My AI Front Desk vs Smith.ai
An honest comparison of My AI Front Desk and Smith.ai for AI phone answering. Find out which service fits your business best.
Quick Overview
My AI Front Desk is ai receptionist for small businesses and solopreneurs. Smith.ai is ai + live agent hybrid for the front office. Both serve the AI phone answering space, but they differ in pricing, features, and target audience.
My AI Front Desk vs Smith.ai: At a Glance
My AI Front Desk
AI-First
Best for: Solopreneurs and small service businesses like salons, contractors, and tutors
Smith.ai
Hybrid
Best for: Law firms and professional services needing AI plus live agent backup
My AI Front Desk vs Smith.ai: Feature Comparison
See how these two services compare on key features.
| Feature | My AI Front Desk | Smith.ai |
|---|---|---|
| AI Call Handling | Yes | Yes |
| Appointment Booking | Unknown | Yes |
| Lead Capture | Yes | Yes |
| Call Recording | Yes | Yes |
| Call Transfers | Yes | Yes |
| SMS Notifications | Yes | Yes |
| Bilingual Support | No | No |
| HIPAA Compliance | No | Unknown |
| CRM Integration | Unknown | Yes |
| Dedicated Phone Number | Yes | Yes |
| Custom AI Training | Yes | Yes |
| Custom Greetings | Unknown | Yes |
| Quick Setup | Yes | No |
Pricing Comparison
How My AI Front Desk and Smith.ai compare on cost.
My AI Front Desk Pricing
Tiered monthly pricing with minutes included
$99/month (Starter)
Starter: $99/mo
200 minutes included, 2 text/transfer/ticket actions, 10-page knowledge base, no booking workflows, no non-English support, no Zapier/API
Growth: $149/mo
300 minutes included, 6 text/transfer/ticket actions, 20-page knowledge base, booking workflows, non-English support, no Zapier/API
Enterprise: Custom pricing
Volume discounts, unlimited actions, Zapier & API integrations, SAML/SSO, dedicated support, outbound calling
Annual billing saves 20% (Starter: $79/mo, Growth: $119/mo). Overages are $0.12 per additional minute. Starter plan lacks booking workflows, non-English support, time controls, and Zapier/API integrations. Zapier and API integrations are only available on Enterprise plans. Parallel calls limited to 2 on Starter and 4 on Growth. Call log retention is limited to 50 on Starter and 100 on Growth.
Smith.ai Pricing
Per-call pricing with self-service and guided annual plans
$95/month (AI Receptionist self-service)
Self-Service (~2 calls/day): $95/mo
$1.90/call, month-to-month, no dedicated support, unused calls expire monthly, overages at $2.40/call
Self-Service (~5 calls/day): $270/mo
$1.80/call, month-to-month, no dedicated support, unused calls expire monthly, overages at $2.40/call
Self-Service (~15 calls/day): $800/mo
$1.60/call, month-to-month, no dedicated support, unused calls expire monthly, overages at $2.40/call
Guided Annual (~10 calls/day): $500/mo
$1.50/call, billed annually, dedicated success manager, custom integrations, no overages
Guided Annual (~25 calls/day): $1,000/mo
$1.33/call, billed annually, dedicated success manager, custom integrations, no overages
Guided Annual (~55 calls/day): $2,000/mo
$1.20/call, billed annually, dedicated success manager, custom integrations, no overages
AI Receptionist pricing shown above. Smith.ai also offers a separate Virtual Receptionists product (human-first live answering) with its own pricing. Live agent handoff on the AI Receptionist costs an additional $3 per call. Many features like appointment booking ($1.50/call), SMS notifications ($0.50/call), and Spanish support ($1.00/call) are add-on charges on the Virtual Receptionist product. Self-service plans require a $2,000 add-on for custom configuration that annual plans include free.
Strengths & Weaknesses
My AI Front Desk
Strengths
- Multiple AI models to choose from (GPT-4, Claude, Grok)
- 100+ premium voice options for customization
- Affordable annual pricing at $79/mo for Starter
- Low overage rate at $0.12 per additional minute
- Trusted by 10,000+ businesses
Weaknesses
- Starting price of $99/month — more than 3x Dialzara's $29/month
- Key features locked behind higher tiers: no booking workflows, no non-English support, and no time controls on Starter ($99/mo)
- Zapier and API integrations only available on Enterprise plans — not accessible to most small businesses
- No HIPAA compliance — not suitable for healthcare or regulated industries
- Limited call log retention: 50 calls on Starter, 100 on Growth — logs get deleted
Smith.ai
Strengths
- Hybrid model with 500+ live agents available for handoff when AI can't handle a call
- 143 integrations including deep CRM support (HubSpot, Salesforce, Clio)
- Established brand trusted by 5,000+ businesses with high review ratings (4.8+ on Clutch and G2)
- Outbound calling and web chat products available
- Strong presence in legal industry with specialized intake workflows
Weaknesses
- AI Receptionist starts at $95/month — more than 3x Dialzara's $29/month entry price
- Per-call pricing model means costs scale up quickly with call volume
- Many features are paid add-ons: scheduling ($1.50/call), SMS alerts ($0.50/call), Spanish ($1.00/call), call recording ($0.25/call)
- Live agent handoff costs an additional $3 per call on top of base pricing
- Best pricing requires annual commitment starting at $500/month ($6,000/year)
Looking for a Better Option? Try Dialzara
While My AI Front Desk and Smith.ai each have their strengths, Dialzara offers a purpose-built AI answering service starting at just $29/month with features that both services charge more for — including bilingual English/Spanish support, appointment booking, call transfers, HIPAA compliance, and Zapier integration on every plan.
Flat pricing with 60 minutes included. No per-user charges.
Enter your website URL and your AI agent is ready to go.
Healthcare-ready on all plans, starting at $29/month.
My AI Front Desk vs Smith.ai: FAQ
Common questions about the differences between My AI Front Desk and Smith.ai.