Smith.ai vs Shtello Connect: Pricing and Fit Compared

Smith.ai bills per call: Pro is $150 a month for 75 calls, then $2 a call, plus per-call add-ons. Shtello Connect bills a monthly plan plus per-minute usage: $199 a month on a 12-month plan, plus $0.80 a minute and a $499 setup. On calls alone Smith.ai usually costs less; Shtello's case is the bundled front desk and done-for-you onboarding.

Key takeaways

• Smith.ai's AI plans are priced per call. Shtello's are priced as a monthly plan plus per-minute usage, with a one-time setup fee.
• Assuming three-minute calls, Smith.ai Pro without add-ons costs less than Shtello Starter at every volume from 25 to 300 calls a month.
• Smith.ai's per-call add-ons (booking $1.50, CRM $0.50, Spanish $1) narrow the gap at high volume but rarely close it below 300 calls.
• Shtello's price buys a bundle: 24/7 voice, instant text-back, booking, a unified call and text inbox, setup done for you and weekly SEO content publishing.
• If phone answering is the whole job, start with Smith.ai's free tier. If you want the front desk and the marketing handled together, price out Shtello.

How does Smith.ai price its AI receptionist?

Smith.ai sells two families of plans. Prices below are as listed at the time of writing.

AI receptionist plans. The Free plan is $0 a month and includes 25 calls, with each call after that billed at $3. The Pro plan is $150 a month for about 75 calls, then $2 a call. An Enterprise plan is listed at $500 a month. Several features are billed per call on top of the base rate: appointment booking at $1.50, CRM logging at $0.50 and Spanish at $1. A booked, logged, Spanish-language call on the Pro plan therefore costs the base call plus $3 in add-ons.

Human-first plans. These put a live receptionist on the line and are priced by call bundle: $300 a month for 30 calls, $810 for 90 and $2,100 for 300. Real people on your phones, backed by AI, from one company.

The logic of per-call pricing is that you pay for what you use. The bill scales with your phone, and the add-ons scale with how much work you ask the receptionist to do on each call.

How does Shtello Connect price its AI front desk?

Shtello Connect charges a monthly plan plus usage. Plans start at $199 a month on the 12-month plan, with 6-month and month-to-month options available at a higher monthly rate, plus a one-time $499 setup. Usage such as minutes and texts is billed separately: Starter is $0.80 a minute, Pro ($349 a month) is $0.78 and Premium ($895 a month) is $0.75. There is no long-term lock-in; plans go month-to-month after the first three months.

The company's own example is a business taking 100 calls a month averaging three minutes: $199 plan plus about $240 in usage, or roughly $439 a month total, before the setup fee is amortized. English is included on every plan. Any additional language, including Spanish, is a $29 a month add-on that covers unlimited extra languages from a list of 30 or more.

What the plan buys is broader than call answering. Every plan includes a 24/7 AI voice front desk, instant text-back to missed callers, appointment booking into Google, Outlook or Apple calendars, a unified inbox for calls and texts, weekly SEO article publishing for your website, and setup handled for you. You keep your current number through call forwarding. For a wider look at how per-call, per-minute and bundled plans compare, see our guide to how much an AI receptionist costs.

What does each cost at 25, 50, 100, 150 and 300 calls a month?

The figures below use listed prices and assume three-minute calls. Shtello is $199 plus calls times three minutes times $0.80, at the 12-month rate; the one-time $499 setup is not included. Smith.ai Pro is $150 for 75 calls, then $2 a call. Free is $3 a call after 25.

• 25 calls: Smith.ai Free $0; Smith.ai Pro without add-ons $150; Smith.ai Pro with booking on every call $187.50; Shtello Starter $259.
• 50 calls: Smith.ai Free $75; Smith.ai Pro without add-ons $150; Smith.ai Pro with booking on every call $225; Shtello Starter $319.
• 100 calls: Smith.ai Free $225; Smith.ai Pro without add-ons $200; Smith.ai Pro with booking on every call $350; Shtello Starter $439.
• 150 calls: Smith.ai Free $375; Smith.ai Pro without add-ons $300; Smith.ai Pro with booking on every call $525; Shtello Starter $559.
• 300 calls: Smith.ai Free $825; Smith.ai Pro without add-ons $600; Smith.ai Pro with booking on every call $1,050; Shtello Starter $919.

Read plainly: on a phone-only basis, Smith.ai's AI plans cost less than Shtello at every volume shown. The one configuration where Shtello comes in lower is Smith.ai Pro with booking on every single call at 300 calls a month, and even then the Free plan is still cheaper. Shorter calls shrink Shtello's usage bill and longer calls grow it, but the ranking holds at typical call lengths.

What the list does not capture is that Shtello's price includes text-back, the unified inbox and weekly SEO publishing, which have no equivalent line on a Smith.ai invoice. Whether those are worth the difference depends on whether you would otherwise pay someone else for them.

What does Smith.ai do well?

A fair comparison should say clearly where Smith.ai is strong, because it is strong in several places.

Low cost at low volume. A business taking 25 calls a month can run the Free plan for $0, and the Pro plan covers 75 calls for $150. For a solo operator or a quiet office, that is hard to beat.

Human backup from the same vendor. Smith.ai's human-first plans put trained receptionists on your calls, with the AI handling overflow or after-hours. Most AI-only vendors, Shtello included, transfer urgent calls to your own staff rather than to the vendor's receptionists.

Control over the AI. Smith.ai offers tooling for reviewing calls, checking how the AI handled them and adjusting its behavior. For a business that wants to tune scripts and inspect edge cases itself, that level of control is useful.

A large integration list. Smith.ai connects to a long list of CRMs, calendars, intake tools and practice-management systems. If your workflow already runs through one of them, check that list first.

What does Shtello Connect do well?

The bundle. Rather than a phone product with metered extras, Shtello sells a front desk: 24/7 voice answering, instant text-back to callers you missed, appointment booking with confirmations and reminders, lead follow-up and a single inbox where calls and texts land together. Pro adds social messages to that inbox and review-request automation.

Weekly SEO content. Shtello publishes SEO articles for its clients' websites as part of the service. For a local business that has never had a content budget, this is the piece with no counterpart on a per-call plan.

Setup done for you. The team builds the call flow, connects the calendar, handles carrier registration for texting and sets up forwarding, typically live within days.

Human transfer and languages. Urgent calls are transferred to a person on your team on every plan; our guide on routing urgent calls to a human explains how those rules are set. English is included, and the $29 a month languages add-on unlocks Spanish and 30-plus other languages without a per-call charge on top of it.

Built for local service businesses. Setups are designed around dentists, HVAC and plumbing companies, salons, clinics and auto shops in the US and Canada, such as the flow for HVAC companies.

Who is a better fit for Smith.ai?

1. Businesses that only need the phone answered. If booking, text-back and marketing are handled elsewhere, Smith.ai's AI plans deliver call answering for less at every volume we calculated.
2. Low-volume businesses. Under 75 calls a month, the Free and Pro plans cost between $0 and $150.
3. Businesses that want vendor-supplied human receptionists. If a person on the line is a requirement, the human-first plans deliver that at $300 to $2,100 a month depending on volume.
4. Teams that want to tune the AI themselves. If someone on staff will review calls and adjust behavior, you will get value from that control.
5. Businesses with a specific integration need. If your CRM or practice-management system is on Smith.ai's list and deep integration is a must, that may settle it.

Who is a better fit for Shtello?

1. Owners who want the front desk handled end to end. If you want calls, texts, booking and follow-up in one place rather than assembling them from separate tools, the bundle is the point.
2. Businesses that lose leads to missed calls. Instant text-back reaches the caller who hung up before the voicemail beep. If you are moving from a human answering service, the AI receptionist vs answering service comparison covers what changes.
3. Businesses that also want content published. If you would otherwise pay a writer or an agency, weekly SEO articles make the monthly number easier to justify.
4. Owners who want it set up for them. If nobody on your team wants to configure software, done-for-you onboarding and a live date within days is the practical choice.
5. Bilingual markets at volume. A $29 a month languages add-on costs less than $1 per Spanish call once you pass about 30 such calls a month.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shtello Connect cheaper than Smith.ai?

Usually not on price alone. Assuming three-minute calls, Smith.ai's AI plans cost less at every volume from 25 to 300 calls a month, and Shtello adds a one-time $499 setup. Shtello's value is in what the plan includes, not a lower phone bill.

What does Shtello actually cost per month?

Starter is $199 a month on a 12-month plan plus $0.80 a minute; 6-month and month-to-month terms cost more per month. The company's own example is about $439 a month for 100 three-minute calls, plus the one-time setup.

Does either service handle Spanish?

Both do. Smith.ai lists Spanish as a $1 per-call add-on on its AI plans. Shtello includes English and offers Spanish and 30-plus other languages through a $29 a month add-on.

Can I keep my phone number with either service?

Yes. Both work through call forwarding from your existing number, so nothing changes for your customers.

Can I try before committing?

Smith.ai's Free plan lets you test with 25 calls a month at no charge. Shtello offers a live demo call on its website so you can hear how it handles a conversation, and plans go month-to-month after the first three months.

If you want to hear it for yourself, listen to the live demo. Plans start from $199/mo plus usage, with setup handled for you and text-back, booking and weekly SEO content included.