Smith.ai answers your phone with AI, with live receptionists, or both, and bills per call. Unmanually is an AI Office Manager you talk to that runs the rest of the office too: quotes, invoices, supplier orders and follow-ups. If you want people on your phones, Smith.ai is the better pick. If you want hours of office work to become minutes of talking, read on.
Quick answer: pick Smith.ai if you want calls answered by real people (or AI with a human backstop), in English or Spanish, and you're happy paying per call. Pick Unmanually if the phone is only part of the problem and you want one AI Office Manager, run by voice, that also sends the quotes, chases the invoices, orders the parts and follows up, for a flat monthly price.
| Smith.ai | Unmanually | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A call-answering service with an AI Receptionist, live human receptionists (24/7), or a hybrid of the two | A 24/7 AI Office Manager the owner talks to by voice from their phone, and it does the office work |
| Phone and texts | Answers calls 24/7, screens spam, qualifies leads, does new-client intake, warm-transfers to your team with context; text and email follow-up is a $0.50 per-call add-on on human plans | Calls leads back fast and handles calls, email and texts |
| Booking | AI scheduling with Calendly and other calendar tools; booking is a $1.50 per-call add-on on human plans | Books jobs |
| Quotes and invoices | Not listed. Payment collection on calls is a $1.00 per-call add-on (Square, PayPal and others) | Sends quotes and invoices and chases payments when you ask |
| Supplier orders and follow-ups | Not listed | Orders from suppliers and runs the follow-ups |
| Live humans | Yes: human-first plans, or live agents added per call to the AI plan | No; it is AI, and it asks you before anything that spends money or can't be undone |
| Price (AI) | Free $0/mo (25 calls, then $3.00/call); Pro $150/mo ($2.00/call); Enterprise $500/mo ($1.67/call) | Starter $49/mo ($420/yr founding); Growth $99/mo ($948/yr founding); Scale $399/mo ($3,588/yr founding) |
| Price (human) | Starter $300/mo for 30 calls; Basic $810/mo for 90; Pro $2,100/mo for 300; $8.50 to $11.50 per extra call; 10% off for 12 months | Not offered |
| Billing model | Per call | Flat monthly plan with set capacity; seats by plan |
| Field-service software | Jobber, ServiceTitan and Housecall Pro are not named on its pricing or AI Receptionist pages; first CRM integration free (HubSpot, Salesforce, Clio, Zapier and others) | Jobber sync on Growth and Scale (listed on the pricing page) |
| Phone number | Dedicated local or toll-free number included, or port yours free | Bring your own Twilio or Telnyx number; we don't sell numbers |
| Languages | English and Spanish | Not listed on our pricing page; ask us |
| Best for | Owners who want calls answered by people, or AI with a human backstop, and are fine paying per call | Owners in the field who want the whole office handled, not only the phone |
Smith.ai bills per call, so cost follows call volume. Using the human Starter plan as listed on October 19, 2026: 60 calls in a month is $300 for the first 30 plus 30 × $11.50 = $345, so $645 before add-ons. Add booking on every call ($1.50 × 60 = $90) and it is $735. Smith.ai's AI Pro plan is $150/month and lists $2.00 a call, described as about 2 to 3 calls/day, so 60 calls fits the volume it is built for.
Unmanually's plans are a flat $49, $99 or $399/month with set monthly capacity, and the work isn't counted per call. Your own Twilio or Telnyx number is billed to you by that carrier. This is an example built from list prices, not a quote; check both sites for your volume.
Comparing other options too? See Unmanually vs Jobber AI Receptionist, our roundup of AI Office Managers for business owners, and the missed-call cost analysis for plumbing and HVAC (2026).
Both. As of October 19, 2026, Smith.ai sells an AI Receptionist (Free, Pro and Enterprise plans) and human-first plans staffed by live agents 24/7, plus a hybrid option. Its AI Receptionist page says live agents from its team of 500+ North America-based receptionists can be added per call.
As of October 19, 2026, Smith.ai's AI Receptionist page lists Free ($0/mo, 25 calls/month, then $3.00 a call), Pro ($150/mo, $2.00 a call) and Enterprise ($500/mo, $1.67 a call). Its human-first plans on the pricing page are Starter $300/mo for 30 calls ($11.50 per extra call), Basic $810/mo for 90 calls ($10.50 per extra) and Pro $2,100/mo for 300 calls ($8.50 per extra). Features like appointment booking ($1.50), payment collection ($1.00) and text or email follow-up ($0.50) are per-call add-ons on the human plans. Check smith.ai for current terms.
If you want real people answering your phone, or a mix of AI and humans, Smith.ai is the better pick: Unmanually has no human receptionists. It is also live today, offers English and Spanish, can collect payments on calls, and has a free AI tier with 25 calls/month.
A receptionist service answers incoming calls and takes messages or books appointments. Unmanually is an AI Office Manager you give instructions to by voice: it calls leads back fast, books jobs, sends quotes and invoices, chases payments, orders from suppliers and handles email and texts. It asks before anything that spends money or can't be undone. Hours of office work become minutes of talking.
Smith.ai includes a dedicated local or toll-free number, or ports your existing number for free, according to its pricing page. Unmanually runs on your own Twilio or Telnyx number; we don't sell numbers.
Smith.ai is a trademark of its owner. We are not affiliated with Smith.ai. Prices and features change; check Smith.ai's pages for current terms.
Owners spend about 11 to 16 hours/week on admin, and a lead reached within an hour is nearly 7 times more likely to turn into a real conversation (HBR). Knowing what to do is the easy part; the money leaks out in the calls you can't take, the follow-ups nobody sends and the invoices that sit unpaid. Unmanually is a 24/7 AI Office Manager for your business that you run by voice from your phone:
Sources: admin hours, Time etc / Censuswide 2023 and Amex SME Barometer 2026; speed to lead, HBR audit of 2,241 US companies (2011).
Unmanually is an AI Office Manager that works 24/7 and that you run by voice from your phone. Leave your mobile number and the AI Office Manager calls you right away, the same way it would call back one of your customers. That call is the demo: it answers, books you a 15-minute time with the founder and follows up.
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