Short answer: if you only need the phone answered, Rosie is the cheapest of the services compared here at $49 a month. If you take a lot of calls and don’t want to count minutes, NextPhone is $199 a month with unlimited inbound calls. If you want the call answered and the job to land in your schedule, dispatch board and invoices without a second tool, Tradellen includes a 24/7 AI receptionist with all of that from $69 a month.
Tradellen makes this page, so read it with that in mind. We’ve tried to be fair: every price comes from the vendor’s own pricing page, checked on October 27, 2026, and the sources are linked at the bottom.
The comparison
| Receptionist | Starts at | What the entry plan includes | Who answers | Also runs your schedule and invoices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosie | $49/mo | 250 minutes a month | AI | No |
| Tradellen | $69/mo | Priced by team size (up to 10), not by minutes | AI | Yes |
| Goodcall | $79/mo | 100 unique customers a month | AI | No |
| NextPhone | $199/mo | Unlimited inbound calls | AI | No |
| Ruby | $250/mo | 50 minutes a month | Live people | No |
| Smith.ai | $300/mo | 30 calls a month | AI plus live agents | No |
Lowest monthly plan on each vendor’s site on October 27, 2026, before tax and annual discounts. Plans change, so check the vendor’s page before you buy.
Tradellen: best if you want the phone and the back office in one system
Tradellen is field service software with a built-in AI receptionist called Aria. Aria answers calls 24/7, asks the questions your office would ask, and books the visit straight onto the dispatch board. Urgent calls are flagged and escalated to your on-call tech instead of sitting in voicemail. The same system runs scheduling, dispatch, estimates, invoices and payments, with QuickBooks sync.
Plans are priced by team size, not by minutes: $69 a month for teams of up to 10, $149 for up to 50 and $299 with no limit. There’s a 7-day free trial, no setup fee and no contract.
Pick it if you’re also shopping for scheduling and invoicing software, or you’re tired of retyping booked calls into it. If you already have software you like and only want the phone covered, a standalone receptionist below is simpler.
Rosie: a low-cost way to start
Rosie is an AI receptionist for small businesses, including the trades. The Professional plan is $49 a month for 250 minutes; it takes messages and texts callers a link to book. Booking straight onto your calendar and live call transfers start on the $149 Scale plan, which includes 1,000 minutes. Rosie answers in English and Spanish.
Pick it if you get a modest number of calls and mostly need messages taken after hours.
Goodcall: best if many callers are regulars
Goodcall charges by unique customer instead of by the minute. The Starter plan is $79 a month for 100 unique customers, then 79¢ for each extra one. A customer who calls three times in a month counts once, so long calls and repeat callers don’t push the bill up.
Pick it if you serve a steady base of customers who call often.
NextPhone: best for high call volume
NextPhone’s Pro plan is $199 a month with unlimited inbound calls and no overage. It books into Google Calendar, Outlook or Calendly, transfers to up to 10 numbers and sends text confirmations. CRM integrations start on the $299 Growth plan.
Pick it if you take a lot of calls, want one predictable bill, and already have scheduling software you like.
Ruby: best if you only want people
Ruby is a live receptionist service, not AI. Plans start at $250 a month for 50 minutes and $395 for 100 minutes.
Pick it if you want every caller to reach a person and your call volume is low.
Smith.ai: best if you want people behind the AI
Smith.ai pairs AI with live receptionists who can step in. The Starter plan is $300 a month for 30 calls, then $11.50 for each extra call. It’s month to month with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Pick it if your calls are high value, you want a human available, and the per-call price works for your volume.
Already on Jobber, Housecall Pro or Workiz?
Your software may sell its own AI receptionist. Jobber’s Receptionist is a $29-a-month add-on with 30 conversations, then 79¢ each, and it’s included with unlimited use on Jobber’s Plus plan. Housecall Pro sells CSR AI as an add-on, and Workiz sells Genius Answering as an add-on; check their sites for current prices. If you’re happy with your software, its own receptionist is usually the easiest fit. Tradellen is the option when you want the receptionist included on every plan at a flat price, or you’re ready to change software anyway.
How to choose
- Do you only need the phone answered? A standalone receptionist like Rosie or NextPhone is the simplest choice.
- Should booked jobs land in your schedule without retyping? Choose a receptionist that books into the system you dispatch from. Tradellen does it in one product; NextPhone books into your calendar.
- How many calls do you get? Minute and per-call plans are cheap at low volume and expensive at high volume. Count last month’s calls before you compare.
- Do callers need a person? If so, look at Ruby or Smith.ai and budget per call or minute.
What a receptionist won’t fix on its own
A receptionist answers the call. If your schedule, customer list and invoices live in another tool, someone still moves the job across by hand, and a booked call can sit in a text thread until morning. That’s the gap Tradellen was built to close: the call, the booking, the dispatch and the invoice happen in one place.
Related: how much an AI receptionist costs, AI receptionist vs answering service and AI call answering for HVAC.
Sources
Every price and feature on this page was read from the vendor’s own site on October 27, 2026.