year, the gap is roughly $3,500 to $4,500. Our AI receptionist cost guide works this out at three volumes.
That gap is the main reason small contractors are switching. It's not the whole story, though.
Where a human is still the better choice
- Delicate or high-stakes calls. If many of your callers are upset, grieving, elderly or confused, a skilled person handles them better. Think restoration after a fire, or a property manager juggling tenants.
- Calls that need judgment beyond a script. "Is this worth fixing or should I replace it?" A person can stall gracefully. Software should take details and promise a callback.
- Customers who refuse to talk to software. Some do. If your clientele skews that way, you'll hear about it.
- Intake that is really sales. A big-ticket replacement lead may deserve a person's warmth on the first call.
Where AI is the better choice
- Routine "come look at this" calls. Most service calls are short and predictable. At the shop where Connie was built, the AI's real calls averaged about 71 seconds over 90 days, and a quarter came after hours (case study).
- Rush periods. The first cold snap for HVAC, a hard freeze for plumbing, a hail storm for roofing. Software doesn't put caller number six on hold.
- Consistency on safety. It gives the gas-smell, shutoff-valve or burning-outlet instruction on every call, at 3 AM the same as at noon.
- Price. You can cover nights and weekends for less than one service call a month.
Emergencies: test this before anything else
For trades with real emergencies, the first 30 seconds of the call matter more than the price. Whoever answers has to:
- Give the right first instruction. Gas smell: leave the house and call the gas company or 911 from outside. Active leak: shut off the main water valve. Burning smell at a panel: shut off that breaker if it's safe, call 911 if there's smoke.
- Decide whether to wake your on-call tech, using your rule, not their guess.
- Get the address and callback number right, read back digit by digit.
A good human agent and a well-configured AI can both do this. A rushed agent at the end of a long shift and a badly set-up AI can both fail at it. The only way to know is to call and pretend.
Setup: what each needs from you
Either way, write a one-page sheet: hours, service area as towns or ZIP codes, services you do and don't do, your trip or diagnostic fee, the questions you always ask, emergency rules, and what can be booked vs. called back. A human service trains its agents from it. An AI receptionist is built from it, often after scanning your website for a first draft.
Then point your phone at the service. You keep your number; your carrier's conditional forwarding ("forward when busy" and "forward when unanswered") sends the calls you don't pick up. That's called overflow, and it works with both kinds of service. It also keeps your bill down, since you only pay for the calls you'd have missed.
A one-week test to decide
- Measure. Pull two weeks of your call log. Count missed calls, and note how many came after hours.
- Price it. Run that volume through one human service and one or two AI services, using published rates. Ask about setup fees, contracts, overage and texting fees.
- Set up overflow so your phone still rings first.
- Call it yourself from a phone that isn't yours: an emergency at 11 PM, a routine repair, a price shopper, a confused caller, and someone who insists on a person.
- Grade the summaries. Right address? Right number? Safety instruction given? Would you be happy if your best customer had that call?
- Do the money math with the missed call cost calculator: what one saved job is worth vs. each option's monthly price.
Many shops land on AI for overflow and after hours, plus a person (owner, office manager, or a human service) for the delicate calls. That's a reasonable answer too.
Where Connie fits
Connie is an AI receptionist built for overflow: your phone rings first, and Connie answers only when you don't. It answers in your company's name, follows your emergency rules, books into Google Calendar and emails you the job with a recording. Asked for a person, it transfers to your on-call number or promises a callback, your choice. Text summaries and missed call text back are Coming at launch. We're pre-launch and onboarding from a waitlist; founding members pay $49/mo locked. If you want a human service instead, our AI vs. live answering service comparison and guide for plumbers go deeper, and Connie vs. Smith.ai covers a company that sells both.