Smith.ai alternative
Hey Jodie answers your calls 24/7 from a flat $49/month, with no per-call fees.
Calls answered
Plan includes 30 calls for $293
Any number of calls
Two services that both answer your phone. The difference is what you pay per call - and how predictable that number is when call volume spikes.
| Hey Jodie | Smith.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per call (50 calls/mo) | $0.98 per call | $9.77 per call (Virtual Receptionist Starter) |
| Starting monthly price | From $49/month (Basic) | From $97.50/month (AI plan) or $293/month (human Starter) |
| Pricing model | Flat monthly, unlimited minutes | Per-call plans with per-call overage charges |
| Per-call overage | No per-call charge | $9.78 per extra call on Starter; $2.40 on the AI plan |
| Free trial | 7 days free, no card needed | No risk-free trial, demo call only |
| Setup time | Minutes - forward your phone | Onboarding call and intake-script briefing |
| Who answers | Trained AI receptionist | Hybrid: AI on the AI plan, US-based humans on Receptionist plans |
| Legal practice management | Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther via Zapier (Premium plan) | Native Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther integrations |
| 24/7 coverage | Included on every plan | Included on Virtual Receptionist plans |
| Average review rating | 4.82 out of 5 (56 reviews) | 4.7 out of 5 |
Pricing reflects Smith.ai's published rates at smith.ai/pricing at the time of writing. Smith.ai operates three product tiers (AI Receptionist, Virtual Receptionist, and Outreach); figures shown reference the AI plan ($97.50 for 30 calls) and the Virtual Receptionist Starter ($293 for 30 calls plus $9.78 per extra call). Hey Jodie pricing is published in full on the pricing page.
Slide the calls you'd take - the calculator picks Smith.ai's cheapest plan plus overage and compares to Hey Jodie's flat plan.
Cost calculator
Hey Jodie Basic
$49/mo
Flat. Unlimited.
Competitor: AI Receptionist Starter
$146/mo
$98 base + $48 overage
You'd save
$97/month ($1,158/year)
Smith.ai tiers and per-call overage rates are from smith.ai/pricing at the time of writing and billed in USD. Calculator picks the cheaper of the AI Receptionist ($97.50 / 30 calls + $2.40 per extra call) and Virtual Receptionist Starter ($293 / 30 calls + $9.78 per extra call). Hey Jodie Basic is flat monthly with unlimited calls at your locale rate.
Verifiable differences, not marketing claims. Each comes from public information on Smith.ai's site and ours.
Smith.ai's Virtual Receptionist Starter is $293/month for 30 calls, then $9.78 per extra call. Hey Jodie's Basic plan is $49 flat with unlimited calls - the price doesn't move when your phone rings more.
$0.98 per call on Hey Jodie vs $9.77 per call on Smith.ai Starter at 50 calls a month.
Smith.ai sits at 4.7 across customer reviews with the recurring critical theme being pricing surprise - the per-call meter auto-bumps you into the next tier when calls spike. Hey Jodie holds 4.82 across verified customer reviews with a flat monthly bill that doesn't change.
Smith.ai 4.7, Hey Jodie 4.82 across customer reviews - and no per-call meter on our side.
Smith.ai's native Clio and MyCase integrations make sense for multi-attorney firms with a dedicated intake workflow. Hey Jodie is built for the solo solicitor whose phone rings during depositions, with Zapier-routed Clio handoff on the Premium plan.
Smith.ai is the right call if you need a human intake team; Hey Jodie is the right call if you are the team.
Smith.ai leans hard on native legal-practice-management integrations. Here's where that matters and where it does not.
| Integration | Hey Jodie | Smith.ai |
|---|---|---|
Clio Legal practice management Smith.ai pushes intake into Clio directly. Hey Jodie routes via Zapier on Professional and Premium plans. | Zapier | Native |
MyCase Legal practice management | Zapier | Native |
PracticePanther Legal practice management | Zapier | Native |
HubSpot CRM Both route via integration partners rather than first-party. | Zapier | Partner |
Salesforce CRM | Zapier | Partner |
Slack Team notifications | Zapier | Partner |
Email / SMS notifications Lead capture | Native | Native |
Zapier (6000+ apps) Universal automation Zapier-only on Hey Jodie Premium covers tools Smith.ai has no path to. | Native | Not supported |
Smith.ai's integration list is from smith.ai/integrations at the time of writing. Hey Jodie integration coverage reflects the Professional ($99) and Premium ($199) plan tiers - Basic is voice + email/SMS only. 'Native' means first-party, 'Partner' means via an official integration provider, 'Zapier' means routed through Zapier's connector library.
Smith.ai publishes most figures up front - the question is what the bill looks like once per-call overage and tier auto-bumps kick in.
| Hey Jodie | Smith.ai | |
|---|---|---|
Base monthly price | ||
Per-call overage rate Hey Jodie has no per-call charge. Smith.ai publishes $2.40/extra call on the AI plan and $9.78/extra call on Virtual Receptionist Starter. | ||
Setup fee Both are $0 setup. | ||
Free trial (no card) Hey Jodie offers 7 days free with no card. Smith.ai's site offers a demo call only. | ||
Auto tier-upgrade rules Hey Jodie's flat plan doesn't auto-upgrade. Smith.ai's tier behaviour at the overage ceiling is in the terms of service, not the pricing page. | ||
Total first-year cost calculable from public info Hey Jodie: 12 x flat plan. Smith.ai: depends on your call volume because the per-call rate compounds. |
Smith.ai's $293 floor and hybrid intake team are priced for multi-attorney firms with case-management workflows. If your phone rings while you are in court, on a site visit or with a patient, these are the businesses Hey Jodie was built for.
For a solo or two-attorney shop whose phone rings during depositions, $49 flat with Zapier-routed Clio handoff on Premium beats $293 for 30 calls with $9.78 overage.
See Hey Jodie for attorneys & law firmsFor a single-practitioner clinic with 40 inbound calls a week, Smith.ai's per-call math doesn't survive flu season. Hey Jodie answers in seconds and notifies the front desk at a flat price.
See Hey Jodie for doctor's offices & medical practicesA buyer browsing Zillow at 8pm is calling the next agent if you don't pick up. 24/7 cover comes standard on Hey Jodie Basic at $49 - not gated behind a $293 Receptionist plan.
See Hey Jodie for real estate agentsTax-season volumes spike fast. A flat plan with unlimited calls beats $9.78-per-overage-call when every client calls about an IRS notice at once.
See Hey Jodie for accountants & cpasSmith.ai's AI Receptionist starts at $97.50/month for 30 calls with $2.40 per extra call. Their Virtual Receptionist starts at $293/month for 30 calls with $9.78 per extra call. Hey Jodie publishes every plan: $49 Basic, $99 Professional, $199 Premium, all with unlimited calls.
Yes. Smith.ai is a US-incorporated company founded in 2015 and headquartered in Palo Alto, with a 4.7 average review rating and thousands of law-firm customers. The questions worth asking are about price predictability and contract terms, not legitimacy.
The pattern is consistent: praise for receptionist quality and the native Clio and MyCase integrations. The recurring critical theme is pricing surprise - a busy week pushes you into overages, and a busier month auto-bumps you to the next tier.
Hey Jodie is $49/$99/$199 with unlimited calls on every plan. Smith.ai's AI plan is $97.50 for 30 calls; their Virtual Receptionist Starter is $293 for 30 calls. Smith.ai's per-call pricing is rare in the market, so model your expected call volume before you sign.
Both are human-led with different pricing shapes. Smith.ai bills per call (painful if calls are short and frequent); Ruby bills per minute (painful if any one call runs long). Hey Jodie sidesteps both with flat monthly pricing and unlimited calls.
For solo and small firms, yes. Smith.ai's native Clio and MyCase integrations suit firms with a dedicated intake team. For a solo attorney whose phone rings during depositions, Hey Jodie's $49 flat plan with Zapier-routed Clio handoff on Premium is the right shape.
Hey Jodie setup is minutes - forward your phone and Jodie starts answering. Smith.ai's site states month-to-month, but check your agreement before cancelling. Most businesses run both for 5-7 days during cutover, then cancel.
Move from a per-call meter to a flat plan without losing coverage. Most switchers run both for a week, then cancel Smith.ai.
Total time: Under 1 hour active time, 5-7 days for safe parallel running
Sign up at the register page. No card needed. You get your Hey Jodie phone number on the spot.
Set conditional forwarding (busy / no answer / always) from your phone provider to the Hey Jodie number.
Hey Jodie picks up via the forward; if it does not work for you, you cancel Hey Jodie and your Smith.ai line is unaffected. Listen to a few call recordings.
Smith.ai's site states month-to-month - cancel from your account dashboard or via your sales contact. Watch for any pro-rated per-call overage on the final invoice.
Once Smith.ai is cancelled, leave the forward to Hey Jodie in place. Confirm a test call lands on Hey Jodie and a summary arrives in your inbox.
Buyer's guides
This comparison is part of our independent buyer's guides ranking the whole field.
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