AI receptionist vs answering service
An answering service, or an AI receptionist?
Live answering services put a real person on your line and charge for every minute or call. An AI receptionist answers every call, at any hour, for a flat monthly price. Here is what each one is good at.
Answers in your business’s name
Your greeting, your hours, your prices. Brief it in your own words, or point it at your website and it starts out knowing the basics.
Books into your calendar
Google Calendar or Outlook. It checks your hours and existing bookings before it offers a time, and confirms the details back to the caller.
Urgent calls still reach you
“The boiler’s leaking” rings you live. Everything else comes back as a short summary with the transcript, and the recording if you want it.
Spam never counts
Robocalls and sales pitches are hung up on and never billed. Hang-ups under 10 seconds and your own test calls don’t count either.
- 1
Tell it about your business
Talk to it like a new hire: hours, services, prices, who to put straight through. It fills in the settings for you.
- 2
Hear it answer
Call it from your own phone. Your free trial runs on our test line, so you hear a real call before you pay anything.
- 3
Turn it on
Forward your number with your carrier’s code (the app shows yours), or take a new local number. Change it back any time.
What it costs to have your phone answered
Entry plans, per month, as each company publishes them.
| Heybird | Live answering services | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | $29.99 for 50 answered calls | Ruby: $250 for 50 minutes. Smith.ai: $300 for 30 calls |
| Going over | Answers normally up to 20% more, then takes messages. No overage charges | Smith.ai: $11.50 per extra call. Ruby: billed per extra minute |
| Spam calls | Never counted | Smith.ai: not charged. Ruby: robocall filtering |
| Hours | Every hour, every day | Ruby: 24/7 live answering |
| Who answers | An AI assistant in your business’s name, that says it’s an assistant when asked | A trained human receptionist |
| Books appointments | Yes, into Google Calendar or Outlook | Yes (Smith.ai charges $1.50 per booking) |
| Long calls | A call over 10 minutes counts as two | Ruby bills by the minute, in 30-second steps, hold time included |
| Try it first | 7 days free on our test line, no card | Smith.ai: 30-day money-back guarantee |
Competitor details from their own websites, checked on 8 October 2026; prices change, so check their site before you decide. Sources: Ruby pricing, Smith.ai pricing.
Pay per answered call, not per minute
Flat monthly plans by the calls Heybird answers. Spam, short hang-ups and test calls are free. Seven days free to start.
- Starter$29.99/month50 answered calls
- Pro$69.99/month150 answered calls
- Scale$149.99/month400 answered calls
Questions
When is a human answering service the better choice?
When most of your calls need judgment a person brings: sensitive conversations, complex intake, callers who refuse to talk to an assistant. Many businesses use an AI receptionist for the everyday calls and keep a person for those.
Is an AI receptionist cheaper than an answering service?
For most small businesses, by a lot. Live services start around $250–$300 a month for 30–50 calls or minutes; Heybird’s Starter plan answers 50 calls for $29.99, and spam never counts.
Will my callers notice?
Heybird speaks naturally, answers in your business’s name and always says it’s an assistant when asked. Hear it on a call from your own phone before you pay.
What if a call needs me?
Urgent calls ring you live. Everything else comes back as a short summary with the transcript.
Does it work on Android?
Heybird is an iPhone app today. Your callers can use any phone.
Hear it answer before you pay.
Set up takes a few minutes. Your first call can be one you make yourself.