9 Best AI Assistants That Make Phone Calls for You (2026)
You want to say “call them back and book Thursday” and get on with your day. Or have someone pick up when you can’t.
In the last three weeks Google, Meta, Instinct and Vapi all shipped AI that dials. Most of it is beta, US-only, and built for one person’s errands.
Short answer: Carly is the best AI assistant for phone calls that are part of your work. It makes calls from your business number, answers that number when you can’t, texts from it, books callers on all your Google and Outlook calendars, and follows up by email or text. Run it on the web, by text, or from inside ChatGPT and Claude.
The three jobs a phone assistant has to do
Dialing a number and handing you the phone isn’t the job. An assistant that handles your calls does three things:
- Holds the conversation with whoever answers and comes back with the result.
- Answers when you can’t, knows the caller, and books them or puts them through.
- Finishes the job: the booking hits your calendar, the recap goes out, the call is logged.
Most tools below do the first. We checked ten in October 2026 (Vapi and Bland share an entry), with prices read off vendor pages and docs that week.
Quick comparison
| Assistant | Places calls for you | Answers calls for you | Where it works | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | Yes, from your business number | Yes, your business line, around the clock if you want | Web, text, ChatGPT, Claude | Phone line priced on a short call; AI agents from $35/month |
| Gemini Call for Me | Yes, to US businesses, from your own number | Pixel Call Screen screens unknown callers | Pixel 11, US, English, beta | Any Google AI plan (Pro $19.99/mo) |
| Instinct Concierge | Yes, early access | Not your line; you can call Instinct | Text or call, Mac app | No published price |
| Meta Muse | Yes, US businesses, limited rollout | No | App, web, WhatsApp, Mac | Free; Power $20/mo; Maximum $100/mo |
| Arlo | Yes, and it waits on hold | Not your line; you can call Arlo | iMessage, Slack, Teams | $100 free credits; from $20/mo |
| Vapi Agent Phone | Yes, from Vapi’s number | No | Claude Code, Cursor, Muse, Instinct, Grok Bot | Free beta, 3 calls a day |
| Bland Agent Phone | Yes, from its own number | Yes, on that number | Claude, Codex, Muse, Grok Bot | $14.99 first month, then $29.99/mo |
| ChatGPT Voice | No, it talks to you | No | ChatGPT apps, 1-800-CHATGPT | Free with limits; Plus $20/mo |
| Siri | Dials; you do the talking | Call Screening asks unknown callers why | iPhone | Free |
| Martin | Yes, to book reservations and schedule events, from Martin’s line | Not your line; you can call Martin | Text, call, email, Slack, iOS | Basic $21/mo billed yearly |
1. Carly
Josh Whitaker runs Whitaker Landscaping outside Dallas: six on the crew, one office line, and a phone that rings while he’s on a mower. He puts the line on Carly, and a Tuesday goes like this:
- 8:05, a new lead. Emily Parker fills in the quote form on his site. Within minutes Carly calls her from the business number, says it’s an AI assistant calling for Whitaker Landscaping, asks Josh’s questions and books a site visit in a slot that’s actually free (speed-to-lead tutorial).
- 10:30, a call nobody can take. Michael Bennett rings about a broken sprinkler head. Carly answers in the company’s name, knows him from last spring’s emails, books a repair and texts him the confirmation.
- 1:15, the vendor chase. In Claude, Josh types “Have our agent call SiteOne in Plano and ask whether our sod is ready, and if not, get a date.” Carly places the call from the business line and reports back with a summary and transcript.
- 5:00, the follow-up. Every call sits in the team inbox with its transcript, Michael’s CRM record is updated, and the recap goes out from the Outlook account the quote thread started in.
What else comes with it:
- Texts on the same number. “Missed call, text them back” is one workflow (how it works). Carly answers the replies, a teammate can take over any thread, and carrier registration is part of setup.
- All your calendars at once. Carly works across all your Google and Outlook calendars, round-robins bookings across the crew, and hands people who’d rather pick a time a booking page. If a caller asks for a person, Carly rings the right teammate.
- Triggers, not only requests. Workflows start when a call ends, a voicemail or text arrives, an email lands or a form comes in. Carly connects to thousands of apps, so the outcome reaches HubSpot, Salesforce or wherever the team works.
- Polite by default. Outbound calls go out between 8am and 8pm, at most three attempts per lead a day, skipping anyone who opted out (outbound calling rules).
- More than the phone. AI email agents for your support@ address, and you can text Carly yourself from any phone.
Set it up:
- Get started, then book a call. The Carly team sets up the number with you: the one you have or a new one.
- Open carlyassistant.com/integrations, find Gmail, Outlook and their calendars, click Connect on each, and sign in. Repeat for every account.
- Write Carly’s instructions in plain English: what to ask, who to book, when to hand off.
- Call the number yourself and read the log (tutorial).
- To place calls from ChatGPT or Claude, paste the business setup prompt from our ChatGPT phone call guide. For your email and calendars in the same chat, click Get the Carly plugin in ChatGPT, or Get the Carly connector in Claude, then Connect, and sign in.
Best for: anyone whose calls are work (leads, customers, vendors, appointment confirmations)
Pricing: Phone line priced on a short call. Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month.
Limitations: The line is set up with the Carly team rather than self-serve, so the first step is a short scoping call. Book it here.
2. Gemini Call for Me (Pixel 11)
Launched September 24 as an early preview, Call for Me is the first mainstream assistant that does the whole call. Gemini dials from your own number, says it’s an AI assistant from Google calling on a recorded line on your behalf, works the phone menu and waits on hold while you follow a live transcript. Google Search’s “Have AI check pricing” has also phoned local businesses for quotes since July 2025.
Best for: Pixel 11 owners with errands to US businesses
Pricing: Any Google AI subscription (Google AI Pro is $19.99 a month) plus a Pixel 11 series phone; carrier rates apply
Limitations: Pixel 11, US numbers, English, the public beta of the Phone app, and daily call limits. Google’s help page says it won’t make payments or relay financial, health or other sensitive information, which rules out the bank, the insurer and most billing disputes.
3. Instinct Concierge
Instinct is the text-first personal agent that raised $1 billion at a $10 billion valuation on September 28. Concierge, announced by founder Noah Shinn on September 16, calls businesses for you: a restaurant with no online booking, a dentist’s cancellation list, a cable bill.
Best for: people already running errands through Instinct
Pricing: No published price; Instinct is still private access and Concierge is in early access
Limitations: Many users lost the agent mid-task in the September 21 and 22 outage, with no status page, and CNN reported one user’s Resy account was banned after Instinct pinged it hundreds of times an hour. More in the Instinct backlash.
4. Meta Muse
Meta’s personal agent launched September 8 and gained calling to US businesses mid-month: book a haircut, check stock, get contractor quotes, then a transcript and summary.
Best for: free errand help, if you’re comfortable with Meta’s access to your accounts
Pricing: Free tier; Power $20 a month and Maximum $100 a month buy more usage, not features (details)
Limitations: Reuters reported on September 22 that Meta had been testing a “human concierge,” with contractors placing and working some Muse calls; Meta said it would roll that out only with proper disclosures. Reviewers have also caught Muse inventing a phone number. See our Muse review.
5. Arlo
Arlo lives in iMessage, Slack and Microsoft Teams. Ask it to call a restaurant, book an appointment or check availability, and it makes the call, waits on hold and texts you what happened. It also sits in on meetings for notes.
Best for: small teams that want an errand runner inside Slack or a group chat
Pricing: Free start with $100 in credits for connecting Slack, then from $20 a month. Calls spend 30 credits a minute at 400 credits per dollar, about 7.5 cents a minute
Limitations: Everything draws on one credit balance, so a 40-minute airline hold costs about $3 and competes with research, images and meeting notes.
6. Vapi Agent Phone and Bland Agent Phone
Two voice-AI platforms now sell your existing assistant a phone. Vapi’s Personal Agent Calling launched in beta on September 30: connect Claude Code, Cursor, Muse, Instinct, Grok Bot or ChatGPT Work, approve once, and your assistant can have Vapi call a business and read back the transcript. Bland’s Agent Phone Plan gives Claude, Codex, Muse or Grok Bot its own US number that calls, takes calls and texts.
Best for: people who already run a personal agent and want it to dial
Pricing: Vapi is free in beta (3 call attempts a day, 10 in total). Bland is $14.99 the first month, then $29.99 a month
Limitations: Vapi only places calls, from its own number. Bland allows one call at a time, 50 calls and 100 texts a day, US and Canada only. Both need an assistant that can add a custom connector. Our Vapi and Bland reviews cover the developer platforms.
7. ChatGPT Voice
Voice mode is a fluent conversation with you, and anyone in the US or Canada can call 1-800-CHATGPT for 30 free minutes a month. Since September 29, Pro and Business Premium dots can be voice-called inside ChatGPT too.
Best for: rehearsing a hard call or working out what to say
Pricing: Voice works on the free plan with limits; Plus is $20 a month
Limitations: On its own it talks to you and never dials anyone else. Add the Carly plugin and ChatGPT calls and texts from your team’s business line, with every call logged (setup). Claude works the same way through the Carly connector.
8. Siri on iPhone
iOS 27 shipped a rebuilt Siri on September 14. Around it, Call Screening asks unknown callers their name and reason before your phone rings, Hold Assist waits in a queue and alerts you when a person picks up, and the new Call Context puts your confirmation code from Mail on screen while you’re on with an airline.
Best for: iPhone owners who still want to make their own calls, faster
Pricing: Free; Call Context needs an Apple Intelligence iPhone (15 Pro or later)
Limitations: Siri dials and prepares you, then you do the talking. Call Context is English only.
9. Martin
A Y Combinator-backed assistant you can text, call, email or message in Slack. It handles inbox, calendar and to-dos, takes CC-to-schedule requests, calls businesses for you to book reservations and schedule events, and calls you each morning with the weather and your schedule.
Best for: someone who wants to talk to their assistant out loud on an iPhone
Pricing: 7 days free; Basic $21 a month billed yearly or $35 monthly; Pro $30 yearly or $49 monthly
Limitations: Martin’s docs say it can text and call others on your behalf to book reservations and schedule events, but that runs on Martin’s line rather than your business number. The app is iOS only, with Android on a waitlist. See Martin alternatives.
If your business line needs answering
Answering customers all day is its own category. See our best AI receptionists and AI answering service guides, the My AI Front Desk review, and the build-it-yourself platforms Retell AI, Vapi and Bland. To have it answered without building anything, the Carly team sets up Carly for you.
How to pick
If your calls are work (leads, customers, vendors, confirmations), go with Carly. It’s the only assistant here that both makes and answers calls on your business number, texts from it, books across all your calendars and logs every call where the team can see it.
Personal errands on a Pixel 11: Gemini Call for Me. Already in Instinct or Muse: use their calling as it reaches you. Want your current agent to dial: Vapi’s free beta, or Bland for a number that also takes calls and texts. On an iPhone: Call Screening and Hold Assist save time, but you still talk.
FAQ
Can AI make phone calls for me?
Yes. Gemini’s Call for Me (Pixel 11 beta), Instinct, Muse and Arlo call businesses for you, and Vapi or Bland give an existing assistant a phone. For calls that are work, Carly calls from your business number and logs every call with a transcript.
Can ChatGPT make phone calls?
Not on its own. ChatGPT Voice talks to you, and 1-800-CHATGPT lets you call it. Add the Carly plugin and it can call and text from your team’s line; our step-by-step guide has the setup prompt.
Is there an AI that answers my calls for me?
On a personal phone, Pixel’s Call Screen and iPhone’s Call Screening question unknown callers before you pick up. On a business line, Carly answers in your company’s name, books callers on your calendars and texts back after a missed call. Book a call and the Carly team sets up the number with you.
Will the person on the other end know it’s AI?
They should. Gemini opens every call by saying it’s an AI assistant from Google calling on your behalf. Carly opens outbound calls by saying it’s an AI assistant calling for your business; adjust the wording in its instructions at carlyassistant.com.
What’s the cheapest AI that makes calls?
Vapi’s Agent Phone is free in beta (3 calls a day, 10 in total) and Muse has a free tier. Gemini needs a Pixel 11 and a Google AI plan; Bland is $29.99 a month after the first. Carly: free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month, with the phone line priced on a short call. Get started.
Ready to automate your busywork?
Carly schedules, researches, and briefs you—so you can focus on what matters.
See what people say
"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
