Smith.ai alternatives for small business: real examples

Updated 2026-11-02 · Based on 33 real use cases on this site, each linked to its source.

Smith.ai sells two things: an AI Receptionist and human virtual receptionists. Many small businesses are happy with it. Others look around because they want something cheaper, something built into the software they already use, or something made for their trade.

This page puts real examples side by side: businesses using Smith.ai's AI receptionist, and businesses using an alternative. One auto business left Smith.ai because each add-on (CRM, email, texting) cost extra. Others replaced a human answering service. We don't test tools, rate them or list prices beyond what a source says. Most results come from case studies written by the tool maker, and we say so on each one.

On this page: Real examples · How to set one up · FAQ

Why owners look for a Smith.ai alternative

Add-on costs. The Moser's Motors owner says Smith.ai worked fine, but CRM ($50), automated email ($40) and texting ($30) each cost extra. He moved to Callacy at $89 for all of it.
They already pay for shop or field software. Jobber, Fullbay, Housecall Pro and Weave all have an AI receptionist inside them, so calls land in the same place as jobs and customer records.
They want a tool made for their trade, like restaurant phone ordering (Loman, Maple, VoiceBit, Slang.ai, Hostie) or a salon receptionist that books into the salon's diary (CallPad, BookingBee).
They want to control the script themselves. A Midwest pest control company built its voice AI inside its own CRM so staff could see and fix exactly what the bot says.

Why some stay with Smith.ai

It covers lots of business types in our examples: law firms, a tax firm, a vet clinic, a med spa and a physical therapist.
You can mix AI with human receptionists from the same company if some calls need a person.
A small med spa owner says hers was running in about an hour. A solo physical therapist says he books every lead who leaves a message with it.

What to watch out for with any AI receptionist

Names and addresses can come out wrong. A Winnipeg lawn care owner listens to the recordings for that reason.
Some callers will dislike talking to AI. Say up front that it's an AI and make it easy to reach a person.
Watch for per-minute or per-feature charges as you add texting, CRM or booking.
Most numbers here come from vendor case studies. Ask any vendor for a free trial and call the AI yourself before you switch.

Real examples by type of tool

Every result below is what the linked source reports. Company case studies are written by the tool maker, so read them with that in mind.

Businesses that switched from Smith.ai or a human answering service

Switch AI receptionists to get CRM, texts and booking in one plan. Tool: Callacy AI Front Desk. He says the old add-ons were $50 for CRM, $40 for automated email and $30 for texting. Callacy is $89 for everything he uses, and he now just checks a dashboard. He also says the business grew about 230% around two months in, but that's his overall growth, not something the tool alone caused. Reported in Callacy's case study.
Replace an HVAC company's after-hours answering service with an AI that books jobs. Tool: Free2Grow AI receptionist. Free2Grow says it was fully working within 60 days, booked more than 100 jobs in the first two months, and had a 98.2% viable-call success rate. These are the vendor's figures.
Replace an after-hours answering service with a voice AI that quotes and books in the CRM. Tool: HighLevel voice AI receptionist. The company's staff member says over 90% of calls show positive sentiment in the CRM, complaints dropped from several a day to a handful a week, and the first AI bot cut after-hours costs roughly in half compared with the human service, while the in-CRM bot has almost cut the extra cost completely. Interview published by the consultant who built it.
Replace a costly answering service at a two-person law firm. Tool: Upfirst (AI receptionist). He had been paying $1,000 to $2,500 a month for his old answering service and now has a reliable backup for the first time, he says.
Replace a slow after-hours answering service at a small law firm. Tool: Upfirst (AI receptionist). Messages and summaries land in his inbox with full transcripts, and the firm says it cut costs compared with the old answering service. No numbers given.
Replace a costly answering service with an AI that texts patients and tags each call. Tool: Upfirst (AI receptionist). Every call is now documented with a written summary of who called and what they need, so missed calls aren't lost.
Replace a per-minute answering service with an AI employee at a plumbing and HVAC company. Tool: Podium AI Employee (Voice AI). The office manager says the old answering service cost $800 to $1,500 a month. The company dropped it after adding the AI employee.
Replace an HVAC answering service with voice AI that books after-hours jobs. Tool: Podium Voice AI. Podium reports 49 extra jobs booked in 30 days, with 45% booked after hours, and says the AI helped capture 50% more leads after hours. The co-owner says they no longer need an answering service.

Smith.ai's own AI Receptionist: real examples (for comparison)

Let an AI receptionist do new client intake for an injury law firm. Tool: Smith.ai AI Receptionist. The attorney says every call with new business now gets answered, and the AI's intake details often remove the need for follow-up calls. No numbers given.
Catch new patient calls while you treat patients one-on-one. Tool: Smith.ai AI Receptionist. He keeps a 100% booking rate from leads who leave messages with the AI receptionist. He says a receptionist would have cost $1,500 a month.
Let an AI receptionist take tax client calls so you can call back prepared. Tool: Smith.ai AI Receptionist. The firm says the names, numbers and spellings it collected have been correct, and it won back a prospect it had thought was lost. No numbers given.
Triage vet clinic calls while the team is in surgery. Tool: Smith.ai AI Receptionist. The owner says it gathers the right information every time and has saved money compared with hiring another receptionist. The clinic gets 35+ calls a day.
Answer and book every caller from your ads at a small med spa. Tool: Smith.ai AI Receptionist. The owner says it was up and running within about an hour, and patients she asks say they love it. No numbers given.
Answer every law firm call 24/7 with AI and use its summaries as case notes. Tool: Smith.ai AI Receptionist. The operations manager says every call is now answered, fewer clients are upset, and intake moves faster. The firm adopted the AI's call summaries as its standard format for internal case notes. No numbers are given.

AI receptionists built into software you already use (Jobber, Fullbay, Housecall Pro, Weave)

Give a lawn care owner his evenings back with an AI receptionist in Jobber. Tool: Jobber Receptionist (AI receptionist add-on). In month one, it handled 25 calls that would have been missed, and the owner got his evenings back. The add-on costs US$29 a month on top of his Jobber plan; he figures one extra recurring job a month covers it. Caller reactions were mixed, and it sometimes got names and addresses wrong. Written by the consultant who set it up.
Let an AI receptionist take messages while a family plumbing business is on jobs. Tool: Jobber Receptionist (AI receptionist). Frank says the AI writes down caller info clearly and lets him call people back in a reasonable time, so the business doesn't lose money from missed calls. No numbers are given for the receptionist itself. (Jobber's case study credits its whole software, not just the AI, for the company's growth.)
Let an AI receptionist answer a mobile truck repair shop's missed calls and win new customers. Tool: Fullbay Claudia (AI receptionist). A co-owner estimates it brings in 1 to 2 new customers a week, about a 5 to 10% increase in volume, and says one extra job a month covers its cost. These are the owners' estimates in a case study written by Fullbay.
Use an AI receptionist as a backup when a 4-person truck and RV shop can't pick up. Tool: Fullbay Claudia (AI receptionist). The owner estimates it saves him 15 to 30 minutes a day. He says only about 10% of missed callers used to leave a voicemail, and now about 90% leave their info. When he calls back quickly, 90 to 95% answer. One call it handled led to a customer who has since sent 3 units. Figures are the owner's estimates in a Fullbay case study.
Use an AI receptionist so more callers leave their details instead of hanging up. Tool: Housecall Pro CSR AI. The owner says only 15% to 20% of callers used to leave a voicemail. With the AI, 60% to 70% now interact and leave their name, address and the service they need. Reported by Housecall Pro.
Let an AI receptionist take an eye clinic's after-hours calls instead of voicemail. Tool: Weave AI Receptionist. Weave reports that in under 60 days it handled 270+ after-hours calls, captured 35+ appointment requests worth an estimated $5,900+ (based on the price of a standard eye exam), and saves staff 2 to 3 hours a week. These are Weave's figures.
Put an AI receptionist in a dental office's phone tree for routine questions. Tool: Weave AI Receptionist. Weave reports that over 90 days the AI handled 650+ calls, had a 93.4% interaction rate and created 150 follow-up tasks for the front desk. A staff member says it takes a lot of the 'filler' calls. These are Weave's figures.

Stand-alone AI receptionists (Upfirst, Podium, CallPad, BookingBee, Goodcall)

Screen landscaping calls and send them to the right crew with an AI receptionist. Tool: Upfirst AI receptionist. About half of all calls are off the owner's plate, he says, and the important ones still reach him.
Get every caller's address and job details before you call back. Tool: Upfirst (AI receptionist). He says there are no more back-and-forth callbacks and no more paying receptionists who couldn't answer questions, and many customers don't realize it's AI. No numbers given.
Let AI answer a small plumbing company's calls while the owner works. Tool: Podium AI Employee. The owner says he no longer has to rush to find his phone because the AI answers, and the details it captures give him an edge on callbacks. No numbers are given.
Stop spending evenings returning salon calls. Tool: CallPad AI receptionist. In 10 months it spent 23 hours on the phone so the team didn't have to. About 1 in 5 calls came outside opening hours, and about 175 calls ended with the diary updated, including around 115 new bookings, the case study says.
Give salon clients an answer at any hour instead of voicemail. Tool: BookingBee.ai (AI receptionist). The vendor reports 108 calls handled and over $6,000 in appointment value managed (new bookings, changes and cancellations), with the AI paying for itself in less than a day.
Have an AI phone agent answer every call for a local cookie shop with several locations. Tool: Goodcall (AI phone agent). Goodcall reports a 12x ROI on activated calls, a 74% interaction rate on more than 7,000 calls, and call-backs in under 15 minutes. These numbers come from Goodcall's own case study.

Restaurants: phone AIs built for orders and reservations

Cut a pizzeria's labor costs by letting AI take phone orders. Tool: Loman AI (voice AI). Labor costs went down by over 24%. Before, they lost about 2 of every 10 calls during the rush. It went live in 3 days.
Get a husband-and-wife restaurant's owners off the phone with AI. Tool: Maple (voice AI). At its pace so far, it takes about 7,000 phone orders a year worth about $186,000. It has answered every call without passing one to staff, and gives the owners about 11 hours a week back. These yearly figures come from Maple's own records.
Take missed calls from 42% to zero at a family pizzeria. Tool: VoiceBit (voice AI). Missed or held calls went from 42% to 0%. More than 25 hours a week of phone work moved to the kitchen. 30% of store revenue is now handled by the AI, and 10 new Google reviews came in a single month.
Stop callers hanging up on hold at a busy café. Tool: Slang.ai (voice AI). It fully handles 60% of calls without staff, the case study says. The events manager says customers no longer hang up after waiting on hold.
Let an AI host answer a restaurant's reservation and event calls. Tool: Hostie (AI phone host). The manager told The San Francisco Standard (May 2025) that the phone has gone almost silent, staff are 'ecstatic' not to pick up, and the restaurant takes more phone reservations than before because the AI answers when it's closed. No numbers are given.
Let an AI answer a short-staffed restaurant's phone so servers can serve. Tool: Goodcall (AI phone agent). The owner told Restaurant Dive (October 2022) that Goodcall helped answer more than 4,000 calls, and he figures about five minutes saved per call. He says servers freed from the phone gave dine-in guests a better experience.

How to pick between Smith.ai and an alternative, step by step

Write down what your calls need. Taking messages, booking, quoting, routing to the right person, or orders. A lawn care owner chose to only take details, not quote or book.
Check the software you already use. If you run on Jobber, Fullbay, Housecall Pro or Weave, try its built-in AI receptionist first. It puts calls next to your jobs and records.
Add up the full monthly cost. Include add-ons for texting, CRM, email and extra minutes. Ask every vendor about hidden charges, like the Moser's Motors owner did.
Use a free trial and call it yourself. Test how natural it sounds and what happens after the call: the summary, the text to the caller and the alert to you.
Start with missed and after-hours calls. A 4-person truck and RV shop uses its AI only as a backup when the owner can't pick up.
Write rules for urgent and upset callers. Use keywords or questions that send emergencies and unhappy callers straight to a person.
Review calls for the first few weeks. An HVAC owner tested his AI for about two weeks before going live and kept making small fixes for the first couple of months.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best Smith.ai alternatives for small business?

It depends on your business. In our real examples: Upfirst and Podium for many service businesses; Jobber Receptionist, Fullbay's Claudia, Housecall Pro CSR AI and Weave AI Receptionist if you already use that software; CallPad and BookingBee for salons; Loman, Maple, VoiceBit, Slang.ai and Hostie for restaurants; and Callacy, which one auto business switched to from Smith.ai.

Does Smith.ai use AI or real people?

Both. Smith.ai offers an AI Receptionist and separate human virtual receptionists. The six Smith.ai examples on this site use its AI Receptionist.

Why did a business switch away from Smith.ai?

The Moser's Motors owner says Smith.ai worked, but the extra charges added up: $50 for CRM, $40 for automated email and $30 for texting. He tried Callacy free for a month and switched to its $89 plan, which includes those features.

Is an AI receptionist cheaper than a human answering service?

In our examples, owners say so. A two-person law firm had paid $1,000 to $2,500 a month for its answering service, and a plumbing and HVAC office manager says theirs cost $800 to $1,500 a month. A Winnipeg lawn care owner pays US$29 a month for Jobber's AI add-on on top of his Jobber plan. Prices change, so check each vendor.

Which alternative works if I already use Jobber?

Jobber has its own AI receptionist add-on. A Winnipeg lawn care company got 25 calls handled in its first month that would have been missed, and a San Diego plumber uses it to take messages while on jobs.

Is there an AI receptionist for truck and auto repair shops?

Yes. Fullbay, a shop software, has an AI receptionist called Claudia. A Fort Lauderdale mobile truck repair co-owner estimates it brings 1 to 2 new customers a week, and a 4-person truck and RV shop owner estimates it saves him 15 to 30 minutes a day. Both are owner estimates in Fullbay's case studies.

What about dental and eye care offices?

Weave, a patient communication system, has an AI receptionist. Weave reports an eye care practice captured 35+ after-hours appointment requests in under 60 days, and a dental office's AI handled 650+ routine calls in 90 days. Both figures are Weave's.

What's the best alternative for restaurants?

Restaurants usually pick a phone AI made for orders and reservations. In our examples, a pizzeria using VoiceBit went from 42% missed or held calls to 0%, and a San Francisco restaurant using Hostie says its phone has gone almost silent while it takes more reservations. See our restaurant phone ordering guide for more.

Will callers know it's an AI?

Often they can tell, and several businesses here tell callers up front. A dental office says its AI introduces itself as AI, and a lawn care owner says some callers loved it while others asked him to get rid of it.

How do I switch without losing calls?

Run a trial first, forward only missed or after-hours calls at the start, and keep your old setup until the new one handles your calls well. Test it yourself and review recordings for the first few weeks.

Switched from Smith.ai or chose an alternative? Share your results.