Smith.ai virtual receptionist pricing was listed at $300 per month for 30 calls, $810 per month for 90 calls, and $2,100 per month for 300 calls when rechecked on the live Smith.ai pricing page 2026-06-10, with per-call overage of $8.50 to $11.50 depending on tier. Note that several third-party reviews from early 2026 still quote $285 per month for the entry plan; the live page is higher, which suggests a recent price increase. This guide walks through what the base price covers, the a-la-carte fees that surprise buyers, and what the same call volume costs on a contractor-AI alternative.
Last reviewed June 10, 2026.
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Smith.ai pricing in 2026: the human virtual receptionist plans were listed at $300/month for 30 calls ($11.50 per extra call), $810/month for 90 calls ($10.50 per extra call), and $2,100/month for 300 calls ($8.50 per extra call) when rechecked 2026-06-10. Smith.ai also sells AI receptionist plans from $95/month. Verify the live Smith.ai pricing page because vendor pricing changes. Contractor-AI alternatives (OnCrew is the contractor-specific example we publish) start at $49/month for 100 included calls with $0.99 per-call overage.
Smith.ai pricing tiers (2026)
| Plan | Monthly | Included | Per-call overage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $300 | 30 calls, 1 transfer destination | $11.50 |
| Basic | $810 | 90 calls, 2 transfer destinations | $10.50 |
| Pro | $2,100 | 300 calls, 10 transfer destinations | $8.50 |
| Enterprise | by quote | custom | custom |
Smith.ai also sells a separate AI receptionist line: self-service month-to-month plans were $95, $270, and $800 per month (roughly 2, 5, and 15 calls per day) with $2.40 per-call overage and unused calls expiring monthly, plus annual done-for-you plans at $500 to $2,000 per month.
Sources: live Smith.ai pricing pages, rechecked 2026-06-10. Vendor pricing pages can change; check the live page before committing.
What Smith.ai's base price does NOT include
Smith.ai bills per call rather than per minute, and to its credit it does not count spam or wrong-number calls against your quota when your forwarded line passes caller ID, and it does not charge an after-hours or holiday premium. The catch is that the plan price is a base, and common contractor needs are paid add-ons billed per call:
- Appointment booking: $1.50 per call on top of the call itself.
- SMS or Slack notification of the call: $0.50 per call.
- Text or email follow-up to the caller: $0.50 per call.
- Call recording: $0.25 per call.
- Extended intake questions: $1.50 per call. Contractor intake (address, problem detail, urgency) often falls here.
- Complex routing: $1.50 per call. On-call rotation logic for a crew tends to be this.
- Dedicated Spanish line: $1.00 per call.
- Monthly line items: business caller ID $10, extra transfer destinations $15 each.
A contractor call that gets answered, booked, recorded, and followed up can carry $2.75 or more in add-on charges beyond the per-call base.
Real monthly math for a contractor shop
Worked example: a 4-truck plumbing shop fielding 130 calls a month, priced against the plans rechecked 2026-06-10.
- Starter ($300 for 30 calls): 100 overage calls at $11.50 = $1,150. Total roughly $1,450.
- Basic ($810 for 90 calls): 40 overage calls at $10.50 = $420. Total roughly $1,230.
- Add booking plus notification add-ons on the answered calls and the realistic bill climbs another $200 to $350.
- The Smith.ai AI receptionist tier at $270 per month (about 5 calls per day) is closer to contractor budgets, but overage runs $2.40 per call and unused calls expire monthly.
At contractor-typical volume, Smith.ai's human plans price like a part-time office hire. The service quality is widely regarded as polished; the model is simply built for firms where each call is worth hundreds of dollars (its core market is law firms), not for a trades shop fielding a mix of routine and urgent calls.
How much does Smith.ai cost per month?
Smith.ai cost per month for a typical contractor shop: at 80 to 150 calls per month on the human receptionist plans rechecked 2026-06-10, expect roughly $1,200 to $1,500 once overage and per-call add-ons are applied. Low-volume shops under 30 calls per month stay near the $300 entry price. The AI receptionist plans run $95 to $800 per month depending on call volume, with $2.40 per-call overage on self-service tiers.
Contractor-AI alternatives at published pricing
| Vendor | Plan | Included calls | Overage | Total monthly at 130 calls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OnCrew | Starter | 100 | $0.99 per call | $49 + ($0.99 x 30) = $79 |
| OnCrew | Pro | 400 | $0.99 per call | $149 (no overage at this volume) |
| OnCrew | Multi-Truck | 1,000 | $0.99 per call | $349 (no overage at this volume) |
OnCrew is built for contractor intake specifically: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing flows with configured urgent-call handoffs, full transcripts, and a 14-day free trial. The pricing is flat monthly tiers with included calls and a visible $0.99 per-call overage, so a long emergency call costs the same as a short one.
When Smith.ai is still the right choice
An honest read of where Smith.ai wins:
- Professional-services firms, especially law firms: deep Clio, Lawmatics, and practice-software connections, polished live receptionists, and per-call billing that fits low-volume high-value phones.
- Businesses that want a human voice with an AI tier from the same vendor and will pay for the blend.
- Spam-heavy lines: Smith.ai explicitly does not count spam or wrong numbers against the quota, which per-minute competitors often do.
If most of your calls are routine contractor intake and after-hours emergencies, the per-call economics work against you, and a flat-rate contractor AI covers the same hours at a fraction of the cost.
Frequently asked questions
Is Smith.ai cheaper than Ruby Receptionists?
At low volume they price similarly: Smith.ai's entry plan was $300 per month for 30 calls and Ruby's entry plan was $250 per month for 50 receptionist minutes when each was last rechecked. At contractor-typical volume both commonly land between $400 and $1,500 per month once overage applies. See the Ruby Receptionist pricing breakdown for the same math run on Ruby.
Does Smith.ai bill per minute?
No. Smith.ai bills per call, not per minute, which makes long calls cheaper than they would be on per-minute services. The trade-off is a high per-call price: $8.50 to $11.50 per overage call on the plans rechecked 2026-06-10, plus per-call add-on fees for booking, follow-up, and extended intake.
Does Smith.ai charge for spam calls?
Smith.ai states that spam and wrong-number calls do not count against your quota when your forwarded line passes caller ID. That is a genuine differentiator; billing spam time is one of the most common complaints against per-minute answering services.
Does Smith.ai have a free trial?
No free trial was advertised when rechecked 2026-06-10. Smith.ai offers a 30-day money-back guarantee capped at $1,000, excluding overage charges.
What is the cheapest Smith.ai alternative for contractors?
For contractor-typical 80 to 150 call volume, a flat-rate contractor AI is the cheapest category: OnCrew runs $49 to $349 per month with included-call tiers and $0.99 per-call overage. The Smith.ai alternatives guide for contractors compares the options.
How is OnCrew different from Smith.ai for contractors?
OnCrew is contractor-specific: trade-aware intake for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing, configured urgent-call handoffs to your on-call team with the full transcript, and flat tiers at $49, $149, and $349 per month with $0.99 per-call overage. Smith.ai is a broader business receptionist service, strongest in professional services, with per-call pricing and a-la-carte add-ons.
Where to start
If you are evaluating Smith.ai pricing for a contractor shop, the honest path:
- Pull your last 90 days of call records: how many calls, what time, average length, percent after-hours.
- Apply Smith.ai's per-call plan pricing plus the add-ons you would actually use (booking, notifications, extended intake) to that volume; use the live Smith.ai pricing page for current rates.
- Apply a contractor-AI vendor's flat monthly tiers to the same call mix. For OnCrew that is $49/$149/$349 per month with $0.99 per-call overage.
- Compare the totals at the volume you actually do, not at the example volume on a vendor page.
For OnCrew specifically: start with a 14-day free trial at oncrew.ai/lp/vs/smith-ai, or call the live AI demo line at (818) 578-4783 and stress-test it the way your customers would. No charge during the trial and you can cancel in one click.
Related reading
- OnCrew vs Smith.ai for contractors
- Smith.ai alternatives for contractors in 2026
- Ruby Receptionist pricing 2026
- How much does an answering service cost in 2026?
- Answering service for contractors: the trade-by-trade intake walkthrough for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing shops.