In-Depth Comparison

Smith.ai vs. AnswerConnect

Compare features and see how businesses like yours can answer calls, capture leads, and serve clients better with Smith.ai’s 24/7 Virtual Receptionists.

Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists:
The best alternative to AnswerConnect

costs

Pricing
Per call
Per minute
Cost
$6.50 - $9.50/call
$1.43-$1.85/min
Starting cost
$285/month
$350/month
Setup fee
NO
$0-$49.99
Money-Back Guarantee
14 days
No
Spam & sales calls
Free
$1.75-$1.85/min, free for first 30 calls under 30 seconds
Post-call wrap-up
Included
No
Contracts
No contracts
No
Wrong Numbers
Free
$1.75-$1.85/min, free for first 30 calls under 30 seconds
Required Deposit
NO
No
Overage Cost
$7.50 - $10.50/call
$1.75-$1.85/min

capabilities

Calls answered 24/7
✔
✔
North America-based receptionists
✔
✔
Lead qualification
✔
✔
New lead intake
✔
✔
Appointment scheduling
✔
✔
Payment collection
✔
✘
Call screening, routing & prioritization
✔
✘
Outbound sales campaigns
✔
Unlimited FAQ
✔
Call recording & transcription
✔
✔
Zip code lookup
✔
✘
Warm transfer
✔
✔
Call transfers via SMS & Slack
✔
✘
Instant call summaries by email & SMS
✔
✔
Daily call summaries
✔ Email, SMS, Slack
✘
Receptionists make calls for you
✔ Same per-call pricing. Comes from your #
✔
Receptionists know caller history
✔
Spanish-speaking receptionists
✔
✔
Send follow-up messages
✔
✘

integrated technology

Call tracking dashboard
✔
✔
Call analytics
✔
✔
CSV upload for direct transfer / blocked numbers
✔
✘
CRM, intake & marketing software
✔
✔
Calendaring software
✔
✔
Scheduling
✔
Invoices and payments
✔
✘
Zapier
✔
✔
SMS & Slack
✔
✔

Take the faster path to growth.
Get Smith.ai today.

Affordable plans for every budget.
Smith.ai uses sophisticated technology for spam screening, conference calling, and integrated notifications. AnswerConnect costs more to start and offers a less comprehensive service.

Your answering service pricing should be easy to understand and show true value. You shouldn’t have to give up your name, email, and phone number before you see costs. And that’s exactly what AnswerConnect does. 

With Smith.ai, we’re transparent with all our pricing. From our per call fees to all our add-ons - like text/email follow-up, call recording and transcription, and appointment booking - you never have to worry about a surprise bill.

Since AnswerConnect charges per minute, instead of per call, monthly charges could range widely and be far less predictable. You probably know about how many calls a month you have, but not how many minutes your callers are on the phone. It's important to note that all AnswerConnect interactions are rounded up to the nearest minute and billed in 1 minute increments. Smith.ai charges a flat per call fee, no setup or hidden fees, and we never charge for spam, sales calls, or wrong numbers. In other words, with Smith.ai, you can compare your monthly invoice to the calls you actually wanted.

AnswerConnect also doesn’t offer the same depth of features as Smith.ai. They don’t have zip code searches or caller history, or offer call transfer requests via SMS, Teams, and Slack. And even though both Smith.ai and AnswerConnect offer call recording, only Smith.ai goes the extra mile by transcribing your calls as well. That way, you don't have to listen to hundreds of hours of conversations to get the information you need. 

With Smith.ai, you can also opt to have every call answered by a bilingual receptionist and request outbound calls directly from your call summary. Smith.ai receptionists use these features to make both you and your callers feel like we are sitting in your office.

And it’s no surprise that we integrate seamlessly with nearly every major calendaring software and most CRMs (and for the more technically minded, chat apps like Slack and DIY integration tools like Zapier, Make, and open APIs).

For growth-minded business owners who care about price transparency, seamless integrations, and robust customizations that deliver the experience of in-house customer engagement and sales development, Smith.ai is the superior choice for your 24/7 Virtual Receptionists partner, over AnswerConnect.

Predictable and affordable pricing

We have prices for small to large organizations and everything in between.

Plans starting at

$285
Per month
30
Calls per month
Per-call pricing, not per‑minute
Month-to-month pricing for easy budgeting
No charge for spam calls or wrong numbers
Easy billing with no setup cost or hidden fees
Our agents and AI harmoniously work to meet the rigorous demands of your business.

Trusted by 3,000+ businesses

5.0 stars
4.9 stars
5.0 stars
4.6 stars
Converts callers into clients
Smith.ai is our inbound sales team. Having a trained and personable voice has transformed our ability to answer the phone and convert callers to clients.
Jeremy Treister
Owner, CMIT Solutions of Downtown Chicago

END-TO-END INTEGRATIONS

We play well with your software

Calls, chats & appointments are automatically logged in your systems. Real-time syncing with over 5,000 integrations.
View all integrations

Take the faster path to growth.
Get Smith.ai today.

Affordable plans for every budget.