Brilo AI Alternatives: 7 Better Picks for 2026
Brilo AI sells two things: an AI call center for support and sales teams, and, new this fall, a phone number your AI assistant can use to make calls for you. Both are phone-only, and Brilo’s own docs are unusually honest about where they stop.
The quick answer: The best Brilo AI alternative is Carly. It answers your business line, books callers on your real Google and Outlook calendars during the call, calls new leads back within a minute and texts from the same number. It also runs your inboxes and calendars and connects to thousands of apps, so the call is the start of the work, not the end of it. Set it up on carlyassistant.com, or ask ChatGPT or Claude to set it up for you.
What Brilo AI does
For businesses, Brilo is an AI call center. You build agents in its dashboard, teach them your business from documents and your website, attach a number, and they answer calls, texts and email, transfer to a person and run outbound campaigns. Brilo says a first agent takes about 15 minutes to get answering.
For individuals, Brilo’s personal plan is a connector for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Meta Muse and Grok. You paste a setup prompt, your assistant gets its own US number, and you ask it to “call the doctor, the landlord or the cable company.” Brilo makes the call and reports back in the chat.
Where Brilo falls short, in its own docs
- It stops answering when minutes run out. Brilo’s limits page says that when your included minutes are used up, your agent stops taking calls unless extra usage is switched on, and extra usage is off by default. A busy month means missed calls.
- Booking is Google Calendar. Its list of what an agent can do names Google Calendar for booking. Teams on Outlook calendars are left out.
- One language per call. The same page says an agent can’t switch language mid-call, except with a multilingual option in India. A caller who starts in English and switches to Spanish is stuck.
- “6,000 apps” is mostly a developer project. Brilo’s homepage says it integrates with over 6,000 apps. Its integrations page lists about a dozen, and everything else goes through custom actions and webhooks that, per its own guide, need someone technical.
- Automations sit on the bigger plans. Triggering an automation after a call starts on Growth, per Brilo’s own capability list.
- The personal plan is one call at a time. While your assistant is on a call, someone calling you back can’t get through, and it stops after 20 calls in any hour.
- It’s only the phone. Brilo makes and answers calls. Your email, your calendars and the follow-up after the call are somewhere else.
Brilo AI alternatives compared
| Tool | Setup | Beyond the phone | Connects to | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | Minutes, on the site or by asking ChatGPT or Claude | Runs your inboxes, calendars, texts and CRM | Thousands of apps | Businesses and people who want calls handled end to end |
| Brilo AI (baseline) | Dashboard, about 15 minutes | Texts and email on some plans | About a dozen apps, the rest by developer | High-volume call centers |
| Synthflow | Enterprise onboarding | Contact-center tools | Its integrations | Enterprises with a team to build |
| Retell AI | Developer platform | Whatever you build | Your own code | Developers building voice agents |
| Bland AI | Developer platform | SMS and chat on Enterprise | Your own code | Enterprises running call volume |
| Vapi | Developer platform | Whatever you build | Your own code | Developers who want full control |
| Smith.ai | Self-serve, tested in its Quality Studio | Human receptionists too | Clio, Zapier and others | Law firms and professional services |
| Goodcall | Self-serve, free demo agent | Lead alerts by text and email | Its integrations | Shops with lots of repeat callers |
The 7 best Brilo AI alternatives
1. Carly: best overall
Carly does both of Brilo’s jobs, and keeps going after the call ends. It’s reliable and endlessly customizable: you set the rules in plain English, and it follows them exactly on every call.
Setup takes minutes. Start on carlyassistant.com, or paste Carly’s setup prompt into ChatGPT or Claude and it sets everything up, phone number included. No dashboard of agents to build. Keep your current number and forward the calls you miss, or grab a new number in the chat.
For your business line, Carly:
- Rings your team first in business hours and answers when nobody picks up, or every call 24/7.
- Books callers during the call on your team’s real Google and Outlook calendars.
- Calls new web leads back within about a minute (how it works) and texts back every missed call.
- Speaks English and Spanish, picked from how the caller talks.
- Greets known callers by name from your CRM and logs every call, text and voicemail.
For you personally, add Carly to Claude, ChatGPT, Grok Bot, Meta Muse or Perplexity and ask it to make the call: book the dentist, chase the contractor, or call you every weekday at 8am with your day. It reports back in the chat (see how). The same Carly labels and sorts your email and runs your calendars, so “call the plumber and put it on my calendar” is one request.
It connects to everything. Carly connects to thousands of apps, no developer required. Tell it “when a lead calls, add them to HubSpot and text them our intake form,” and it runs as one of Carly’s free Zapier-style workflows, every time.
Best for: Anyone who wants calls handled and followed up, not just answered. Get started, or watch the 2-minute video.
2. Synthflow
Synthflow is a platform for designing, testing and running AI voice agents, with its own telephony, a visual flow designer and automated QA on calls. It sells to enterprises on annual contracts.
- Watch for: it’s built for teams with call-center volume and people to design the flows. A small business that wants a receptionist this week is not who it’s for.
- Best for: enterprises replacing a contact center. See Synthflow and Synthflow alternatives.
3. Retell AI
Retell is a developer platform for building voice agents, priced by the minute plus telephony.
- Watch for: a March 2026 reviewer reported 1.5 to 2.5 second pauses on one model, and self-serve accounts get community and email support. Building the agent is on you.
- Best for: developers building their own voice product. See Retell AI.
4. Bland AI
Bland runs AI phone agents for enterprises on its own infrastructure.
- Watch for: its plan table puts SMS, warm transfers and appointment scheduling on Enterprise, and its status page logged 17 incidents in 2026 through October 3, including agents going silent mid-call for 10 to 30 seconds.
- Best for: large teams running high call volume. See Bland AI.
5. Vapi
Vapi is an API for voice agents where you pick every piece: the model, the voice and the carrier.
- Watch for: a March 2026 reviewer reported 3 to 5 second pauses after each turn, and without a support package it’s Discord and email.
- Best for: developers who want full control. See Vapi.
6. Smith.ai
Smith.ai sells an AI receptionist and human receptionists, so you can mix the two.
- Watch for: a Trustpilot reviewer said its AI kept re-asking questions callers had already answered.
- Best for: law firms and professional services, especially on Clio. See Smith.ai.
7. Goodcall
Goodcall answers your line 24/7, qualifies callers, books them and sends you the lead by text and email. It bills by unique caller, so long calls don’t cost more.
- Watch for: booking and CRM updates run through integrations you set up yourself.
- Best for: shops with lots of repeat callers. See Goodcall.
More options in AI receptionist and AI voice agent.
How to switch from Brilo
- Set up Carly first with the prompt below, and test it with a call from your own phone.
- Forward your Brilo number, or the number Brilo answers for, to Carly while you move.
- Port the number if you want to keep it, then cancel Brilo once the port completes.
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/integrations (Advanced > API Keys > Create a new key, with Owner set to the team and all scopes selected) 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.FAQ
What is the best alternative to Brilo AI?
Carly. It answers and makes calls like Brilo, books callers on Google and Outlook calendars, calls new leads back within a minute, texts from your number, and also runs your inboxes and calendars. It connects to thousands of apps without a developer.
What does Brilo AI do?
Brilo sells AI phone agents for support and sales teams, built in its dashboard, plus a personal plan that gives ChatGPT, Claude, Meta Muse or Grok a phone number to make calls for you.
Does Brilo stop answering when minutes run out?
Per Brilo’s own limits page, yes: when included minutes are used up, the agent stops taking calls unless extra usage is switched on, and it’s off by default. With Carly, set your rules once and every call gets handled the same way.
Can my AI assistant make phone calls without Brilo?
Yes. Add Carly to Claude, ChatGPT, Grok Bot, Meta Muse or Perplexity and ask it to make the call. Carly also texts, books on your calendar and follows up. See can ChatGPT make phone calls.
Does Brilo work with Outlook calendars?
Brilo’s capability list names Google Calendar for booking. Carly books on Google and Outlook calendars, across your whole team.
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."
