Smith.ai vs Ruby: per-call vs per-minute pricing compared
2026-10-23 · 8 min read
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It's Tuesday, a few minutes after nine. You've got two browser tabs open. One is Smith.ai, the other is Ruby, and both promise a friendly person answering your phone when you can't. Smith.ai says $300 a month. Ruby says $250. That looks like an easy call, until you notice that one counts calls and the other counts minutes. Then you realize you have no idea how many minutes your calls run.
That difference decides which service is cheaper for you, so most of this Smith.ai vs Ruby comparison is about it. I went through both companies' own pages on October 23, 2026: Smith.ai's pricing page, Smith.ai's automated receptionist pricing, Ruby's pricing page and Ruby's FAQ. No numbers here come from review sites. Both companies change their plans, so check again before you sign.
Smith.ai vs Ruby in one table
| Checked Oct 23, 2026 | Smith.ai live receptionists | Ruby live receptionists |
|---|---|---|
| How you're billed | Per call | Per minute, every call rounded up to the next full minute |
| Entry plan | Starter: $300/mo for 30 calls | $250/mo for 50 minutes |
| Middle plans | Basic: $810/mo for 90 calls | $395/mo for 100 minutes; $720/mo for 200 minutes (marked most popular) |
| Top published plan | Pro: $2,100/mo for 300 calls | $1,725/mo for 500 minutes |
| Going over | $11.50, $10.50 or $8.50 per extra call, depending on plan | "The overage rate associated with your plan," not published |
| Spam and wrong numbers | Not counted, on lines that pass caller ID | Not addressed on the pricing page or FAQ |
| Booking appointments | $1.50 per call add-on | Listed as included in the plans |
| Taking payments | $1.00 per call add-on | Listed as included in the plans |
| Spanish | Dedicated Spanish line, $1.00 per call add-on | Bilingual service Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern |
| Hours | Live-staffed 24/7 | 24/7/365 |
| Setup fees | None listed | None listed |
| Annual discount | 10% for a 12-month subscription | Not shown on the pricing page |
| Contract | Month to month | No long-term contract |
| Money-back window | 30 days in one place on the page, "first two weeks" in the FAQ | 21 days or 500 minutes used, whichever comes first |
Two things about that table. Smith.ai's page contradicts itself on the guarantee, so get the real window in writing. And Ruby's missing overage rate matters more than any plan price, because a busy month is exactly when you'll spill over.
Per call or per minute: how each one counts
Smith.ai counts calls. A 40-second "are you open Saturday?" and a 9-minute new-client intake each use one call from your plan. Spam and wrong numbers don't count, according to the page, as long as the lines you forward pass caller ID.
Ruby counts minutes. Its FAQ says minutes are billed in 60-second increments and every call is rounded up to the next full minute. The clock starts when the receptionist receives the call and stops when they transfer it, send it to voicemail, or the call ends. Hold time counts. Talk time after the transfer to you doesn't. Ruby's app warns you at 85% and 100% of your minutes.
So it comes down to how long your calls run. A 30-second call costs Ruby's plan one minute, which makes short calls cheap there. A 10-minute call still costs Smith.ai's plan just one call, which makes long calls cheap there.
What three real call patterns would cost
Here's what the published prices work out to for three businesses. The math is mine and uses only the numbers above. It assumes you pick the cheaper plan for your volume and leaves add-ons out.
| Call pattern | Ruby | Smith.ai |
|---|---|---|
| 90 calls a month, almost all under a minute (quick questions, transfers to you) | 90 billed minutes: the 100-minute plan, $395 | 90 calls: Basic, $810 |
| 60 calls a month, about 2.5 minutes each | Rounds to 3 minutes each, 180 minutes: the 200-minute plan, $720 | Starter plus 30 extra calls at $11.50: $645 |
| 40 calls a month, about 5.5 minutes each (new-client intake) | Rounds to 6 minutes each, 240 minutes: the 200-minute plan plus 40 minutes at an unpublished overage rate, or the 500-minute plan at $1,725 | Starter plus 10 extra calls at $11.50: $415 |
The first row is a front desk that mostly routes calls. The third is a law office or a contractor taking real intake on every call. Ruby costs less than half as much in the first row and about four times as much in the third, if you'd rather move up a plan than pay an overage rate you can't see.
Add-ons change this. If you want Smith.ai to book appointments on every call in the second row, that's 60 times $1.50, another $90 a month, and Ruby lists scheduling as included. Smith.ai's page does include basic new-client intake (five short-answer questions) on every plan, while longer intake costs $1.50 more per call.
Which one fits which business
| If your calls look like this | Lean toward |
|---|---|
| Lots of short calls, mostly routing and quick questions | Ruby |
| Fewer, longer calls where someone takes real intake | Smith.ai |
| You need appointments booked or payments taken on most calls | Ruby, unless your calls run long |
| A lot of spam or robocalls on your line | Smith.ai, which says it doesn't charge for them |
| Spanish callers on nights and weekends | Ask both. Ruby's bilingual hours are weekdays only (7 a.m. to 8 p.m. here in Illinois), and Smith.ai sells a Spanish line per call |
| You'd rather lock in a year for a discount | Smith.ai, which lists 10% off for 12 months |
I've written up each service on its own if you want every add-on and fine-print detail: Smith.ai pricing and Ruby receptionist pricing. For how these two sit next to other live answering services, see answering service cost.
Smith.ai also sells an automated receptionist
Smith.ai has a second product, a software receptionist billed per call: a free plan with 25 calls, Pro from $150 a month for 75 calls, and Enterprise from $500 a month for 300 calls, according to its automated receptionist pricing page. The FAQ says complex calls can be transferred to a live receptionist in North America, but the page doesn't say which plans include that. Ruby's pricing page lists only live receptionists and live chat.
If you're looking at the cheaper automated plans, you're no longer comparing like for like with Ruby. You're choosing whether a caller gets a person or software, and that depends on who calls you.
How to work out your own number
Pull last month's call log and write down three numbers: how many calls came in, how long the average one ran, and how many of them were spam. Then:
- For Ruby, round every call up to the next minute and add them up. Pick the plan that covers it, and ask Ruby for that plan's overage rate in writing.
- For Smith.ai, count the real calls (leave the spam out), pick the plan, and add the per-call add-ons you'd actually use.
- Price your busiest month, not your average one. That's where the overage rates bite.
- Ask each vendor about its money-back window before day one, so you can test it during your real busy season.
Neither one, or one plus a text back
Both services answer the call. A missed-call text back handles the calls you don't answer: within a minute the caller gets a text from your business number asking what they need, they type their own answers, anything urgent pings your phone, and the rest lands on one callback list. Builds start at $500 one-time, then a flat monthly from $99 after an included run-in period, cancellable. A busy month doesn't change the bill. It won't help a caller on a landline or someone who refuses to text, and that's where a live voice earns its rate. I go through that trade-off in answering service vs missed-call text back.
Plenty of owners use both: a live service for nights and weekends, when a calm human voice matters, and a text back to catch the daytime calls they can't pick up.
What stays human
Whichever way you go, the judgment stays with you. A receptionist at Smith.ai or Ruby follows the script you write and takes a message. Neither one quotes the job, and neither decides who gets squeezed in at 7 a.m. tomorrow or knows which regular would rather hear from you than from a stranger. You decide what's urgent enough to interrupt dinner, and the callback is still yours to make.
Get a second look before you sign
The free 20 minute process audit starts with where your calls go today. Bring a month of your call log and any quotes you've gotten from Smith.ai or Ruby. I'll run your numbers through both pricing models with you and tell you plainly whether a receptionist, a text back, or both fits the way your phone actually rings. Book the audit here.