Rosie vs Smith.ai
An honest comparison of Rosie and Smith.ai for AI phone answering. Find out which service fits your business best.
Quick Overview
Rosie is ai answering service for small businesses starting at $49/month. 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.
Rosie vs Smith.ai: At a Glance
Rosie
AI-First
Best for: Small businesses, home service providers, and solo owners needing after-hours and overflow call coverage
Smith.ai
Hybrid
Best for: Law firms and professional services needing AI plus live agent backup
Rosie vs Smith.ai: Feature Comparison
See how these two services compare on key features.
| Feature | Rosie | Smith.ai |
|---|---|---|
| AI Call Handling | Yes | Yes |
| Appointment Booking | Unknown | Yes |
| Lead Capture | Yes | Yes |
| Call Recording | Yes | Yes |
| Call Transfers | Unknown | Yes |
| SMS Notifications | Yes | Yes |
| Bilingual Support | Yes | No |
| HIPAA Compliance | No | Unknown |
| CRM Integration | Unknown | Yes |
| Zapier Integration | Yes | Unknown |
| Dedicated Phone Number | Yes | Yes |
| Custom AI Training | Yes | Yes |
| Custom Greetings | Unknown | Yes |
| Spam Filtering | Yes | Unknown |
| Quick Setup | Yes | No |
Pricing Comparison
How Rosie and Smith.ai compare on cost.
Rosie Pricing
Tiered monthly pricing with minute limits
$49/month (Professional)
Professional: $49/mo
Up to 250 minutes, message taking with custom questions, bilingual English/Spanish, spam detection
Scale: $149/mo
Up to 1,000 minutes, appointment booking (Google Calendar, Calendly, Acuity), call transfers, warm handoff, texting during calls
Growth: $299/mo
Up to 2,000 minutes, everything in Scale plus training files for advanced agent customization
Custom: $999+/mo
Custom agent, multiple locations, expansive knowledge base, custom integrations, dedicated account rep
Annual billing saves 2 months (about 17% off). Professional plan is limited to message-taking only — no appointment booking, no call transfers, no texting during calls. These features require the Scale plan at $149/mo. Website Texting is an add-on at $50/mo for 25 conversations.
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
Rosie
Strengths
- 250 minutes included on the $49/mo entry plan — more minutes than many competitors
- Trains on your website and Google Business Profile for accurate answers
- Bilingual English/Spanish on all plans
- Direct calendar integrations (Google Calendar, Calendly, Acuity, Appointlet) on Scale plan
- Warm handoff call transfers on Scale plan for seamless transitions
Weaknesses
- Starting price of $49/month — 69% more expensive than Dialzara's $29/month
- Key features locked behind the $149/mo Scale plan: appointment booking, call transfers, warm handoff, and texting during calls
- Professional plan ($49/mo) is essentially message-taking only — no booking, no transfers
- No HIPAA compliance — not suitable for healthcare or regulated industries
- Only supports English and Spanish — no other languages
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 Rosie 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.
Rosie vs Smith.ai: FAQ
Common questions about the differences between Rosie and Smith.ai.