Smith.ai vs Dialzara: per call or per minute

Smith.ai and Dialzara both print their overage rates, which few vendors in this market do. So the choice comes down to the unit. Smith.ai's AI receptionist bills per call: Pro is $150 a month for 75 to 300 calls, at $2.00 to $2.17 each. Dialzara bills per minute: Business Lite is $29 for 60 minutes, and its overage falls from $0.48 a minute to $0.35 as you move up.

Short calls favor Dialzara's minutes, and long calls favor Smith.ai's per-call count. A two-minute call on Dialzara costs two minutes of a bundle; on Smith.ai, a twelve-minute call still costs one.

Dialzara suits a business with brief, frequent calls and a small budget, because $29 is the lowest entry on this page. Smith.ai suits a business whose calls run long, such as intake or quoting. Both were read on the vendors' pricing pages in September 2026.

Published pricing, side by side

What each vendor prints on its own site. The billing unit decides more of the final bill than the headline price does.

	Smith.ai	Dialzara
Billing unit	Per call	Per minute
Entry plan	Free tier at $0 for 25 calls, then $3.00 a call	Business Lite $29/mo for 60 minutes
Higher tiers	Pro $150/mo covers 75 to 300 calls at $2.00–$2.17 each; Enterprise $500/mo covers 300 to 1,000+ at $1.60–$1.67	Pro $99 (220 min), Plus $199 (500 min), Elite $349 (1,000 min); seven-day trial
Overage rate	Published, and the per-call rate falls as the tier rises	Published on every tier, from $0.48 a minute down to $0.35

Read on each vendor's own website in September 2026. Prices move, so check before you buy.

What decides it

The dimensions that change the bill or the service, each as a fact read on the vendor's own site.

	Smith.ai (AI receptionist)	Dialzara
Billing unit	Per call	Per minute
Cheapest paid plan	Pro, $150 for 75 to 300 calls	Business Lite, $29 for 60 minutes
Plans above it	Enterprise, $500 for 300 to 1,000+ calls	Pro $99 (220 min), Plus $199 (500), Elite $349 (1,000)
Overage	Printed: $2.00–$2.17 on Pro, $1.60–$1.67 on Enterprise	Printed: from $0.48 a minute down to $0.35
Free start	Free tier, 25 calls, then $3.00 a call	Seven-day trial

Smith.ai: smith.ai pricing page. Dialzara: dialzara.com pricing page. Both read September 2026.

The average call length that flips the answer

Your average call length is the number to find first. It's on most phone bills, or you can time a week of calls yourself.

Take a property manager with 150 calls a month at two minutes each. That's 300 minutes. On Dialzara, it sits inside Plus at $199 for 500 minutes. On Smith.ai, 150 calls sits inside Pro at $150.

Now make those calls six minutes long, the way a tenant describes a leak. That's 900 minutes, which needs Dialzara's Elite plan at $349 for 1,000. Smith.ai's count is still 150 calls on Pro.

Dialzara's ladder, and what each step buys

Dialzara prints four tiers. Business Lite is $29 for 60 minutes, Pro $99 for 220, Plus $199 for 500 and Elite $349 for 1,000. Every one shows its overage rate, which falls from $0.48 a minute on the smallest plan to $0.35 on the largest.

The 60 minutes on Business Lite go quickly. At three minutes a call, they're about 20 conversations. The seven-day trial is a good time to time your real calls before you pick a tier.

Smith.ai's per-call tiers

Smith.ai's AI receptionist starts with a free tier of 25 calls, then $3.00 a call. Pro is $150 a month for 75 to 300 calls, at $2.00 to $2.17 each. Enterprise is $500 for 300 to more than 1,000 calls, at $1.60 to $1.67.

You train and test the AI yourself, so setup starts with writing the questions it should ask. The per-call rate is higher than a Dialzara minute, and it never moves with call length.

Two questions to settle before you sign

Ask Smith.ai how it counts a call that hangs up in the first few seconds. Ask Dialzara how it rounds a partial minute. On a phone that gets wrong numbers and pocket dials, both answers change the month.

Per call, at a lower rate

Disclosure: GreetKeeper is our product, and this is its one appearance on the page. Like Smith.ai it bills per answered call, and like Dialzara it prints every overage rate. Starter is $49 a month for 200 calls at $0.45 over, Professional is $149 for 750 at $0.35, and Scale is $349 for 2,000 at $0.25.

The 150-call property month fits inside Starter at two minutes a call or six. Very short calls, robocalls and screened calls don't count toward the plan, so pocket dials leave the allowance alone.

Booking into Google Calendar or Outlook is on every plan, and GreetKeeper reads the name, number and time back before it books. The on-call person gets a text with the caller's details for anything urgent. Each plan starts with a 14-day free trial, every feature on and no card.

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

Questions people ask about this comparison

Is Dialzara cheaper than Smith.ai?

At entry, yes: Dialzara's Business Lite is $29 for 60 minutes, and Smith.ai's Pro is $150 for 75 to 300 calls. Long calls narrow the gap, because Dialzara bills each minute and Smith.ai bills each call (September 2026).

What is Dialzara's overage rate?

Dialzara prints an overage rate on every tier, from $0.48 a minute on the smallest plan down to $0.35 on Elite, read September 2026. Elite itself is $349 for 1,000 minutes.

Does Smith.ai charge per minute?

No. Smith.ai's AI receptionist charges per call. The free tier covers 25 calls, Pro is $150 for 75 to 300 calls, and Enterprise is $500 for 300 to more than 1,000 (September 2026).

How many calls fit in Dialzara's 60 minutes?

About 30 at two minutes each, or 20 at three. Business Lite suits a phone that rings a few times a week; a daily rush needs the $99 Pro plan's 220 minutes or more.

Try a per-call plan free

Every GreetKeeper plan prints its overage. Start the 14-day trial with no card.

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