Best AI receptionists & phone answering services

Phone answering with a North America human safety net, priced per call, built for law firms first.

From $150/mo · Crew score 7.5/10 · Best for: Law firms and high-ticket home services that lose real jobs to voicemail

A dental phone system with missed-call text in the base plan. A plumber is shopping the wrong aisle.

From $199/mo · Crew score 7.5/10 · Best for: A US or Canada dental, optometry, vet, or specialty-medical office replacing its PBX. Not a plumber, not a salon, not a law firm.

Public-price call tracking so you know which Google ad rang the phone. 250 minutes, then overage they will not refund.

From $55/mo · Crew score 7/10 · Best for: A plumber, HVAC shop, or law firm that runs Google Ads. Not a salon shopping missed-call text-back.

Cheap shared line on the phones you already carry. Rebranded Quo. If the Google number cannot go down, keep walking.

From $19/user/mo · Crew score 7/10 · Best for: A Jobber plumber or Clio law firm that wants a shared SMS inbox. Not a Dentrix dentist, not a Mindbody salon.

AI answering from $49 a month. The $49 plan does not book the calendar, and going over minutes upgrades you.

From $49/mo · Crew score 7/10 · Best for: Solo home-service owners who want 24/7 pickup and will stay inside 250 minutes, or who will pay Scale $149 when they actually need booking and transfers

Live US receptionists with a public price list. The minutes round up, and overage is not on the marketing page.

From $250/mo · Crew score 7/10 · Best for: Solo law and other low-volume offices that want a human at 2 a.m. Dispatch-heavy plumbers and salons should keep walking.

AI answering from $49 with 100 minutes in the box. The phone company behind it is real. The meter is short.

From $49/mo · Crew score 6.5/10 · Best for: Shops already on RingEX that want after-hours pickup and routing, or low-volume lines that will stay near 100 minutes

Live humans from $350 a month for 200 minutes. Marketing says cancel anytime. The terms lock you for 90 days.

From $350/mo · Crew score 6/10 · Best for: Shops that want a real person on every call, will burn about 200 minutes, and will sign a 90-day floor

AI-only receptionist at $99 a month. 200 minutes, then a quarter a minute. No human behind it.

From $99/mo · Crew score 6/10 · Best for: Housecall Pro plumbers and HVAC that want cheap AI-only after-hours pickup and will stay near 200 minutes a month

A cheap AI that answers the phone. No human behind it, and almost nobody in the trades has reviewed it in public.

From $79/mo · Crew score 5/10 · Best for: Low-volume shops that need a cheap after-hours bot for FAQs and messages, not emergency dispatch

Sales-desk cloud phone. Essentials is $40 a seat monthly. You still buy three.

From $40/user/mo · Crew score 6/10 · Best for: A HubSpot or Salesforce sales team that wants VoIP plus an AI Voice Agent. Not a one-shop plumber, dentist, salon, HVAC truck, or Clio law firm.

The FAQ says cancel today. The terms still look like a 12-month auto-renew. List price is $799 a month.

From $799/mo · Crew score 6/10 · Best for: A plumber who wants reviews, missed-call text-back, and an AI front desk in one bundle, and who gets cancel terms in writing that match the FAQ.

Two-seat sales phone. The $29 is annual. AI that answers is $99 extra.

From $39/user/mo · Crew score 6/10 · Best for: A HubSpot or Salesforce sales team that wants VoIP plus SMS. Not a one-shop plumber, dentist, salon, HVAC truck, or solo law firm.

A trades receptionist with public prices. The FAQ says month-to-month. The terms do not.

From $199/mo · Crew score 4/10 · Best for: HVAC and plumbing shops that want phone answering, if they get cancel terms in writing. Dentists, salons, and law firms should look elsewhere.

A real AI receptionist for car dealers. If you run a shop, Capterra is showing you a product they stopped selling.

From Custom · Crew score 3/10 · Best for: Franchise auto dealerships with a DMS. Not plumbers, dentists, salons, HVAC, or law firms.