In-Depth Comparison

Smith.ai vs. Always Answer

Compare features and see how businesses like yours can answer calls, capture leads, and serve clients better with Smith.ai’s 24/7 Virtual Receptionists.

Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists:
The best alternative to Always Answer

costs

Pricing
Per call
Per minute
Cost
$6.50 - $9.50/call
$1.17-$1.57/min
Starting cost
$285/month
$110
Setup fee
NO
Info unavailable
Money-Back Guarantee
14 days
7 day free trial (up to 100 minutes)
Spam & sales calls
Free
Free
Post-call wrap-up
Included
No
Contracts
No contracts
No
Wrong Numbers
Free
Free
Required Deposit
NO
No
Overage Cost
$7.50 - $10.50/call
$1.17-$1.57/minute

capabilities

Calls answered 24/7
North America-based receptionists
Lead qualification
New lead intake
Appointment scheduling
Payment collection
Call screening, routing & prioritization
Outbound sales campaigns
Unlimited FAQ
Call recording & transcription
✘ Call recordings only
Zip code lookup
Warm transfer
Call transfers via SMS & Slack
✘ SMS only
Instant call summaries by email & SMS
Daily call summaries
✔ Email, SMS, Slack
Receptionists make calls for you
✔ Same per-call pricing. Comes from your #
Receptionists know caller history
Spanish-speaking receptionists
Send follow-up messages

integrated technology

Call tracking dashboard
Call analytics
✔️
CSV upload for direct transfer / blocked numbers
CRM, intake & marketing software
Calendaring software
Scheduling
Invoices and payments
Zapier
SMS & Slack
✘ SMS only

Take the faster path to growth.
Get Smith.ai today.

Affordable plans for every budget.
Always Answer (previously MyReceptionist) offers limited answering, scheduling, and messaging taking services. If you’re looking for comprehensive and feature-rich virtual receptionist services, Smith.ai has more of what you need.

For basic call answering and appointment scheduling services, Always Answer (previously MyReceptionist) will charge you per minute. Smith.ai’s pricing is per call, which means your monthly bill is based on call volume, not call length. That way, your monthly costs can be predictable and affordable. Keep in mind that an average call lasts 6 minutes, so for an average call, you’ll be paying more with Always Answer than with Smith.ai.

Always Answer lumps multiple services into their plans you may not need or use. Smith.ai, on the other hand, allows you the freedom to purchase features a la carte and add on the services you know you’ll use, like appointment scheduling. That way, you only pay for the services you specifically need. Smith.ai also offers our customers the option to bundle our other services like website chat answering and Outreach Campaigns (services that Always Answer doesn’t offer).

Always Answer can answer calls, take messages, and book appointments, but that’s pretty much it — your in-house receptionist can do that. Smith.ai’s virtual receptionists can do far more for your business. Yes, we answer calls, book appointments, and take messages too, but beyond that, we become a true extension of your office. We qualify and intake leads, answer texts, collect payments, and make outgoing calls — all of which Always Answer can’t do.

As far as technology goes, Smith.ai’s capabilities stretch far beyond Always Answer’s. In fact, Always Answer doesn’t offer much in the way of advanced technological support — not like Smith.ai does. We integrate with more than 30 CRMs, marketing platforms, calendars, billing systems, and intake forms, including Zapier, which allows integrations between our services and over 5,000 apps. Furthermore, our AI-powered platform searches for zip codes, connects to you via SMS and Slack, and has open APIs (for our more tech-savvy users).

Always Answer doesn’t advertise any call-reporting capabilities like Smith.ai’s call intelligence, which provides valuable insight into your calls through detailed call analysis and reporting. We track key data, like caller type (e.g., new lead, existing client, spam), time of the call, priority, and even disposition, to give you insight into the actions taken on your calls. We even offer call recording and transcription when full call details are needed. Plus, with comprehensive customization options like complex call routing, it’s clear you get more out of your communication efforts with Smith.ai.

On top of that, Always Answer has a limited number of agents, which means they don’t have the bandwidth to handle bigger projects. Contrarily, Smith.ai has hundreds of highly trained and experienced virtual receptionists working from all over North America. We guarantee quick answering and quality service every time. We take the time to learn how you would like your calls to be handled, striving to build genuine connections with each of your callers. Our receptionists always work from quiet home offices, so your callers won’t get any of the distracting background noise like they would from a call center.

For growth-minded business owners who care about price transparency, seamless integrations, and robust customizations that deliver the experience of in-house customer engagement and sales development, Smith.ai is the superior choice for your 24/7 Virtual Receptionists partner, over Always Answer.

Predictable and affordable pricing

We have prices for small to large organizations and everything in between.

Plans starting at

$285
Per month
30
Calls per month
Per-call pricing, not per‑minute
Month-to-month pricing for easy budgeting
No charge for spam calls or wrong numbers
Easy billing with no setup cost or hidden fees
Our agents and AI harmoniously work to meet the rigorous demands of your business.

Smith.ai is trusted by 3,000+ businesses

5.0 stars
4.9 stars
5.0 stars
4.7 stars
Converts callers into clients
Smith.ai is our inbound sales team. Having a trained and personable voice has transformed our ability to answer the phone and convert callers to clients.
Jeremy Treister
Owner, CMIT Solutions of Downtown Chicago

END-TO-END INTEGRATIONS

We play well with your software

Calls, chats & appointments are automatically logged in your systems. Real-time syncing with over 5,000 integrations.
View all integrations

Take the faster path to growth.
Get Smith.ai today.

Affordable plans for every budget.