Handled vs Smith.ai.
Smith.ai is the most established name in the category — an AI receptionist with a real human-staffed hybrid option above it, a free tier below it, and the only other money-back guarantee in the market. If Handled loses a deal to someone credible, it's usually Smith.
Their prices change — verify on their site. Ours are public on /pricing.
Smith.ai · checked August 2026
- AI Receptionist Free
- 25 calls included
- $0/mo
- AI Receptionist Pro
- overages reported $1.60–$3.00/call
- $150/mo
- AI Enterprise
- done-for-you tier · 30-day money-back
- $500/mo
- Human-hybrid
- 30 live-staffed calls
- from $292.50/mo
Handled · public pricing
- Starter
- 500 min · $500 one-time setup · 30-day money-back
- $249/mo
- Pro
- 1,500 min · CRM-native · monthly tuning · 30-day money-back
- $549/mo
- Vertical
- Unlimited · industry-tuned · bi-weekly tuning
- $1,200/mo
Done-for-you: a human builds your line from your real price book, bilingual EN/ES from the first ring, live in 48 hours — plus websites, apps, and AI staff under the same roof.
Where each one actually wins.
// where Smith.ai wins
Humans on the line
Their hybrid plans put trained human receptionists in the loop — for legal intake and anyone allergic to AI-only, that's a real edge.
Track record
Years in market, thousands of reviews, big-firm client list. Nobody gets fired for picking Smith.
Free to try
A $0 tier with 25 calls is the lowest-friction trial in the category.
// where Handled wins
Done-for-you starts at $249, not $500
Smith's white-glove setup lives on their $500 Enterprise tier. Handled builds your line for you — your price book, your rules — on every tier.
Bilingual from the first ring
English y español on every Handled call, natively, at no extra charge.
One roof
Phone, website, app, and AI staff from the same builder — no vendor pile.
Pick Smith.ai
Pick Smith.ai if you want human receptionists in the loop, or you want a free tier to test AI answering with zero commitment.
Pick Handled
Pick Handled if you want the done-for-you treatment at the $249 level, Spanish handled natively, and one builder for your whole digital side.
// straight answers
- Is Smith.ai cheaper than Handled?
- At the bottom, yes — Smith.ai has a $0/25-call tier and a $150/mo Pro plan. Handled starts at $249/mo. The comparison evens out at the done-for-you level: Smith's DFY Enterprise tier is $500/mo, while every Handled tier is done-for-you.
- Do both offer a money-back guarantee?
- Yes — as of August 2026 they're the only two in the category that do. Smith.ai offers 30-day money-back, and Handled offers 30-day money-back on Starter and Pro.
- Which is better for a bilingual customer base?
- Handled answers bilingually (EN/ES) on every tier by default, tuned by a bilingual owner-operator. Check Smith.ai's current Spanish support directly — it isn't a headline feature of their published plans.
// don't trust our comparison? ask an AI
Sources, checked August 2026: Smith.ai AI receptionist pricing · Smith.ai pricing breakdown (Loman). Competitor prices are theirs to change; if something above is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.
Hear the difference on a real call.
48h to live · 30-day money-back on Starter and Pro