Nov 5, 2026

Best AI Virtual Receptionist (2026): 8 Compared on Price

A virtual receptionist used to mean a person in a call center reading your script. Now it mostly means software that picks up when you can’t, asks the caller what they need, books them or takes a message, and texts you the summary. The good ones also handle the texts and emails the same caller sends next.

The quick answer: Carly is the best AI virtual receptionist for a small business that wants one agent on its calls, texts, WhatsApp and email, following the same rules every time. It answers on your business number, books on your team’s real Google or Outlook calendars, transfers to a person when your rules say so, and logs every conversation in one inbox. Smith.ai is the pick if you want live humans on standby. Ruby is the pick if you want humans only.

US list prices from each vendor’s own pricing page, checked October 30, 2026.

AI virtual receptionists compared

Virtual receptionist	Who answers	Books appointments	Billed by	Starting price
Carly	AI, with transfers to your team	On your team’s Google or Outlook calendars, round robin	Plan	Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/mo
Smith.ai	AI or live receptionists	Yes	Call	AI free for 25 calls; Pro from $150; live from $300 for 30 calls
Ruby	Humans	Per your script	Minute	$250/mo for 50 min
Abby Connect	Live or AI	Per your script	Minute	$164/mo for 50 min
Posh	Humans, with AI options	Per your script	Minute	$65/mo plus $2.30/min
Rosie	AI	On Scale and up	Plan with minutes	$49/mo for 250 min
Goodcall	AI	Through integrations	Unique caller	$79/mo for 100 callers
Dialzara	AI	Through Zapier or Make	Talk time	$29/mo for 60 min
My AI Front Desk	AI	Google or Outlook calendar	Plan with minutes	$99/mo for 200 min

1. Carly

Carly is an AI receptionist for the whole front desk, not just the phone. Write your rules once, in plain English, and it applies them the same way to every caller, every text and every email.

Answers every channel. Calls, texts, WhatsApp and email land in one team inbox. Carly picks up around the clock, or only when nobody on your team does.
Asks your questions, in order. Name, what they need, how urgent, whatever your script says, the same for every caller.
Books on real calendars. Round robin across your team’s Google or Outlook calendars, with a confirmation and reminder text from your number.
Transfers when a person should take it. Your rules decide: a new lead goes to sales, a billing question goes to Claire, an emergency goes to the on-call phone.
Calls web leads back in a minute. A form submission gets a call within about a minute, and a text and email if they miss it.
Leaves voicemails and follows up. When nobody picks up on an outbound call, Carly leaves the voicemail you wrote and sends a follow-up text.
Logs everything. Transcript, recording, summary and the caller’s timeline in Carly’s built-in CRM, or synced to yours. Carly connects to thousands of apps.
Runs from ChatGPT or Claude too. Ask your AI chat to call someone back or change the receptionist’s rules, and it does, through the Carly connector.
Best for: any small business that wants calls, texts and email handled by one agent that follows the same rules every time.
Pricing: Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month.
Setup: paste one prompt into ChatGPT, Claude or any AI, grab a number in the chat, and you’re live in about ten minutes.

Carly business setup prompt

Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or any AI. It walks you through the rest.

Help me connect Carly Teams so I can work with my organization's business texts, phone calls, voicemail and voice/text agents from this chat. I'll add it to you myself: tell me exactly what to click for the app you are, one step at a time, and wait for me to confirm before moving on. If a step doesn't match what I see, ask me what's on my screen. If you can do the setup yourself (Claude Code, Codex, Muse, Grok Bot), go ahead, and ask me for any key in your secure credential prompt, never in the chat. Don't tell me it's connected until list_phone_lines works, and if I have several teams, ask which to use. Before sending a text or making a call, confirm the team, recipient and message or task with me. The steps are below.

# Connect Carly Teams to an AI app

> Carly Teams works a team's business phone lines through the team's AI agents: business texts, phone calls, voicemail, the voice and text agents, and the team's CRM.

MCP server: https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp (streamable HTTP, OAuth)

## Setup

Carly Teams isn't in any plugin or connector directory yet, so it's added as a custom connection by URL.

1. Add Carly Teams:
- ChatGPT: open https://chatgpt.com/plugins, click Add, and choose Create MCP App (not Create plugin or Upload plugin archive). If Create MCP App isn't on the menu, turn on Developer mode first in Settings > Security and login. Name it "Carly Teams" with the description "Work with my team's business texts, calls, voicemail and voice/text agents," paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp as the server URL, choose OAuth, create it, and sign in. Then in the message box open the + menu, choose Developer mode, and pick Carly Teams. No plugin needs to be built, packaged or uploaded.
- Claude (claude.ai, Claude Desktop, or Cowork): Customize > Connectors > Add custom connector, name it Carly Teams, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, and sign in.
- Claude Code: `claude mcp add --transport http --scope user carly-teams https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp`, then /mcp, pick carly-teams, and authenticate.
- Codex: `codex mcp add carly-teams --url https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp`, then `codex mcp login carly-teams`.
- Cursor: add {"mcpServers": {"carly-teams": {"url": "https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp"}}} to ~/.cursor/mcp.json, then sign in to carly-teams from Customize.
- Muse: a custom connector to https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp with a Carly API key as its bearer token. The key comes from carlyassistant.com/account (API key under Carly Teams) and goes in Muse's connector settings, not in a chat message.
- Grok: grok.com/connectors > New Connector > Custom, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, and sign in.
- Grok Bot: a custom remote MCP server named carly-teams at https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp. Approve it and sign in.
- Perplexity: Plugins in the sidebar (or Customize > Connectors), then Add custom > Connector > Add MCP connector. Choose Remote, name it Carly Teams, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, pick OAuth, check the box and click Add, then click the Carly Teams card to sign in.
- Anything else: a remote MCP server (streamable HTTP) named carly-teams at https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp. It signs in with OAuth.
Sign in with the Carly account that belongs to the organization.

2. Once it's added, the Carly Teams tools show up in the chat, including list_phone_lines. If they don't, turn Carly Teams on for the chat or start a new chat.

3. To check it worked, call list_phone_lines: it returns the teams and phone lines the account can reach. A team with no phone line yet can get one with find_numbers (optionally by area code) and get_number, which may return a checkout link to finish.

4. Something to try first: "Review our missed calls and voicemail and help me reply to customers." Carly Teams also reads and answers business texts, has the team's agent make calls, and edits the voice and text agents. Texts and calls go out at once from the agent's number and can't be taken back. Team permissions apply.

## Email, calendars and workflows

Email, calendars, files, booking pages and workflows are the regular Carly connector, added separately. It's listed in ChatGPT's plugin directory (https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6a67a26316b88191860222f918d4ec54) and Claude's connector directory (https://claude.ai/directory/carly), and connects anywhere else at https://carlyassistant.com/mcp/. Its setup is https://carlyassistant.com/mcp.txt.

Get started, or book a call to compare it with your current receptionist bill.

2. Smith.ai

Smith.ai sells both an AI receptionist and live North American receptionists, and you can run them together, with the AI answering first and a person stepping in.

Best for: businesses that want a human available for the calls the AI shouldn’t take.
Pricing: AI is free for 25 calls a month, then $3 a call; Pro from $150 for 75 calls. Live receptionists from $300 for 30 calls, $810 for 90, $2,100 for 300.
Limitations: per-call billing adds up fast on a busy line, and texts and email are separate products.

3. Ruby

Ruby is the best-known live virtual receptionist service, with real people answering in your business’s name and a mobile app for call handling.

Best for: owners who want a human voice and are willing to pay by the minute for it.
Pricing: $250 a month for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200, $1,725 for 500.
Limitations: minutes run out, overage is expensive, and the receptionists follow a script rather than your calendar.

4. Abby Connect

Abby Connect offers live receptionists with a dedicated team assigned to your account, plus an AI receptionist option.

Best for: firms that want the same small group of people answering their calls.
Pricing: $164 a month for 50 minutes, $329 for 100, $599 for 200, $1,380 for 500.
Limitations: minute-based, and intake beyond message-taking costs more. See Abby Connect alternatives.

5. Posh

Posh is a live receptionist service with an app, and optional AI answering on top.

Best for: businesses that want a low base fee and pay as they go.
Pricing: the Chic plan is $65 a month plus $2.30 a minute; other plans include minutes.
Limitations: at $2.30 a minute, a chatty caller costs more than most AI plans charge for a month.

6. Rosie

Rosie is an AI phone receptionist that answers, takes messages and sends you a summary, with booking on its higher plans.

Best for: solo operators who mostly need messages taken.
Pricing: $49 a month for 250 minutes, $149 for 1,000, $299 for 2,000.
Limitations: phone only, and calendar booking starts on the Scale plan.

7. Goodcall

Goodcall is an AI phone agent billed by unique caller rather than by minute, with integrations to common CRMs.

Best for: businesses with long calls from a small set of regular customers.
Pricing: $79 a month for 100 unique callers.
Limitations: a line with many first-time callers burns through the allowance. See Goodcall alternatives.

8. Dialzara

Dialzara is the cheapest entry point: an AI receptionist cloned to your business’s details, billed by talk time.

Best for: trying an AI receptionist for the price of lunch.
Pricing: $29 a month for 60 minutes; $99 for 220.
Limitations: booking goes through Zapier or Make rather than a native calendar connection. See Dialzara alternatives.

9. My AI Front Desk

My AI Front Desk is an AI receptionist with texting, chat and email drafts bundled into its plans.

Best for: owners who want texts and chat handled alongside calls.
Pricing: $99 a month, or $79 billed annually, for 200 minutes, then 25 cents a minute.
Limitations: no free plan, and a 3.3 Trustpilot score at the time of writing. See My AI Front Desk alternatives.

What 300 calls a month costs

A small business taking 300 calls a month at three minutes each is about 900 minutes. On list prices that is roughly $1,725 plus overage at Ruby, around $2,100 at Smith.ai’s live tier, $1,380 plus overage at Abby Connect, $149 at Rosie, and Carly’s AI agents from $35 a month. Human receptionists are priced for a few calls a day. AI receptionists are priced for all of them.

How to pick an AI virtual receptionist

Calls, texts and email, one set of rules: Carly.
A human on standby for the hard calls: Smith.ai.
Humans only, and the budget for it: Ruby or Abby Connect.
The cheapest way to try AI answering: Dialzara, then Rosie.
Billing by caller, not minute: Goodcall.

For industry-specific picks, see best AI receptionist for law firms, best AI receptionist for salons, best AI dental receptionist and best AI medical receptionist.

FAQ

What is an AI virtual receptionist?

Software that answers your business line, asks the caller what they need, books an appointment or takes a message, and sends you the summary. Carly does the same for texts, WhatsApp and email, and transfers to a person when your rules say so.

How much does a virtual receptionist cost?

Live services run $164 to $300 a month for 30 to 50 calls or minutes. AI receptionists run $29 to $99 a month for a few hundred minutes. Carly: Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month.

Can an AI receptionist book appointments?

Yes. Carly books on your team’s real Google or Outlook calendars while the caller is on the line and sends the confirmation from your number. Rosie books on its Scale plan; Dialzara and Goodcall book through integrations.

Can it transfer calls to me?

Carly transfers by your rules, for example new leads to sales and emergencies to the on-call phone, and hands the conversation to a teammate in the team inbox when a person should take over.

Does it answer only when I miss a call?

Your choice. Forward every call, or only missed and declined calls. How to set up an AI receptionist for missed calls.

How long does setup take?

About ten minutes. Paste the setup prompt into ChatGPT or Claude, pick a number in the chat, and the AI walks you through the rest.

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."

Gus Ibrahim, Founder & Director, IHR