Answering Service Care Alternatives (2026 Prices)
The best Answering Service Care alternative depends on whether callers must reach a live agent or you just need every call answered. Answering Service Care’s pricing page lists live answering plans from $40 a month, pay as you go at $1.75 a minute, up to $639 for 500 minutes. Dooza’s AI answering service costs $149 a month for up to 500 minutes, then $0.30 a minute. Prices checked October 21, 2026 on each vendor’s own page.
We sell one of the services on this page (Dooza). Prices checked October 21, 2026 on each vendor’s own pricing page; check the links yourself.
Answering Service Care alternatives compared
These services bill in different units: per call, per minute or per Abby Minute. Answering Service Care’s live plans bill by the minute, and a human service’s minute is agent time, so it is not directly comparable with an AI minute. The closest like-for-like line: Answering Service Care’s 500 minutes cost $639 a month and Dooza’s up to 500 minutes cost $149, but Answering Service Care’s are live agent minutes and Dooza is AI. Prices checked October 21, 2026.
| Service | Type | Billed by | Entry plan | Other plans | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dooza (ours) | AI | Minutes | $149/month for 500 minutes | One plan | $0.30/min |
| Answering Service Care (live agents) | Human | Minutes | $40/month, pay as you go, $1.75/min | $179 for 100; $329 for 250; $639 for 500 minutes | $1.70/min (100 minutes) down to $1.35/min (500 minutes) |
| Posh (Virtual Receptionist) | Human | Receptionist minutes | $65/month with 0 minutes included, plus $2.30/min | $130 for 50; $215 for 100; $420 for 200; $700 for 350; $975 for 500; $1,900 for 1,000 minutes | $2.20/min (50 minutes) down to $1.90/min (1,000 minutes) |
| Moneypenny (People Answering) | Human | Minutes | $165/month for 50 minutes | $265 for 100; $422 for 200; $985 for 500 minutes | $2.85/min (50 minutes) down to $2.09/min (500 minutes) |
| Moneypenny (AI Answering) | AI with human escalation | Calls | $99/month for 50 calls | $199 for 100; $435 for 250; $775 for 500 calls | $2.39/call (50 calls) down to $1.69/call (500 calls) |
| Ruby (virtual receptionist) | Human | Minutes | $250/month for 50 minutes | $395 for 100; $720 for 200; $1,725 for 500 minutes | Not listed on pricing page |
| Smith.ai (human-first) | Human | Calls | $300/month for 30 calls | $810 for 90 calls; $2,100 for 300 calls | $11.50/call over 30 (Starter) |
| Smith.ai (AI receptionist) | AI | Calls | $0/month for 25 calls (Free); Pro $150/month | Pro: $2.00/call (about 2–3 calls a day) | $3.00/call after 25 (Free) |
| Abby Connect | Human or AI | Abby Minutes | $164/month for 50 Abby Minutes | $329 for 100; $599 for 200; $1,380 for 500. Minutes double if you choose AI | Billed at your plan’s Abby Minute rate |
| Upfirst | AI | Calls | $24.95/month for 30 calls | $59.95 for 90; $159.95 for 300; $299 for 600 calls | $1.50/call (Starter) down to $.70/call (Scale) |
| Dialzara | AI | Minutes | $29/month for 60 minutes | $99 for 220; $199 for 500; $349 for 1,000 minutes | $0.48/min (Lite) down to $0.35/min (Elite) |
| Rosie | AI | Minutes | $49/month for 250 minutes | $149 for 1,000; $299 for 2,000 minutes | Not listed on pricing page |
Sources (checked October 21, 2026): answeringservicecare.com/pricing/, posh.com/pricing/, moneypenny.com/us/pricing, ruby.com/plans-and-pricing/, smith.ai/pricing/receptionists, smith.ai/pricing/ai-receptionist, abby.com/pricing/, upfirst.ai/pricing, dialzara.com/pricing, heyrosie.com/pricing. Monthly list prices; some vendors discount annual billing. Answering Service Care’s prices are from the plan cards on its pricing page (Live Answering Service, pay monthly); the page also mentions a $50 start-up fee. For 20 services in one place, see our best AI receptionist comparison; to estimate your own bill, try the AI receptionist cost calculator.
The alternatives, one by one
Dooza AI answering service
An AI that answers your calls when you can’t, asks the caller the questions you give it, and emails you the message with the transcript and a link to the recording. Run by us, the company that publishes this page.
Price: $149/month for up to 500 minutes, then $0.30/min. Month to month, no free trial. Full refund if you cancel within 14 days of your first charge.
Best for: Owners who miss calls on the job and want each caller’s message in their inbox, without calendar booking, texting or a person to hand calls to.
Posh
A live virtual receptionist service billed by receptionist minutes. Its pricing page lists 24/7 live answering, bilingual receptionists who speak English and Spanish, a free trial of seven days or 250 receptionist minutes, and month-to-month agreements.
Price: From $65/month with no minutes included, plus $2.30/min; $975/month for 500 minutes.
Best for: Businesses that use few receptionist minutes and want a live person on every call.
Moneypenny
A receptionist service with two US plan families: People Answering, billed by minutes, which lists bilingual answering, CRM integrations and a mobile app and dashboard; and AI Answering, billed by calls, which lists human escalation. Its page asks for 30 days’ notice to cancel.
Price: People Answering from $165/month for 50 minutes; $985/month for 500 minutes. AI Answering from $99/month for 50 calls; $775/month for 500 calls.
Best for: Businesses that want live people on the phone, or AI calls with a person behind them.
Ruby
A live virtual receptionist service priced by minutes per month. Its pricing page describes 24/7 phone and website coverage and “100% live, personalized communication”, and says there are no additional fees for activation, onboarding, setup or customization.
Price: From $250/month for 50 minutes; $1,725/month for 500 minutes. No overage rate on the pricing page.
Best for: Businesses that want every call handled by a person.
Smith.ai
A receptionist service with human-first plans and a separately priced AI receptionist. Its human plans include transfer destinations, and its pricing page says it is a month-to-month service.
Price: Human-first from $300/month for 30 calls ($11.50 per extra call). AI receptionist: free for 25 calls a month, Pro from $150/month at $2.00 per call.
Best for: Businesses that want live people on the phone, or a low-volume AI plan from the same vendor.
Abby Connect
A receptionist service where one plan covers both human and AI answering. Its page says your Abby Minutes double when you choose AI, that every plan comes with a free trial, and that Abby is month to month.
Price: From $164/month for 50 Abby Minutes; $1,380/month for 500. Overage at your plan’s Abby Minute rate.
Best for: Teams that want humans and AI under one plan.
Upfirst
An AI receptionist billed per call. Its page lists appointment scheduling into your calendar, call transfers and a 14-day free trial with no credit card, and says you can cancel anytime.
Price: From $24.95/month for 30 calls, then $1.50 per extra call; $159.95/month for 300 calls.
Best for: Low call volumes on a tight budget, or anyone who needs calendar booking.
Dialzara
An AI receptionist billed by minutes of talk time, with outbound voice, SMS and website chat sold as add-ons. Its page lists a 7-day free trial and no contract.
Price: From $29/month for 60 minutes ($0.48/min after); $199/month for 500 minutes ($0.40/min after).
Best for: Buyers who want to start small and add texting or chat later.
Rosie
An AI answering service with a 7-day free trial. Its Scale plan adds booking appointments on your calendar, warm transfers and texts to callers during the call.
Price: From $49/month for 250 minutes; $149/month for 1,000 minutes. No overage rate on the pricing page.
Best for: Price-sensitive owners who want the most minutes per dollar.
Where Dooza fits, and what it does not do
Dooza is one plan: $149 a month for up to 500 minutes, then $0.30 a minute, month to month. It answers when you can’t pick up, asks the caller your questions, and emails you the message with the transcript and a link to the recording. If you miss calls while you are on a job, see how it works for HVAC, plumbing and garage door businesses.
Dooza does
- Answer your calls when you can’t
- Ask the questions you give it
- Email you the message, transcript and recording link
- Up to 500 minutes a month; $0.30/min after
Dooza does not
- Book onto your calendar
- Send texts
- Give you a human receptionist
- Do live transfers
Where Answering Service Care does more: Answering Service Care puts live agents on your calls. Its pricing page lists 24/7 coverage among the included features, along with call transfers, email and SMS relays, custom hold music and personalized greetings, says it supports 80+ languages and card or ACH payments on the call, and mentions 7000+ integrations with apps like HubSpot and Zapier. A customer quoted on the page mentions live agents 24/7 in English and Spanish. Dooza has no person to hand a call to and does none of those things: it takes the message and emails it to you. If callers must be able to reach a person, Answering Service Care or another human service fits better.
Cheaper on paper: Moneypenny’s AI plan ($99/month for 50 calls), Upfirst ($24.95/month for 30 calls), Dialzara ($29 for 60 minutes; $99 for 220) and Rosie ($49/month for 250 minutes) cost less than Dooza to start, Smith.ai’s AI plan is free for 25 calls, and Answering Service Care says its own AI plans start at $25 a month. Answering Service Care’s Starter plan ($40 a month, pay as you go at $1.75 a minute) costs less than Dooza up to 62 minutes a month ($40 + 62 × $1.75 = $148.50; 63 minutes is $150.25). If your call volume is low or you need booking, start there. Dooza makes sense when you want one flat price that covers up to 500 minutes a month, a stated $0.30 overage, and each caller’s message in your inbox.
Human or AI answering?
Answering Service Care, Posh, Moneypenny’s People Answering, Ruby, Smith.ai’s human-first plans and Abby put a trained person on the line. A person handles upset callers, judgment calls and sales conversations better than AI does, and you pay for it: Answering Service Care’s plans with minutes included start at $179 for 100, Posh’s at $130 for 50, Moneypenny’s People plans at $165 for 50 minutes, Ruby at $250 for 50 minutes and Smith.ai’s human plans at $300 for 30 calls. If every caller needs a careful conversation with a person, a human service may suit you better than Dooza. Comparing against PATLive instead? See PATLive alternatives.
AI services such as Dooza, Rosie, Upfirst and Dialzara cost a fraction of that. They are not a human receptionist. A common setup is a person for the office day and AI for overflow and after hours. More detail: AI answering service for small business and AI receptionist.
Frequently asked questions
Answering Service Care’s pricing page lists four live answering plans billed monthly: Starter at $40 a month, pay as you go, at $1.75 per minute; Small Business at $179 for 100 minutes; Pro at $329 for 250 minutes; and Enterprise at $639 for 500 minutes. Extra minutes cost $1.70, $1.60 and $1.35 on those three plans. The page also mentions a $50 start-up fee. Checked October 21, 2026 on answeringservicecare.com/pricing.
Yes. Its pricing page says plans start at $25 a month for AI and $40 for live agents. This page compares its live agent plans, which are the ones it lists with minutes and overage rates.
Its pricing page lists 24/7 coverage, call transfers, email and SMS relays, custom hold music, personalized greetings, secure notifications, one phone number, disaster recovery, an online client portal, usage reporting and a mobile app. It also mentions 80+ languages, card or ACH payments on the call, and integrations with apps like HubSpot and Zapier.
Above about 60 minutes a month, yes, but it is a different kind of service. Dooza costs $149 a month for up to 500 minutes, then $0.30 a minute, and it is AI only. Answering Service Care’s 500-minute live plan costs $639. At low volume its Starter plan costs less: $40 plus 62 minutes at $1.75 is $148.50; 63 minutes is $150.25. Answering Service Care gives you live agents; Dooza does not. Prices checked October 21, 2026.
On list price, Upfirst starts at $24.95 a month for 30 calls, Dialzara at $29 for 60 minutes and Rosie at $49 for 250 minutes, and Smith.ai’s AI receptionist is free for 25 calls a month. All four are AI services. Among live services on this page, Answering Service Care’s own $40 Starter plan and Posh’s $65 plan are the lowest entry prices, both billed per minute on top.
Yes. Dooza is month to month with no contract, and you pay the first month up front; there is no free trial. If you cancel within 14 days of your first charge, you get a full refund.
Stop sending callers to voicemail
$149/month for up to 500 minutes, then $0.30/min. Month to month. Cancel within 14 days of your first charge for a full refund.