Comparison

Ansurra vs Smith.ai: per minute or per call

Smith.ai sells AI call answering by the call, with live receptionists as an add-on. Ansurra sells it by the talk minute. This page lays both ladders side by side, with every Smith.ai figure taken from their own pages on September 1, 2026.

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Smith.ai started in 2015 as a live virtual receptionist service and now leads with an AI Receptionist product. Their site says most of their clients are law firms, and the product shows it: intake, lead screening, qualification against your own criteria, and a per-call add-on that brings one of their live receptionists onto the line when the AI reaches its limit. Pricing is per call. A free tier covers 25 calls a month, Pro runs $150 a month at about two dollars a call, and Enterprise is $500 a month at about one dollar sixty-seven.

Ansurra is built for the owner who answers the phone between jobs. It runs on talk minutes rather than calls, starts at $29 a month, and books appointments on the business's real calendar while the caller is still on the line. It suits a two-truck plumbing outfit, a solo estate-planning attorney, or a dental office that loses new patients to voicemail at lunchtime. For legal and medical callers it takes details and books the consultation; it leaves legal and clinical questions to the professionals and never offers advice of its own.

Every Smith.ai fact below was read from smith.ai on September 1, 2026: the AI Receptionist page, the plans and pricing page, the web chat pricing page, the home page and their public Trustpilot profile, which showed 366 reviews at 4.4 as of that date. Where a page did not state something, the table says Not published rather than guessing. Prices change. If you spot a difference, the competitor's page wins and we will correct ours.

Every Smith.ai figure on this page was read from Smith.ai's own public pages on 2026-09-02; the sources are listed at the bottom. Prices change — check theirs before you decide.

Same usage, both bills.

What each company charges for the same month of calls, from the prices they publish.

Ansurra from$29/mo60 talk minutes, booking on every plan, 20 free minutes to try, no card

Smith.ai from$150/mo75 calls on AI Receptionist Pro · priced per call

Same usage, both billsAnsurra is cheaper at every usage level we checkedUp to $256.11 a month saved at the levels below. Published prices, read on 2026-09-02.

A month of	Ansurra	Smith.ai	Difference
60 minutes (about 20 calls)	$29 Starter	$150 AI Receptionist Pro	Ansurra saves $121 a month
180 minutes (about 60 calls)	$49 Growth	$150 AI Receptionist Pro	Ansurra saves $101 a month
400 minutes (about 133 calls)	$99 Pro	$266 AI Receptionist Pro + overage	Ansurra saves $167 a month
1,000 minutes (about 333 calls)	$299 Scale	$555.11 AI Receptionist Enterprise + overage	Ansurra saves $256.11 a month

How this is worked out: for each level, the cheapest plan on each side including any published overage on the excess. Smith.ai prices its AI receptionist per call: the $150 Pro plan buys calls at $2.00 (75 calls) and the $500 Enterprise plan at $1.67 (about 300). A usage level of N minutes is read as N ÷ 3 calls of three minutes each; shorter calls favour Smith.ai, longer ones Ansurra. Smith.ai also lists a free tier of 25 calls a month with a card on file; it is left out here because it is a trial-sized allowance, not a plan a business runs on. Ansurra's ladder is Starter $29 / 60 min, Growth $49 / 180, Pro $99 / 400, Scale $299 / 1,000, with extra minutes at $0.35 ($0.25 on Scale); yearly billing takes one month off. Prices change — check both pricing pages before you decide.

Why owners pick Ansurra over Smith.ai.

Every point below is either on our pricing page or missing from theirs. Nothing here is a promise we cannot keep.

Reschedules or cancels by phone

Yes, plus repeat visits and a waitlist spot when nothing is open. Smith.ai's pages do not list it.

Recognizes returning callers

Yes, by caller ID, greeting them by name with their history. Smith.ai's pages do not list it.

Money-back guarantee

14 days on the first payment. Smith.ai's pages do not list it.

Price quotes

Word for word from a price list the owner controls, never invented. Smith.ai's pages do not list it.

Try it on your real line, free

20 talk minutes on the actual product, no card: forward your number for an afternoon and listen.

Booking from the cheapest plan

Live on your Google Calendar or Cal.com at $29, not gated to a higher tier.

No billing surprises

14-day money-back on the first payment, cancel anytime, and the extra-minute rate is printed on the pricing page.

You keep your number

One dial code at your carrier forwards the calls you choose; nothing to port, nothing to install.

Smith.ai pricing, as published.

Plan	Price	Included	Overage
AI Receptionist Free	$0/mo	25 calls a month	$3.00 per call after 25; overages off by default
AI Receptionist Pro	$150/mo	Priced at $2.00 per call (about 2-3 calls a day)	Billed per call at the plan rate
AI Receptionist Enterprise	$500/mo	Priced at $1.67 per call (about 10 calls a day)	Billed per call at the plan rate
Virtual Front Desk Starter (live receptionists)	$300/month	30 calls	$11.50 per call over 30
Virtual Front Desk Basic (live receptionists)	$810/month	90 calls	$10.50 per call over 90
Virtual Front Desk Pro (live receptionists)	$2,100/month	300 calls	$8.50 per call over 300
Virtual Front Desk Enterprise (live receptionists)	Custom	Custom	Custom

Ansurra pricing

Ansurra's live ladder: Starter $29/mo with 60 talk minutes; Growth $49/mo with 180 minutes; Pro $99/mo with 400 minutes and up to 4 numbers; Scale $299/mo with 1,000 minutes and up to 7 numbers. Overage is $0.35 per minute ($0.25 on Scale). Pay yearly and one month is free. The free trial is 20 talk minutes on the real product with no card required, there is a 14-day money-back guarantee on the first payment, there are no contracts, and you can cancel anytime.

Feature by feature.

	Ansurra	Smith.ai
Answers around the clock	Yes, 24/7 in a natural voice, no menus or hold music	Yes, 24/7 AI call answering on every plan
Books on the calendar during the call	Yes, live on Google Calendar or Cal.com, offering only genuinely open times	Yes, AI scheduling with common calendar tools
Reschedules or cancels by phone	Yes, plus repeat visits and a waitlist spot when nothing is open	Not published
Recognizes returning callers	Yes, by caller ID, greeting them by name with their history	Not published
Screens spam and robocalls	Yes, with a per-business blocklist	Yes, spam screening and blocking on every plan
Scores leads	Every lead scored 0-10 (hot, warm, cold) with the reasons	Lead qualification against your criteria; no published score
Languages	60+, switching to the caller's language even mid-call	English and Spanish
Website chat	Included: the same receptionist runs as a chat widget on your site	Separate product: live-staffed web chat from $140/mo for 20 chats, or $10 per chat
Free trial	20 talk minutes on the real product, no card required	Free tier of 25 calls a month; credit card required at signup
Money-back guarantee	14 days on the first payment	Not published for AI Receptionist plans; 30-day guarantee up to $1,000 on the live-receptionist plans
Overage	$0.35 per minute ($0.25 on Scale)	$3.00 per call over 25 on Free; Pro and Enterprise are priced per call at $2.00 and $1.67
Live transfer to you	Straight through, or warm with a one-line spoken briefing first	Warm transfers with context; a live receptionist as a per-call add-on
Price quotes	Word for word from a price list the owner controls, never invented	Not published
Setup	About two minutes from your website URL, or an industry template	About 15 minutes, with a test studio before going live

Where Smith.ai is the better fit.

A person can take over the call

When a caller needs a human, Smith.ai can bring one of its live receptionists onto the line as a per-call add-on. Ansurra transfers to your own cell, warm or cold, but it does not staff a call center. If you want someone other than you to pick up, that is a real difference.

A free tier that stays free

Smith.ai's free plan covers 25 calls every month with overages switched off by default. Ansurra's free trial is 20 talk minutes, once, and then you choose a plan. For a very low-volume practice, 25 free calls a month is the better deal.

A test studio before you go live

Their Quality Studio runs scripted scenarios against your AI and scores the results before a real caller reaches it. Ansurra offers a test call from the dashboard, which is simpler and less structured.

A longer guarantee on the live-receptionist plans

Smith.ai's live-receptionist plans carry a 30-day money-back guarantee up to $1,000. Ansurra's guarantee is 14 days on the first payment. The AI Receptionist page itself does not list a guarantee, so check which plan you are buying.

Where Ansurra is the better fit.

Minutes instead of calls

A wrong number, a two-second hang-up and a twenty-minute intake each count as one call at Smith.ai. Ansurra bills talk time, so a short call costs a few cents of your allowance and nothing more. At $150 for roughly 75 calls against $29 for 60 minutes, the gap at small volume is wide.

No card to try it

The Smith.ai free tier requires a credit card at signup. Ansurra's 20 free minutes run on the real product with nothing on file, and the 14-day money-back guarantee covers the first payment after that.

Changes and cancellations without a transfer

A caller who wants to move Thursday's consultation to Friday gets it done on the call. Ansurra reschedules and cancels on the real calendar, books repeat visits, and offers a waitlist spot when nothing is open. Smith.ai's pages describe booking; they do not describe rescheduling.

Sixty-plus languages

Smith.ai answers in English and Spanish. Ansurra switches to the caller's language automatically, even mid-call, across more than sixty.

It knows who is calling

Returning callers are recognized by caller ID and greeted by name with their history before they explain themselves. Smith.ai does not publish a comparable feature.

Chat is included, not metered separately

Smith.ai sells web chat as its own product starting at $140 a month for 20 chats. Ansurra's website widget is the same receptionist and comes with every plan.

Switching questions.

Do I have to give up my phone number to switch from Smith.ai to Ansurra?

No. Your number stays with your carrier. You set one dial code to forward calls to Ansurra, either all of them or only when you are busy or do not answer. Switching back is the same code in reverse.

Does the Ansurra trial need a card?

No. You get 20 talk minutes on the real product with nothing on file. If you then choose a plan and change your mind, the 14-day money-back guarantee covers the first payment. Smith.ai's free tier asks for a card at signup, though overages stay off until you turn them on.

What happens to my Smith.ai call history?

It stays in your Smith.ai account under their terms; Ansurra cannot import it. From your first forwarded call, Ansurra records, transcribes and summarizes everything in your own dashboard, and Zapier or a custom webhook can push each call, booking and lead into the tools you already keep.

How long does setup take if I am moving from a per-call service?

About two minutes. Paste your website and Ansurra builds its own knowledge: services, hours, FAQs and service area. If there is no website, you start from an industry template. Then connect Google Calendar or Cal.com and set the forwarding code at your carrier.

Can Ansurra put a live person on the line the way Smith.ai can?

It transfers urgent calls to your cell, straight through or with a one-line spoken briefing first, and after hours it takes a detailed message and emails it to you. It does not have receptionists of its own. If you need staff other than you answering, Smith.ai's add-on is the honest fit.

Sources checked on 2026-09-02

Smith.ai is a trademark of its owner. Ansurra is not affiliated with Smith.ai. Spotted something out of date? Email hello@ansurra.com and we will correct it.

Decide on your own line.

20 free minutes on the real product, no card. If you pay and change your mind inside 14 days, the first payment is refunded.

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