Smith.ai vs Handled.
Smith.ai is the best-known name in this business. An AI answers, and on their higher plans real people do. There's a free plan below that, and they're one of the few here that will give your money back. When Handled loses a deal to someone good, 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 · $3.00/call after
- $0/mo
- AI Receptionist Pro
- 75–300 calls · overage $2.17–$2.50/call
- $150/mo
- AI Enterprise
- they build it for you · 30-day money-back
- $500/mo
- Human receptionists
- 30 live-staffed calls (Starter)
- from $300/mo
Handled · public pricing
- Line
- 200 min · $500 one-time setup · 30-day money-back
- $149/mo
- Starter
- 500 min · $500 one-time setup · 30-day money-back
- $249/mo
- Pro
- 1,500 min · tuned monthly · every call written up · 30-day money-back
- $549/mo
- Industry
- 5,000 min/mo · built for your industry · tuned every two weeks
- $1,200/mo
It answers in English or Spanish from the first ring and quotes from your own price list, not a generic script. Setup is four screens and a button, and a person keeps tuning it on your real calls after, plus websites, apps and AI staff from the same shop.
Where each one actually wins.
// where Smith.ai wins
Real people on the line
Their human plans put trained receptionists on the call. For a law firm, or for anyone who won't put a robot on their line, that matters.
Track record
Years in business, thousands of reviews, big firms on the client list. Nobody gets in trouble for picking Smith.
Free to try
A $0 plan with 25 calls is the easiest way to try one of these before you pay for it.
// where Handled wins
Someone keeps it right, from $149
Smith's done-for-you service sits on their $500 Enterprise plan. On Handled a person works through your line on your real calls (your prices, your rules) on every plan, from $149.
English and Spanish from the first ring
Every Handled call can be taken in either language, at no extra charge.
One shop
Phone, website, app and AI staff, all built by the same shop. One number to call when something needs fixing.
Tuned every month, and legal on every call
On Pro, every call comes back recorded, transcribed and written up, and a person tunes the line every month. Every call opens by saying it's an AI, the way the FCC and TCPA require. If you want it answering in a copy of your own voice, that's available on Pro and up. It's a switch you throw, not the default.
Pick Smith.ai
Pick Smith.ai if you want real people taking some of your calls, or you want a free plan to test AI answering before you spend anything.
Pick Handled
Pick Handled if you want someone to build it for you from $149, Spanish answered on every call, and one shop for your phone, your site and your app.
// straight answers
- Is Smith.ai cheaper than Handled?
- At the low end, yes. Smith.ai has a $0 plan with 25 calls and a $150/mo Pro plan; Handled starts at $149/mo. It evens out once you want someone to build it for you: that's Smith's $500/mo Enterprise plan, and it's every Handled plan.
- Do both give your money back?
- Yes, both do, and as of August 2026 not many here will. Smith.ai refunds within 30 days (up to $1,000, new clients), and Handled refunds within 30 days on Line, Starter and Pro.
- Which is better if a lot of my customers speak Spanish?
- Handled answers in English or Spanish on every plan, and the person who tunes it speaks both. Smith.ai lists Spanish answering among its features. Check their current plan details for how it's included.
// don't trust our comparison? ask an AI
Sources, checked August 2026: Smith.ai AI receptionist pricing · Smith.ai receptionist pricing + guarantee. 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.
Set up in minutes · 30-day money-back on Line, Starter and Pro
Shopping more than Smith.ai? See how much an AI receptionist costs across the whole market. It lists every published price we could verify, read off each vendor's own page.