Podium AI Employee: Pricing, Review and Alternatives
Podium sells local businesses a platform for texting, reviews and payments, and an AI Employee named Jerry that answers leads by phone, text, email and social, then books them.
It’s a big, capable suite. It’s also one of the most expensive ways to get an AI answering your phone, and the AI part is priced behind a demo.
The quick answer: Podium’s Core plan is $399 a month and Pro is $599, with custom Signature pricing above that. The AI Employee is an add-on to any plan, and Podium only prices it on a demo. Phones are a separate add-on too. If what you need is an AI that answers your business line, texts back, calls new leads within a minute and logs everything to your CRM, Carly does that from one prompt in ChatGPT or Claude.
Prices from Podium’s pricing page, checked October 21, 2026.
Podium pricing
| Plan | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Core | $399/month | Lead inbox, AI review responses, basic automations, 200+ integrations |
| Pro | $599/month | AI Concierge, AI Reputation Specialist, AI call summaries, more automations |
| Signature | Custom | AI Scheduler, AI Salesperson, AI Marketer, multi-location tools |
| AI Employee | Demo only | Add-on to any plan |
| Phones | Add-on | Podium’s phone system |
US locations also pay a $5 monthly carrier fee for business texting, and Podium tells HVAC businesses to call sales for their own pricing.
What Podium does well
- One inbox for texts, web chat, reviews and payments.
- Reviews are a core strength, with AI-written responses.
- The AI Employee works across channels: phone, text, email and social, with access to your calendar and customer records.
Where Podium falls short
- The floor is $399 a month, before the AI Employee or phones. For a small shop, that’s a lot to pay before the phone is even answered.
- You can’t see the AI price. The AI Employee is “Get a demo,” not a number.
- Phones are their own add-on. The AI answering your calls depends on which Podium phone setup you buy.
- Its voice AI trips on real callers. A Podium customer on G2, writing September 28, 2026, said its “Voice AI struggles with handling fast talkers or people who interrupt a lot.”
- It’s a platform to move into. Podium works best when your texting, reviews and payments all run through it, so you’re changing a lot more than your phone.
Why Carly is the better choice for your phone
Carly answers your business line and follows your rules exactly, on every call, without asking you to move your business onto a new platform.
- Live from one prompt. Paste the setup prompt into ChatGPT or Claude, say how calls should go, and grab a number in the chat.
- Your people ring first. In business hours Carly rings your team and only picks up when nobody answers. After hours it answers immediately.
- New leads get a call in about a minute, then a text and an email if they miss it (how it works).
- Two-way texting from your number, with a text back on every missed call.
- Ring groups and phone menus up to nine options, so callers reach the right person.
- English and Spanish, picked up from the caller.
- Reviews and payments through the apps you already use. Tell Carly “after every finished job, text the customer our Google review link,” or “text a Stripe payment link when an invoice goes out.” Carly connects to thousands of apps and runs it every time.
- Steer it from ChatGPT or Claude. Place calls, send texts and watch or steer a live call from the chat (see how).
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.Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month. Get started.
Podium vs Carly
| Podium | Carly | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $399/month, AI Employee extra | Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month |
| Setup | Onboarding with Podium’s team | One prompt in ChatGPT or Claude |
| Rings your team first | Depends on your Podium phones setup | Yes, then Carly picks up |
| Calls new leads | AI Employee add-on | Within about a minute |
| Email and calendar | Lead email in its inbox | Every Gmail and Outlook account and calendar |
| Run from ChatGPT or Claude | No | Yes |
Other Podium alternatives
- Carly: the AI receptionist and follow-up, without the $399 platform.
- Quo: a business phone system with an AI agent. See Quo alternatives.
- RingCentral: a full phone system with AIR, its AI receptionist. See RingCentral AI receptionist.
- Smith.ai: AI with live receptionists behind it. See Smith.ai alternatives.
For texting on its own, see business texting.
FAQ
How much does Podium cost?
Core is $399 a month and Pro is $599. Signature is custom. The AI Employee and Phones are add-ons Podium prices on a demo, and US locations pay a $5 monthly texting carrier fee.
What is Podium’s AI Employee?
It’s Podium’s AI agent, which Podium calls Jerry. It answers leads by phone, text, email and social, uses your calendar and customer records, and books and follows up on its own.
Is Podium worth it for a small business?
If you want reviews, payments and texting in one platform and the budget fits, it’s a strong suite. If you mainly want your phone answered and your leads called back, Carly does that without the platform price.
What is the best Podium alternative?
Carly for an AI that answers, texts and calls leads on your existing tools. Quo or RingCentral if you want a full phone system first.
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"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."
