Upfirst vs Smith.ai for a small business

Upfirst and Smith.ai both sell an AI receptionist by the answered call, so a long call costs no more than a short one on either. What separates them is the shape of the ladder and who stands behind the AI. Upfirst climbs in four small steps, from $24.95 a month for 30 calls to $299 for 600, and prints a rate for every extra call, from $1.50 down to $0.70. Smith.ai starts with a free plan of 25 calls, then $3.00 a call, and its Pro plan starts at $150 a month.

Smith.ai's answer to the price gap is people. When a call gets complicated, it can transfer to a live receptionist based in North America, at any hour. Upfirst's answer is breadth on every plan: more than 35 languages, returning-caller memory and in-call texting, even on the $24.95 Starter.

Upfirst suits a small business with a steady, modest call count that wants to know the cost of call 31 before it happens. Smith.ai suits a firm where some calls need a human, such as legal intake, and where testing on a free plan before paying matters. Both pages were read 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.

	Upfirst	Smith.ai
Billing unit	Per call	Per call
Entry plan	Starter $24.95/mo for 30 calls ($20/mo billed annually)	Free tier at $0 for 25 calls, then $3.00 a call
Higher tiers	Premium $59.95 (90 calls), Pro $159.95 (300 calls), Scale $299 (600 calls); custom above 600; annual billing saves 20%	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
Overage rate	Published: $1.50 a call on Starter, $1 on Premium, $0.75 on Pro, $0.70 on Scale	Published, and the per-call rate falls as the tier rises

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.

	Upfirst	Smith.ai
Billing unit	Per answered call	Per answered call
Way in	Starter, $24.95 a month for 30 calls ($20 billed annually)	Free plan, 25 calls a month, then $3.00 a call
Next steps up	Premium $59.95 for 90 calls, Pro $159.95 for 300, Scale $299 for 600	Pro from $150 a month, up to 300 calls; Enterprise from $500 for 300 to 1,000 or more
Extra call	$1.50 on Starter, $1 on Premium, $0.75 on Pro, $0.70 on Scale	Printed per tier; $1.60 to $1.67 on Enterprise
Spam calls	Spam, telemarketing and political robocalls blocked, never counted	Known spammers filtered before answering; up to 10% of calls removable as spam
Human on the line	Warm transfer to you or your team	Transfer to a live receptionist based in North America
Trying it	14-day free trial with every feature on the plan, no card	Free plan, plus test calls in its Quality Studio before going live
Leaving	No contract, cancel anytime	Month to month, 30 days' notice

Upfirst: upfirst.ai/pricing. Smith.ai: smith.ai/pricing/ai-receptionist. Both read September 2026.

Upfirst prices the small step

Upfirst's four plans hold 30, 90, 300 and 600 calls. Every plan carries the same feature list: 24/7 answering, call summaries texted or emailed when the call ends, recordings and transcripts, warm transfers and booking into Google, Outlook, Clio, Acuity or Calendly.

On Upfirst you also get in-call texting for links and directions, more than 35 languages with the transcript translated back, and memory that recognises a returning caller. Pro and Scale add white-glove onboarding and help with custom integrations.

Above 600 calls a month, Upfirst moves you to custom pricing. Its FAQ says most customers are live in under 15 minutes, and you forward your existing number with no porting.

Smith.ai prices the safety net

Smith.ai's free plan answers 25 calls a month and charges $3.00 for each one after that. Pro starts at $150 a month and adds dedicated onboarding, live phone, email and chat support, and custom SMS branding.

Enterprise starts at $500 a month for 300 calls or more, at $1.60 to $1.67 a call. It adds full-service setup, custom AI prompting by Smith.ai's own team, multi-location support and a dedicated success manager.

The feature you're paying for across all of it is the human backup. A call the AI shouldn't handle alone transfers to a live receptionist in North America, day or night. Native integrations include Clio and Zapier, and scheduling runs through Calendly and others.

Three call counts, priced on both ladders

At 30 calls a month, Upfirst's Starter costs $24.95. Smith.ai's free plan covers the first 25, and you'd pay $3.00 each for the other five.

At 90 calls, Upfirst's Premium plan fits exactly at $59.95. On Smith.ai, 90 calls sit inside Pro, which starts at $150.

At 300 calls, a busy intake desk, Upfirst's Pro plan is $159.95. Smith.ai's Enterprise plan begins at that volume, from $500 a month. Your own call log decides which rung you stand on, so count three months of answered calls before you pick.

How spam reaches each bill

Upfirst says it detects and blocks spam, telemarketing and political robocalls, and none of them count against your plan.

Smith.ai filters calls from more than 20 million known spammers before its AI answers, and those don't count. For spam that gets through, you can remove up to 10% of your calls from each bill.

If your number attracts a lot of junk, read both policies against a month of your own call history before you commit to a plan size.

Where GreetKeeper fits

Disclosure: GreetKeeper is our product, and this is the only place it appears. It's a third per-call option, with larger allowances per plan: Starter is $49 a month for 200 answered calls, Professional $149 for 750 and Scale $349 for 2,000.

Each call past the allowance costs $0.45, $0.35 or $0.25 by plan. Screened robocalls and spam calls are dropped before the greeting and never count, and neither do very short calls.

When a caller asks for a person, GreetKeeper transfers to your own team and tries a second number you nominate if the first goes unanswered. Every plan books into Google Calendar or Outlook and includes a dedicated local number, with no setup fee.

Each plan starts with a 14-day free trial, every feature on, and you don't need a 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 Upfirst cheaper than Smith.ai?

Upfirst's paid plans start lower: $24.95 a month for 30 calls, against Smith.ai's Pro from $150 (September 2026). Smith.ai's free plan costs nothing for 25 calls, then $3.00 a call. At 300 calls, Upfirst's Pro is $159.95 and Smith.ai's Enterprise starts at $500.

Do spam calls count on Upfirst or Smith.ai?

Upfirst blocks spam, telemarketing and political robocalls, and they never count against your plan. Smith.ai filters known spammers before answering, and lets you remove up to 10% of each month's calls as spam (September 2026).

Which one can hand a call to a real person?

Both transfer calls. Upfirst makes a warm handoff to you or your team. Smith.ai can also transfer to its own live receptionists in North America, any time of day, as part of its AI receptionist plans.

Can I try either before paying?

Yes. Upfirst's free trial runs 14 days with full access to the plan's features and no credit card. Smith.ai's free plan answers 25 real calls a month, and its Quality Studio lets you run test calls first.

What happens above 600 calls a month?

Upfirst moves to custom pricing above its 600-call Scale plan. Smith.ai's Enterprise plan runs from 300 calls to 1,000 or more, starting at $500 a month (September 2026).

200 answered calls for $49

GreetKeeper books, transfers and screens spam on every plan. Hear it answer a call for your business.

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