Smith.ai alternative
The Smith.ai alternative that doesn't charge per call.
Smith.ai answers the calls your phone system forwards to it, and bills each one. Ody is the phone system, with the receptionist included.
7-day free trial on every plan · No per-minute charges · Smith.ai facts verified September 2026
THE QUICK ANSWER
Smith.ai is the most capable answering service in its class: per-call billing so long intake calls cost no more than short ones, 24/7 at no premium, and integrations into Clio, HubSpot, Salesforce and 7,000 tools through Zapier. It is also expensive by design. The human Virtual Receptionist starts at $300 a month for 30 calls with $11.50 per extra call; the AI Receptionist runs from $150 a month for 75 calls, with about $3 for every hand-off to a live agent. Booking ($1.50), text follow-ups ($0.50), recording ($0.25), Spanish ($1.00) and complex routing ($1.50) are all per-call add-ons, and you still pay for the phone system you forward from. Ody Starter is $19 per user per month and includes that phone system: the number, unlimited US and Canada calling and texting, a shared inbox, and an AI receptionist that answers 24/7, books appointments and texts callers back with no per-call charge. At 100 calls a month Smith.ai's human plan costs about $915 and its AI plan about $270. Ody costs $19.
PRICING
What you'll actually pay.
Smith.ai Virtual Receptionist / AI Receptionist
Billed per call, not per minute, so long intake calls cost the same as short ones; spam and wrong numbers are not counted when caller ID passes. Month-to-month with 10% off for a 12-month commitment, no setup fee, 30-day money-back up to $1,000. Almost everything beyond answering is a per-call add-on: appointment booking $1.50, SMS/Slack/Teams transfer notification $0.50, text or email follow-up $0.50, recording and transcription $0.25, Spanish line $1.00, payments $1.00, third-party intake $1.00, complex routing $1.50, extra CRM $0.50; outbound caller ID $10/mo, extra transfer destination $15/mo. AI plans charge about $3.00 per live-agent transfer. Cancellation is by email and you are billed through the end of the cycle.
Ody
One number per user included; extra local or toll-free numbers $5/mo each. Business texting needs one-time 10DLC registration ($20 setup + $4/mo per texting number, handled during onboarding). International calling is a $5/mo add-on with $5 of usage included. Plans are billed monthly or prepaid annually (annual saves up to 30%). Taxes apply; there are no per-minute charges and no AI credits.
Try for free →THE MATH
A business that gets 100 answered calls a month
Smith.ai Basic is $810 for 90 human-answered calls plus 10 x $10.50 overage; add $1.50 per call for booking and $0.50 for text follow-up if you want them, plus the phone service you forward from. Smith.ai's AI Receptionist tier would be about $270 for 150 calls, plus about $3 per live transfer. Ody Starter is $19 for one user with the number, calling, texting and unlimited AI answering, booking and text-back included. Taxes excluded for both.
SIDE BY SIDE
Ody vs Smith.ai, feature by feature.
Smith.ai Virtual Receptionist / AI Receptionist facts from their published pricing & docs, verified September 2026.
| Feature | Smith.ai Virtual Receptionist / AI Receptionist | Ody |
|---|---|---|
| Answering | ||
| Who answers | Smith.aiHumans (Virtual Receptionist) or AI with human backup | OdyYour AI receptionist, your team when you want |
| Coverage hours | Smith.ai24/7 included at the same per-call price | Ody24/7, included |
| Books appointments | Smith.aiYes, $1.50/call add-on on human plans; included on AI | Ody✓ |
| AI texts back missed calls | Smith.aiText follow-up $0.50/call add-on | Ody✓ |
| AI call summaries & transcripts | Smith.aiSummaries included; recording + transcript $0.25/call | OdyGrowth+ |
| What you pay | ||
| Pricing model | Smith.aiPer call | OdyPer user, flat |
| Starting price | Smith.ai$300/mo human; $150/mo AI | Ody$19/user/mo ($15 annual) |
| Overage | Smith.ai$8.50-11.50/call human; ~$2.17-3.00/call AI | OdyNone |
| Fees above list price | Smith.aiPer-call add-ons stack; budget 20-30% above plan | OdyTaxes only. No recovery or E911 line items |
| Contract | Smith.aiMonth-to-month; 10% off for 12 months | OdyBilled monthly or annually. Change plans in-app |
| Free trial | Smith.ai30-day money-back (human); free 25-call AI tier | Ody7 days, every plan, full product |
| Phone system | ||
| Business phone system included | Smith.ai— | Ody✓ |
| Business texting (SMS/MMS) | Smith.aiSMS notifications to you; follow-ups $0.50/call | OdyUS & Canada, 10DLC handled |
| Phone number included | Smith.aiFree forwarding number or free port-in | Ody1 per user; extras $5/mo |
| Toll-free numbers | Smith.ai✓ | Ody✓ |
| Shared team inbox | Smith.ai— | Ody✓ |
| CRM integrations | Smith.aiFirst CRM free (Clio, HubSpot, Salesforce, Zapier); $0.50/call per extra | Ody43 integrations, every plan |
| Beyond the call | ||
| ChatGPT / Claude (MCP) | Smith.ai— | Ody✓ |
| Developer API & webhooks | Smith.aiZapier; no public API | OdyEvery plan |
| Analytics & reporting | Smith.aiDashboard insights | OdyGrowth+ |
| Support | Smith.aiEmail and chat; success manager on Enterprise | OdyEmail (Starter), live chat (Growth), phone + onboarding (Enterprise) |
WHY TEAMS SWITCH
Where Ody pulls ahead of Smith.ai.
Flat, not per call
Smith.ai's plans buy a bundle of calls with $8.50-11.50 overage on human plans and roughly $2.17-3.00 on AI plans, and reviewers advise budgeting 20-30% above the sticker for add-ons. Ody's AI receptionist is included in a per-user price. Ten calls or a thousand, the bill is the same.
The extras are the product
On Smith.ai, appointment booking is $1.50 a call, a text follow-up $0.50, recording and transcription $0.25, an SMS notification $0.50. On Ody, booking, missed-call text-back and voicemail transcription are in Starter, and recordings, transcripts and AI summaries are in Growth at $33.
One bill instead of two
Smith.ai answers the calls your existing phone system forwards; you keep paying that provider too. Ody is the phone system: numbers, unlimited US and Canada calling, texting, a shared inbox and 43 integrations, with the receptionist inside it.
AN HONEST TAKE
Which one is right for you?
You want a live human on the line for high-value intake, you run a law firm that needs conflict checks, payment collection and Clio intake done by staff, or your volume is predictable enough that per-call bundles beat minutes. Smith.ai's 30-day money-back guarantee and free 25-call AI tier make it easy to test.
You want every call answered 24/7 by an AI receptionist that books, texts back and summarizes, and you'd rather pay one flat per-user price for the phone system and the answering together. Ody suits teams of 1-25 that miss calls because they're working, not because they're overwhelmed.
EVERYTHING INCLUDED
The whole phone system,
with the AI built in. One price.
Scroll through what every Ody workspace ships with: a number, calling and texting, a shared inbox, and a receptionist that never clocks out.
ChatGPT
Claude
CursorGo deeper, feature by feature.
All features →SWITCHING IS EASY
Move from Smith.ai without missing a call.
Start your free trial
Create your workspace in minutes. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial | you get a live number, calling, texting, and your AI agent from day one.
Port your number free
Porting is free on every plan and your existing line keeps working the whole time | no downtime, no lost calls while the port completes.
Turn on the AI (or don't)
Set your hours and decide exactly when the AI answers | per number, per hour, per team. The rest of the time, it's the best softphone you've used.
Smith.ai is month-to-month (10% off for a 12-month commitment), cancellation is by email, and you're billed through the end of the current cycle. Because Smith.ai only answered forwarded calls, there is usually nothing to port: point your number at Ody, or port it in for free. Ody plans are billed monthly or annually.
FAQ
Ody vs Smith.ai, answered.
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