Calls to your business get answered, qualified and booked without a person on the phone. You leave with a shortlist of 5 verified services, their entry prices and the limits that matter before you sign up.
An AI receptionist picks up the business phone when you are on a job, with a client or off shift. It answers common questions, collects the caller's details, books into a calendar and passes urgent calls to a person. This page compares five services we checked against their official pricing pages: Upfirst, My AI Front Desk, KrispCall, CallHippo and Thinkrr. They are not interchangeable. Two are answering services priced for a small business, one is a full AI workforce with a CRM, and two are phone platforms where the AI voice agent is one feature among many. Use the criteria table to compare the entry price, trial terms and the main limit of each, then follow the steps to test one on your own number.
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The cheapest dedicated AI answering service in this list: from $24.95/mo it answers all, missed or after-hours calls, books into Google, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity and others, and transfers calls to a person with a warm handoff.
When to pick it: Pick it if you want to keep your number by forwarding calls and need a plan sized by call count (30 calls on Starter) with a 14-day no-card trial.
Answers calls 24/7 and also handles SMS, WhatsApp, email and website chat with one shared customer profile and a built-in CRM; bundles 200 voice minutes on the $99 plan.
When to pick it: Pick it if missed calls and messages come from several channels and you want one subscription instead of separate tools.
A business phone platform with an AI voice agent for inbound and outbound calls in 35+ languages, call routing and numbers in 150+ countries; the card lists a free plan and a 10-day trial.
When to pick it: Pick it if you need a phone system with routing and recording first, and the AI agent as an add-on.
Cloud phone system with a shared inbox, IVR, call recording and 100+ integrations from $15 per user per month; AI features on the card are limited to message rephrasing.
When to pick it: Pick it if you want a shared team phone inbox and will staff the calls yourselves, not a full AI answering agent.
A voice AI platform for inbound answering, outbound follow-up and a web agent; it can build an agent from a website and lists GoHighLevel, Google Calendar and Make integrations plus SOC 2 Type I and HIPAA statements.
When to pick it: Pick it if you are an agency reselling voice agents or a pharmacy or business needing HIPAA-aware call handling and a 7-day trial.
None of these tools has a free plan.
| Criterion | Upfirst | My AI Front Desk | CallHippo | KrispCall | Thinkrr | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From (price/mo) | $24.95/mo source | $99/mo source | custom, not published source | $15/mo source | custom, not published source | |
| Free plan / trial | no; trial: 14-day free trial, no credit card required source | no; trial: 7-day free trial source | yes; trial: 10-day free trial source | no source | no; trial: 7-day free trial on every plan source | |
| Key capability | Books into calendars, warm transfers, 35+ languages source | Voice + SMS + WhatsApp + email + chat, built-in CRM source | AI voice agent, virtual numbers in 150+ countries, routing source | Shared inbox for calls and SMS, IVR, 100+ integrations source | Inbound + outbound voice, builds an agent from a website source | |
| Main limit | No permanent free plan; priced by calls (Starter includes 30) source | From $99/mo; 200 voice minutes and 20 outbound calls/day on the entry plan source | Starter needs at least 2 users; price not published on the card source | Not an AI answering service by its card; per-user pricing, no free plan or trial source | Custom pricing, credit-based usage, no free plan source |
Facts from the vendors' official pages, checked on the date in the last column. Prices are what the vendor published on that date.
Choose all calls, missed calls only or after-hours only. Services such as Upfirst let you set this and keep your current number by forwarding.
List hours, services, prices and the three questions callers ask most. Most tools train from your website or documents, so check that page first.
Confirm the tool books into the calendar you use (Google, Outlook, Calendly) and can pass details to your CRM through Zapier or a native integration.
Forward your line during a busy hour for 7–14 days. Listen to recordings and check summaries; Upfirst offers 14 days without a card, My AI Front Desk and Thinkrr offer 7.
Compare your call count or minutes with the included allowance before choosing a tier. Upfirst bills per call, My AI Front Desk per voice minute and credits.
It answers your business calls with an AI voice, collects caller details, books appointments and can transfer to a person. It suits owner-run businesses that miss calls while working, such as trades, clinics and offices. Upfirst, for example, can cover every call, only missed calls or only after-hours calls.
On our verified cards, Upfirst starts at $24.95/mo billed monthly (30 calls) and KrispCall at $15 per user per month, but KrispCall is a phone system rather than an AI answering service. My AI Front Desk starts at $99/mo.
Some can book appointments and transfer calls, but dental offices usually need practice-software integration and privacy compliance. None of the five cards names a dental practice system, so confirm integrations with the vendor.
The cards do not describe legal-specific intake. Upfirst lists a Clio calendar integration; confidentiality terms and data handling should be confirmed with each vendor.
Thinkrr states HIPAA compliance and SOC 2 Type I on its card. For the others, HIPAA status is not stated on the cards. Ask for a signed agreement before handling patient data.
Something wrong or missing on this page — a wrong fact, an outdated price, a tool that should be here? Tell us, ideally with a link to the official page. We check every suggestion within 7 days; a suggestion never changes the page by itself.