Smith.ai pricing, as of October 2026: live receptionists cost 300 dollars a month for 30 calls, 810 dollars for 90 and 2,100 dollars for 300. Each extra call costs 8.50 to 11.50 dollars. The AI receptionist is free for 25 calls, then 150 to 800 dollars a month. Booking, texts and payments cost extra on every human-answered call.
Key takeaways
- Smith.ai's human-first plans run 300 dollars (30 calls), 810 dollars (90) and 2,100 dollars (300) a month as of October 2026. That is 7 to 10 dollars a call, and 8.50 to 11.50 dollars for each call over the plan.
- Add-ons bill on every call in the month, not only the calls that use them. Booking, text follow-up and payments add 3 dollars a call, which turns the 810-dollar Basic plan into 1,080 dollars at 90 calls.
- The AI-first plans are free for 25 calls, then 150 dollars for 75 calls up to 800 dollars for 500. Extra AI calls cost 2.10 to 3.00 dollars.
- On 90 calls of 3 minutes, callflo.ai Starter costs 186 dollars on annual billing with booking, texts and card payments included. Smith.ai AI costs 187.50 dollars; live answering with those add-ons costs 1,080 dollars.
| Plan | Who answers | Monthly price | Calls included | Per included call | Each extra call |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI Free | AI | $0 | 25 | $0 | $3.00 |
| AI Pro | AI, set up by you | $150 / $270 / $500 | 75 / 150 / 300 | $2.00 / $1.80 / $1.67 | $2.50 / $2.30 / $2.17 |
| AI Enterprise | AI, set up and run by Smith.ai | $500 / $800 / custom | 300 / 500 / 1,000+ | $1.67 / $1.60 / custom | $2.17 / $2.10 / custom |
| Hybrid | AI plus live agents | No plan fee published | Not published | From about $2.50 | Not published |
| Human Starter | Live receptionist | $300 | 30 | $10.00 | $11.50 |
| Human Basic | Live receptionist | $810 | 90 | $9.00 | $10.50 |
| Human Pro | Live receptionist | $2,100 | 300 | $7.00 | $8.50 |
| Human Enterprise | Live receptionist | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Smith.ai pricing plans in October 2026
Smith.ai sells three ways to answer your phone, each with its own price list. Human-first puts a live receptionist on every call. AI-first lets its AI receptionist answer, with a person one transfer away. Hybrid splits your calls between the two by rules you pick.
All three bill per call, not per minute. A 9-minute seller intake costs the same as a 40-second "is it still available." Smith.ai argues this stops a receptionist from padding the clock, and that is a fair point. The prices above come from the human-first pricing page, the AI receptionist pricing page and the hybrid pricing page, all read in October 2026.
What counts as a call on Smith.ai?
On the human plans, a billable call is any call from someone you want to hear from: a buyer, a tenant, a client, your family. Smith.ai's terms of service leave out telemarketers, misdials, promotional calls and callers who do not want to leave a message. Outbound calls Smith.ai places at your request count as calls too.
Spam is free on the human plans as long as your forwarded line passes caller ID. The AI plans count differently. Every call the AI answers counts by default. Smith.ai filters known spam numbers before they ring, and you can remove up to 10 percent of a month's calls from the bill for spam that got through. Past that, you pay for it.
The free AI plan has one more rule worth knowing. Calls past the free 25 come out of a prepaid wallet. Before each call, Smith.ai checks the balance. If it is below the cost of one call, the call goes to voicemail or a recorded message. So the seller calling back from your postcard at 9pm hears a recording, not your receptionist. Turn on auto-reload if you use the free plan for real calls. Booking on the free plan comes out of the same wallet: Smith.ai's billing help page lists appointment booking as a paid feature at 3 dollars for each call that books, off until you turn it on.
On paid plans, overage is billed after the month ends. Smith.ai's dashboard can email you at 90 and 100 percent of your quota. Turn both alerts on. They are the only warning before the higher per-call rate starts.
Smith.ai add-ons: what booking, texts and payments add
Human-first plans include lead screening, five intake questions, one CRM connection, a phone number and 24/7 staffing. Everything else is an add-on priced per call. Smith.ai charges it on every call in the month, not only the calls that used it. Its help center explains that the fee is "a blended average of the additional costs" across all your calls.
| Add-on | Per call | At 90 calls a month |
|---|---|---|
| Book appointments | $1.50 | $135 |
| Extended intake (6 more questions) | $1.50 | $135 |
| Complex call routing | $1.50 | $135 |
| Accept payments | $1.00 | $90 |
| Dedicated Spanish line | $1.00 | $90 |
| Custom calendaring | $1.00 | $90 |
| Text and email follow-up | $0.50 | $45 |
| SMS or Slack notifications | $0.50, plus $0.25 per extra ping | $45 and up |
| Call recording and transcription | $0.25 | $22.50 |
| Extra transfer destination | $15 a month each | $15 |
| Inbound call tracking number | $5 a month each | $5 |
A leasing office that books tours, texts a follow-up and takes application fees runs three of those: 1.50 plus 0.50 plus 1.00, or 3 dollars a call. On Basic that is 270 dollars on top of 810. The payments add-on works through Square, PayPal, LawPay and similar processors, per the same pricing page.
Smith.ai AI vs human plans: what the price gap buys
Per included call, the AI plans cost 1.60 to 2.00 dollars and the human plans 7 to 10 dollars. The gap buys a trained person on every call. On the AI plans, a person is one transfer away, and what that transfer costs is not stated in one place.
The AI receptionist page says an escalation the AI starts on its own carries no fee. Live agent help you switch on for verification or scheduling is a per-call add-on, with no rate on the AI price list. The Smith.ai homepagelists "Human escalation ($3 extra)" as a feature. Our reading: 3 dollars when you route calls to a person, nothing when the AI decides. Ask for it in writing before you sign.
What the AI plans include, per the October 2026 pages: 24/7 answering, recording, transcripts and summaries, lead qualification, call routing, scheduling through Calendly and similar tools, and English and Spanish. Test calls are free, as many as your real calls, plus twice as many simulated ones. Taking a card on the call and texting the caller afterward are not on the AI feature list.
Hybrid sits between them, from about 2.50 dollars a call. Smith.ai's own calculator puts 90 calls at 252 to 360 dollars a month across its three presets, against 810 dollars for full human answering. Hybrid publishes no plan fee or overage rate, so it is a quote.
Smith.ai contract, cancellation and discounts
Smith.ai's answering plans are month to month, and the human and AI plans list no setup fee. The details differ by plan, and they are where a bill can surprise you.
- Canceling.Human-first bills through the end of the current month, then stops. AI and Hybrid need 30 days' notice.
- Changing plans. You email support, and the new plan starts the next month. A busy month bills at overage rates on the plan you have.
- Discounts. Human-first is 10 percent off for a 12-month subscription. The AI page offers a 6-month plan with rollover calls and a lower rate, by quote only.
- Prepaid terms. One Trustpilot reviewer wrote in September 2026 that the 6-month AI plan took 2,500 dollars up front and was not refunded on cancellation. Smith.ai replied that term plans are non-refundable and month-to-month plans exist.
- Money-back guarantee.New human-first clients can get the plan and add-ons back within 30 days, up to 1,000 dollars, overage excluded. The same FAQ also says "the first two weeks", and the terms say payments are non-refundable. Ask before day 14 to be safe.
- Outbound campaigns.Smith.ai's outreach plans carry a 6-month minimum and a setup fee paid up front, per its terms.
What a small real estate office pays Smith.ai per month
Three offices, priced on the cheapest Smith.ai combination for their volume, October 2026 list prices, before the annual discount. Each one turns on only the add-ons its calls need.
| Office | Human-first, with add-ons | AI-first |
|---|---|---|
| Solo agent: 30 calls, booking | $345 (Starter $300 + 30 x $1.50) | $15 (Free, 5 extra x $3.00), plus $3 for each call that books |
| Three-agent team: 60 calls, booking and text follow-up | $765 (Starter $300 + 30 x $11.50 + 60 x $2.00) | $105 (Free, 35 extra x $3.00), plus $3 for each call that books; caller texts not listed |
| Leasing office: 150 calls, booking, texts, application fees | $1,890 (Basic $810 + 60 x $10.50 + 150 x $3.00) | $270 (Pro 150); payments and caller texts not listed |
Two things stand out. On the human plans, the add-ons and overage often cost more than the plan itself. The leasing office pays 810 dollars for the plan and 1,080 dollars on top. And the team at 60 calls should stay on Starter: Basic plus add-ons comes to 930 dollars, 165 more than paying overage.
Smith.ai's FAQ says even Pro costs about 33,000 dollars less a year than an in-house receptionist. For scale, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median receptionist wage at 38,010 dollars for 2025, before payroll taxes and benefits. Pro is 25,200 dollars a year. Our real estate receptionist cost breakdown runs the full staff-versus-service math.
Smith.ai cost vs callflo.ai at 30, 60, 90 and 150 calls
Smith.ai bills calls and callflo.ai bills minutes, so a fair comparison needs a call length. We use 3 minutes, the same basis as our other cost posts. At that length callflo.ai Starter costs 39 to 362.40 dollars a month for 30 to 150 calls, with booking, follow-up texts and card payments included.
The arithmetic: Starter is 39 dollars a month on annual billing, 49 monthly, with 120 minutes included and 0.98 dollars a minute after. Sixty calls at 3 minutes is 180 minutes. That is 39 plus 60 extra minutes at 0.98, or 97.80 dollars. VIP is 697 dollars annual or 997 monthly for 1,000 minutes, about 333 calls at this length.
| Calls a month (minutes) | callflo.ai Starter, annual | Smith.ai AI-first | Smith.ai human-first | Smith.ai human, booking + texts + payments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 (90 min) | $39, inside 120 minutes | $15 (Free + 5 x $3.00) | $300 (Starter) | $390 (300 + 30 x $3) |
| 60 (180 min) | $97.80 (39 + 60 x $0.98) | $105 (Free + 35 x $3.00) | $645 (Starter + 30 x $11.50) | $825 (645 + 60 x $3) |
| 90 (270 min) | $186 (39 + 150 x $0.98) | $187.50 (Pro 75 + 15 x $2.50) | $810 (Basic) | $1,080 (810 + 90 x $3) |
| 150 (450 min) | $362.40 (39 + 330 x $0.98) | $270 (Pro 150) | $1,440 (Basic + 60 x $10.50) | $1,890 (1,440 + 150 x $3) |
| Card payments on the call | Included, through Stripe | Not on the AI price list | $1.00 a call add-on | Included in this column |
| Follow-up text to the caller | Included, after every call | Not on the AI price list | $0.50 a call add-on | Included in this column |
Read the AI column first, because it is the honest fight. At 30 and 150 calls Smith.ai AI costs less than callflo.ai Starter. At 60 and 90 calls the two are within 10 dollars. The difference is what the plan does. callflo.ai Starter takes a card on the call and texts every caller afterward. Smith.ai's AI price list shows neither.
Call length decides the AI race. callflo.ai's extra minute costs 0.98 dollars. Smith.ai's extra AI call costs 2.10 to 3.00 dollars. They meet at a call of about 2 to 3 minutes. Shorter calls favor callflo.ai; longer calls favor Smith.ai's flat price. Against live receptionists it is not close: 186 dollars against 810 at 90 calls, before any add-on.
Both callflo.ai plans are on the callflo.ai pricing page: no setup fee, no contract, cancel any time. VIP adds a team that builds and runs the agent, plus outbound call and text campaigns. Crooked River Self Storage runs on VIP: 329 calls answered, 56 leads, two locations on one number. Put your own numbers in below.
Price it on your own line
That is 180 minutes a month. Monthly cost, overage included:
Smith.ai AI-first priced on the cheapest plan for your call count, October 2026, with no paid escalations and no Free-plan booking charges. At 300 calls Enterprise costs the same as Pro and adds setup by Smith.ai, so it is shown. callflo.ai priced on minutes at annual rates. The cheapest option is highlighted. Smith.ai's AI price list does not include card payments or caller texts; callflo.ai includes both.
A table can tell you the price. It cannot tell you whether the agent sounds like your office. Call the demo line and hear how it handles a caller, then decide whether a person is worth 7 to 10 dollars a call.
Hear it answer before you pick a plan
Call callflo.ai's own AI agent and ask it anything about your business. When you are ready, pick a plan: no setup fee, no contract, and you do not pay unless you are satisfied.
Starter is $39 a month on annual billing. Live on your line about 5 minutes after you sign up.
Where Smith.ai is worth the money
Smith.ai is a strong product, and some offices should pay for it. These are the cases where the price is the point.
- You want a person on every call. Human-first puts North America-based receptionists on your line 24/7, and AI pricing is beside the point.
- Spanish-speaking callers. A dedicated Spanish line answered by fluent agents is 1 dollar a call. The AI plans list English and Spanish.
- Outbound by people. On human plans, live agents return missed calls and confirm appointments.
- Deep intake. Extended intake, conflict checks, third-party forms and integrations like Clio, HubSpot and Salesforce. It was built for law firms, and it shows.
- Long calls. Per-call pricing means a 12-minute intake costs the same as a 1-minute one.
- Track record. Smith.ai says it has answered more than 20 million calls over 10 years. Trustpilot shows 4.3 out of 5 from 375 reviews as of October 2026.
Where it costs you: add-ons that bill on every call, overage that runs 1.50 dollars above the in-plan rate, and plan changes that only start next month. The head-to-head on the human side is in callflo.ai vs Smith.ai.
Smith.ai alternatives, priced the same way
At 90 calls of 3 minutes, published October 2026 prices run from about 60 dollars for an AI plan to 810 dollars or more for live receptionists. Every row below is the cheapest published plan that covers 90 calls or 270 minutes.
| Service | Who answers | Bills by | 90 calls, 270 minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| callflo.ai Starter | AI | Minute | $186 annual, $196 monthly |
| Smith.ai AI-first | AI, live backup | Call | $187.50 |
| Smith.ai human-first | Live receptionist | Call | $810 |
| Ruby | Live receptionist | Minute | $720 for 200 minutes plus unpublished overage, or $1,725 for 500 |
| PATLive | Live receptionist | Minute | $479 (300-minute plan) |
| Upfirst | AI | Call | $59.95 monthly, $48 annual (90 calls) |
| Rosie | AI | Minute | $149 (1,000 minutes); the $49 plan stops at 250 |
On raw answering, Upfirst and Rosie are the cheapest lines on the page. Rosie keeps direct calendar booking for its 149 dollar plan and up. On live answering, PATLive undercuts both Ruby and Smith.ai at this volume. How Ruby compares with the rest of the field is in outsourcing your receptionist, and the per-minute versus per-call math across every vendor is in AI receptionist vs answering service cost.