7 Best Upfirst Alternatives in 2026
Upfirst is one of the better AI receptionists for a small business: it bills by the call, books appointments on every plan and speaks 35+ languages. Its limits show once the call ends. A web lead that comes in at 8pm waits for a person, texts are links sent during a call, and every extra call adds to the bill.
The quick answer: The best Upfirst alternative is Carly. It answers your line, books on your real Google or Outlook calendars, and then keeps going: it calls new web leads back within about a minute, texts customers both ways from your business number and logs everything to your CRM, the same way every time. It connects to thousands of apps. Set it up on carlyassistant.com in minutes, or ask ChatGPT or Claude to do it for you.
Where Upfirst stops
Upfirst does answering well. From its own pricing and feature pages:
- Lead callbacks aren’t on the feature list. Upfirst answers inbound calls. A web form fill still waits for someone on your team to call back.
- Texts are links sent during a call, like a booking page or directions. There’s no two-way texting with customers after the call.
- Every call is metered. Plans run from 30 calls on Starter to 600 on Scale, with $0.70 to $1.50 for each extra call. A busy month or a marketing push moves the bill.
- Human support is weekdays, 9 to 6 Eastern, with AI support on weekends.
- No public review record yet. Upfirst has no Trustpilot reviews, so ask for references.
More detail in our Upfirst review.
Upfirst alternatives compared
| Tool | Setup | Books during the call | What customers report | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | Minutes, on the site or by asking ChatGPT or Claude | Yes, on Google and Outlook calendars | Follows your rules the same way on every call | Answering plus lead callbacks, texts and a team inbox |
| Upfirst (baseline) | Enter your website, or set up from ChatGPT or Claude | Yes, Google, Outlook, Calendly and more | No Trustpilot reviews yet | Solo businesses with light call volume |
| Reception.ai | Paste your website, about 5 minutes | Google Calendar, Calendly or Cal.com; Outlook through Zapier | Too new for reviews | Multilingual callers on Google Calendar |
| Smith.ai | Self-serve, tested in its Quality Studio | Through your scheduling tool | AI that re-asks questions, hard cancellations (4.3/5) | Firms that may want humans later |
| Frontdesk AI | Self-serve, forward your number | Google, Outlook or Calendly | Slow or missing support (3.3/5) | Owners with no CRM yet |
| Rosie | Trains on your Google profile and website | Higher plans; the entry plan texts a link | No Trustpilot reviews yet | Solo owners who want messages taken |
| Goodcall | Self-serve, free demo agent | Through integrations you set up | Price changes without notice (2.5/5) | Shops with lots of repeat callers |
| Dialzara | Self-serve, editable prompt | From its mid-tier plan | Hard to reach support (4.2/5) | Very low call volume |
Trustpilot scores and reviews checked November 4, 2026.
1. Carly: best Upfirst alternative
Carly treats the call as the start of the job, not the end. It’s reliable and endlessly customizable: you write how calls and follow-ups should go in plain English, and it does exactly that every time.
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. Keep your current number and forward the calls you miss, or grab a new one in the chat.
What it does that Upfirst leaves to you:
- Calls new web leads back within about a minute of a form fill, nights and weekends included (how it works), then texts and emails if they miss it.
- Texts both ways from your business number, plus WhatsApp. Customers reply, and Carly answers. Every missed call gets a text back.
- One team inbox. Calls, transcripts, texts and email on the customer’s timeline, in HubSpot, Salesforce or Carly’s CRM.
- Rings your team first if you want, then answers, and hands callers to a person through ring groups or a phone menu.
And everything Upfirst does well: answers 24/7, books during the call on Google and Outlook calendars, remembers callers already in your CRM, and speaks English and Spanish.
It connects to everything. Carly connects to thousands of apps, so a booked call can create the job, update the deal and post a summary in Slack. Follow-ups run as free Zapier-style workflows.
It runs from your AI chat. Add the Carly plugin in ChatGPT or the Carly connector in Claude to build the receptionist, place calls, send texts and steer a live call from the chat (see how).
Get started, or watch the 2-minute video.
2. Reception.ai
ElevenLabs’ AI receptionist, launched in September 2026. It builds itself from your website, answers in ElevenLabs voices in 70+ languages and books on Google Calendar, Calendly or Cal.com.
- Watch for: in the US, texting needs a Twilio number you connect yourself, and Outlook runs through Zapier without seeing open slots.
- Best for: owners on Google Calendar with callers in many languages. See Reception.ai alternatives.
3. Smith.ai
Smith.ai sells an AI receptionist and live human receptionists, billed by the call. You test the AI in its “Quality Studio” before it goes live.
- What customers report: a July 2026 reviewer says the AI kept re-asking questions callers had already answered, and in October 2026 a customer had been trying to cancel for over a week.
- Best for: firms that may want human receptionists later. See Smith.ai alternatives.
4. Frontdesk AI (My AI Front Desk)
Calls, texts, web chat and its own CRM in one plan, with booking on Google, Outlook or Calendly.
- What customers report: in October 2026 a new customer couldn’t create an account and found no human support.
- Best for: owners with no CRM yet. See My AI Front Desk alternatives.
5. Rosie
Rosie trains on your Google Business Profile and website, answers 24/7 in English or Spanish and texts you a summary.
- Watch for: on the entry plan, callers get a link to book themselves.
- Best for: solo owners who mostly need messages taken. See Rosie AI alternatives.
6. Goodcall
Goodcall bills by unique caller, so repeat callers and long calls don’t cost more.
- What customers report: a June 2026 reviewer says their price went from $59 to $99 to $130 a month without notice.
- Best for: shops with lots of repeat callers. See Goodcall alternatives.
7. Dialzara
A simple, low-cost AI receptionist with an editable prompt and a 4.2 on Trustpilot.
- Watch for: calendar sync and warm transfers start on its mid-tier plan, and an October 2026 reviewer says support is hard to reach.
- Best for: very low call volume. See Dialzara alternatives.
How to pick
- Who calls the web lead back? If the honest answer is “us, tomorrow,” go with Carly, which calls within about a minute.
- Do customers text you? Pick a receptionist that texts both ways from your number, not just links during a call.
- How busy is a busy month? Price your calls at double your normal volume before you commit to a per-call plan.
- Just need answering at low volume? Upfirst and Dialzara are both good, inexpensive starts.
For the full field, see the best AI receptionists.
How to switch from Upfirst
- Set up Carly with the prompt below and grab a number, or keep yours.
- Change your forwarding from Upfirst’s number to Carly’s, for every call, missed calls or after-hours only.
- Test it with a call and a web form fill of your own.
- Cancel Upfirst once you’re happy.
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.FAQ
What is the best alternative to Upfirst?
Carly, for businesses that want calls answered and booked plus new leads called back within a minute, two-way texts and a team inbox. Reception.ai is a strong pick for multilingual callers on Google Calendar.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Upfirst?
Upfirst is already one of the cheapest starts, at $24.95 a month for 30 calls. Dialzara starts at $29 a month for 60 minutes. Past a few dozen calls a month, compare what each plan costs at your real volume. Carly is quick to test with a call from your own phone.
Upfirst vs Rosie: which is better?
Upfirst books on every plan and bills by the call. Rosie bills by minutes and saves calendar booking for its higher plans, so Upfirst is usually the better fit if you want callers booked.
Can Upfirst call leads back?
Calling new web leads back isn’t on Upfirst’s feature list. Carly calls web leads within about a minute of a form fill.
Can I keep my phone number if I switch?
Yes. Forward your existing number to Carly, for every call or only the ones your team misses.
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."
