The short answer
Smith.ai is an AI plus human hybrid. It answers with AI, gives you an optional human answering tier, and bills per call with add-on fees for things like booking, SMS, and bilingual service. Its pricing is not published, so you have to request a quote to find out what you would pay.
Ruby is live humans, real receptionists billed per receptionist-minute, starting around $245 per month. It is genuinely great for empathy on sensitive calls, but it gets expensive at volume and mostly takes messages rather than booking the appointment for you.
If what you actually want is a receptionist that books the appointment on the call, at a flat rate that does not climb every time your phone rings, neither one is built that way. That is where a custom AI receptionist fits. Hear one trained on your own website in about a minute, no signup.
Smith.ai vs Ruby, Side by Side
| Smith.ai | Ruby | |
|---|---|---|
| Who answers | AI receptionist, with an optional human answering tier | Live human receptionists (not AI) |
| Billing model | Per call, plus add-on fees (booking, SMS, bilingual) | Per receptionist-minute |
| Published pricing | Not published, request a quote | Starts around $245/mo, higher tiers to about $1,725/mo |
| Appointment booking | Available as an add-on | Limited, mostly message-taking |
| Call transfers | Yes | Yes |
| Contract | Month to month, no long-term contract | Tiered monthly plans |
| Best for | Lower-volume businesses that want the option of a human on the line without committing to all-human staffing | Firms that want a real person with genuine empathy on every call and take a low volume of calls |
Ruby figures reflect its published plans as of July 2026 and may change. Smith.ai does not publish pricing, so its cost is shown as a quote request. Per-call and per-minute plans both cost more as your call volume grows.
Who Each One Is Genuinely Best For
Choose Smith.ai if...
- •You want AI speed on the phones with the option of a human tier for the calls that need one.
- •Your call volume is on the lower side, so per-call billing stays manageable.
- •You value month-to-month flexibility over a long-term commitment.
- •You are comfortable requesting a quote, since pricing is not posted publicly.
Choose Ruby if...
- •You want a real person, with genuine empathy, answering every single call.
- •Your callers are often in sensitive situations where a human voice matters most.
- •You take a low volume of calls, so per-minute billing does not run away from you.
- •Message-taking is enough, and you are fine scheduling appointments yourself afterward.
One factual note on Ruby's billing
For full transparency, a 2021 class-action settlement (reported at about $12 million) addressed how Ruby had billed for hold time and rounded call time to the half minute. We mention it only so the comparison is complete and you can look into it yourself. It does not change the fact that Ruby staffs your calls with real, capable people. It is simply a reminder that per-minute billing makes the details of how minutes are counted worth reading closely, whichever metered service you consider.
Where a flat-rate custom AI receptionist beats both
Both Smith.ai and Ruby are good at what they are built for, and for some businesses one of them is the right call. But they share two traits worth naming plainly: they bill by the call or by the minute, so your cost rises exactly when you get busier, and neither is really built to close the loop by booking the appointment during the call.
Everyday Software builds a custom AI receptionist trained on your specific business, your services, hours, pricing, and booking rules. It connects to your real calendar and CRM, so it books the appointment on the call instead of taking a message, and it warm-transfers to your team for the calls that genuinely need a human. It is a custom flat monthly rate, quoted to your call volume, with no per-call or per-minute fees, so a busy month does not punish you with overages. And it is done for you, set up and maintained by a dedicated team rather than a dashboard you babysit.
Prefer to talk it through first? Call the demo line at (815) 889-0566 and hear one answer the way it would for your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Keep comparing
Weighing one of these two on its own? Read our Smith.ai alternatives and Ruby Receptionists alternatives breakdowns, or see the full field in our guide to the best AI receptionists for small business.
Skip the guessing, hear one for yourself
Hear a custom AI receptionist trained on your own website, then decide. No signup, no per-call surprises.