The best AI receptionists when you run the business alone
GreetKeeper is our product, and it ranks first for solo owners on the method below. You keep answering your own phone, and it takes only the calls you miss. Each one arrives as a booking in your calendar or a text with the caller's details, from $49 for 200 calls.
When you're the whole company, the phone rings while you're driving, on a job or with a client. You can't hire a receptionist for that, and voicemail loses the caller who wanted an answer today.
Smith.ai has a free tier covering 25 calls, then charges $3.00 a call. Dialzara starts at $29 for 60 minutes, and Rosie at $49 for 250 minutes with booking on its $149 plan. Posh sells a human-answered plan from $65 with no minutes included.
Goodcall counts unique customers at $79 for 100, which suits a solo trade with clients who ring back often.
How this was put together
Disclosure: GreetKeeper is our product. In September 2026 we compared six vendors for a one-person business taking roughly 30 to 150 calls a month. Each rival's price comes from its own pricing page, read that month.
What we compared
- What a month of 30 to 150 calls costs on the published plans.
- Whether booking works on the entry plan, so you don't ring every caller back.
- How a missed call reaches you: a text, a calendar event, or an email.
- Whether you can keep answering yourself and send only the missed calls on.
The shortlist at a glance
Billing unit first, because it decides more of the final bill than the headline price does.
| Charges by | Entry plan | After the allowance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GreetKeeper | per answered call | $49/mo for 200 answered calls | $0.45 a call on Starter, published |
| Smith.ai | per call | Free tier at $0 for 25 calls, then $3.00 a call | Published, and the per-call rate falls as the tier rises |
| Dialzara | per minute | Business Lite $29/mo for 60 minutes | Published on every tier, from $0.48 a minute down to $0.35 |
| Rosie | per minute | Professional $49/mo for 250 minutes | Not published |
| Posh | per minute | Chïc at $65/mo with zero minutes included, at $2.30 a minute | Published on every tier, from $2.30 down to $1.90 a minute |
| Goodcall | per unique caller | Starter $79/mo ($66 annual) for 100 unique customers | $0.50 per additional unique customer, published |
Read from each vendor's own pricing page in September 2026.
GreetKeeper
Takes only the calls you miss, books them, texts you, from $49.
Worth it for: A consultant or tradesperson working alone who keeps answering in person and never wants to ring a missed caller back to set a time.
Charges per answered call. Entry plan $49/mo for 200 answered calls. After the allowance: $0.45 a call on Starter, published.
Smith.ai
A free tier for the first 25 calls, then per-call pricing.
Worth it for: A solo professional with very few calls who wants to start at $0, with a human team behind the AI on paid plans.
Not for: Anything past 25 calls a month, since each extra call on the free tier costs $3.00 and Pro starts at $150.
Charges per call. Entry plan Free tier at $0 for 25 calls, then $3.00 a call. After the allowance: Published, and the per-call rate falls as the tier rises.
Dialzara
The cheapest paid plan here, with a printed per-minute overage.
Worth it for: An owner who takes a dozen short calls a month and wants a $29 plan with the rate past 60 minutes on the page.
Not for: A calendar that fills by phone, because 60 minutes covers only a small number of booking calls before the meter starts.
Charges per minute. Entry plan Business Lite $29/mo for 60 minutes. After the allowance: Published on every tier, from $0.48 a minute down to $0.35.
Rosie
The $49 category anchor, with booking a tier up.
Worth it for: A solo owner who wants short calls answered and a message taken, with 250 minutes for $49.
Not for: Booking on the $49 plan, since booking and live transfer sit on the $149 Scale tier.
Charges per minute. Entry plan Professional $49/mo for 250 minutes. After the allowance: Not published.
Posh
Human receptionists from $65 with no bundled minutes.
Worth it for: An owner whose rare calls are high stakes and who wants a person answering them, at $2.30 a minute.
Not for: Regular daily calls, since every minute is billed from the first one on the Chïc plan.
Charges per minute. Entry plan Chïc at $65/mo with zero minutes included, at $2.30 a minute. After the allowance: Published on every tier, from $2.30 down to $1.90 a minute.
Goodcall
Counts customers rather than minutes or calls.
Worth it for: A solo trade with a small client list that phones often, at $79 for 100 unique customers with minutes uncapped.
Not for: An owner who mostly hears from new callers, since unique-customer counting then works out the same as counting calls.
Charges per unique caller. Entry plan Starter $79/mo ($66 annual) for 100 unique customers. After the allowance: $0.50 per additional unique customer, published.
How to choose when you're the only one answering
Decide first whether you want to keep answering. You know your customers, and some calls you'll always want to take. Set your carrier to forward on no-answer, busy or unreachable. The ring count is set where the forwarding is set, and GreetKeeper answers the moment the call arrives.
Next, look at how the call reaches you. GreetKeeper texts you the caller's name, number and reason while you're still with a client, and the transcript and summary are waiting after. If the caller wanted a time, it's already booked in Google Calendar or Outlook.
Then price your real month. Thirty calls is a quiet month for most trades and a busy one for a therapist. At 200 answered calls for $49, GreetKeeper's Starter covers either, and very short calls and spam don't count toward it.
Our own pricing, in full
Including the rate after the allowance, which is the number most of this list leaves off.
| Plan | Monthly | Calls included | After that |
|---|---|---|---|
| StarterFor a single location taking calls one line at a time. | $49 | 200 | $0.45 per call |
| ProfessionalBooking, routing and transfers included, not an add-on. | $149 | 750 | $0.35 per call |
| ScaleFor busy phones and longer opening hours. | $349 | 2,000 | $0.25 per call |
The short version
- Booking is included on every tier. Rosie keeps booking and live transfer behind its $149 plan.
- The overage rate is on the pricing page. Rosie, Ruby, Slang and AnswerConnect do not publish theirs.
- Calls are counted, not minutes, so a long useful conversation costs the same as a short one.
Questions people ask about this list
Is an AI receptionist worth it for a one-person business?
It pays when a missed call is a missed job. GreetKeeper costs $49 a month for 200 answered calls, so it pays for itself if one booked customer is worth more than $49 to you. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial with no card, so you can check it against your own month first.
Can I still answer my own calls?
Yes. Forward only on no-answer, busy or unreachable at your carrier, and your phone rings first as it does today. GreetKeeper picks up the calls you can't take, and each number can have its own hours and greeting.
How will I know someone called?
GreetKeeper texts the on-call person, which is you, with the caller's name, number and reason. Every call also arrives as a transcript and a short summary. Bookings land in your calendar as real events.
Do I need a new phone number?
No. Every plan includes a dedicated local number with the area code you choose at signup, and you forward your existing number to it. Your customers keep dialling the number on your van, card or website.
Is there a setup fee?
No. The monthly plan is the whole price. Point GreetKeeper at your website for a first draft of your hours, services and FAQs, correct it, and turn on forwarding.
Hear one of these handle your own call
Your scenario, your greeting, a couple of minutes.