Goodcall vs Smith.ai (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Smith.ai grades higher than Goodcall: 2.0 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Smith.ai grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Goodcall
AI phone agent for small businesses, billed per customer
Smith.ai
Phone answering by an AI receptionist, with live agents as an option
Which one is for you
Pick Goodcall if
- Fits if you run a one-person shop and miss calls while you work
- Works for businesses that want a flat monthly bill instead of per-minute charges
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you are small, as $79 a month is the entry price for just 100 customers
- Tight if you want a team on it, since Starter allows one team member and 30 days of call history
- Watch out: call counts are approximate and test runs are metered as AI usage you top up in $5 steps
- Watch out: only monthly prices are shown, with no yearly option
Pick Smith.ai if
- Fits if you get fewer than 25 calls a month and want them answered
- Works for law firms and service businesses that use Clio or Calendly
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if calls grow, as 75 calls is $150 a month on AI Pro
- Tight if you want a free try with no card, since the Free plan needs one
- Pricey if you want people, because live-agent plans start at $300 a month for 30 calls
- Watch out: the 30-day money-back on human plans excludes overage calls and is capped at $1,000
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAGoodcallWeak | 2.0GPASmith.aiFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DStarter is $79 a month, well past the $52 where this category's dearest tenth begins, and it covers just 100 unique customers. Extra customers cost 79 cents each. | DAI Pro is $150 a month for 75 calls, about three times the dearest tenth's $52 start. Calls cost $2.00 on that plan. |
| Free plan and trial | CYou can build and test a demo agent for nothing, but you pay once you connect a number, so nothing real is free. It is a card-free try, not a free plan. | CFree has 25 answered calls a month with no expiry, then $3.00 a call, and it needs a credit card to sign up. |
| Features | CAnswers calls, takes messages, books appointments and runs plain-English edits. The listing's own gaps hold it at C: one external tool and one team member on Starter, and Zapier is the only integration. | CScreening, lead qualification, scheduling and live agents on top. Human escalation on the Free plan is a paid add-on. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and you set up workers, tools and a number or call forwarding before it answers anyone. | CNo store rating on record, and you connect a number, scheduling and intake tools. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with a local number or forwarding from your own, and Zapier as the one listed integration. | BWeb, with Clio, Filevine, Calendly, HubSpot, Salesforce and Zapier listed. |
| Best for | a small shop that wants calls answered | answering a small number of calls with AI, humans optional |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Goodcall and Smith.ai. How we grade
Price against what you get
Goodcall starts at $79 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Smith.ai starts at $150 a month and scores 2.3.
Smith.ai scores higher, and starts $71 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other AI agents on the chart, 54 score higher than Goodcall for less, and 35 score higher than Smith.ai for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Smith.ai also covers AI support agent.
At a glance
| Goodcall | Smith.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $79 per month for 100 unique customers | $150 per month for 75 AI-answered calls |
| Free plan | None | Free AI plan: 25 answered calls a month with no expiry, then $3.00 per call. A credit card is required to sign up. |
| Free trial | Build and test a free demo agent; you pay only when you connect a phone number. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Goodcall | Smith.ai |
| Price read from | goodcall.com | smith.ai |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Goodcall
- Extra unique customers beyond the plan are billed at the plan's own rate, from 79¢ on Starter down to 15¢ on Scale.
- Test runs are metered as AI usage; Starter gets a base allowance of about 100 and extra can be topped up $5 at a time.
- The call counts on each plan are approximate, and Starter allows just 1 team member and 30 days of call history.
- Only monthly prices appear on the pricing page; no annual billing option is shown.
Smith.ai
- The Free plan stops at 25 answered calls a month; extra calls cost $3.00 each.
- Human-first plans are pay-per-call at $7 or more per call; overage runs $8.50 to $11.50 per call.
- Human escalation on the Free plan is an opt-in add-on rather than included.
- The 30-day money-back guarantee on the human-first plans excludes overage calls and is capped at $1,000.
Key features
Goodcall
- Per-customer billing
- A unique customer is one phone number, once a month. Minutes, calls and tokens are not metered, and spam and wrong numbers are not counted.
- Workers
- A worker is one specialist inside your agent, such as a booker, a message taker or a knowledge expert. Plans cap how many you add.
- Agent-powered edits
- You describe a change in plain English, such as new questions or a different greeting, and the assistant Gabi rewrites the agent. Unlimited on every plan.
- Phone numbers
- Every plan includes a local number, or you can keep your existing number by forwarding it to Goodcall.
- External tools
- An API, an MCP server or a code block counts as one external tool however many workers use it. A Zapier integration exists for existing agents.
Smith.ai
- AI call answering
- An AI receptionist picks up calls around the clock, screens spam, qualifies callers against criteria the business sets, and routes or transfers them.
- Live agents when needed
- Hybrid and human-first tiers bring in live North American agents, either for new-client calls or for every call, at higher per-call rates.
- Appointment scheduling
- The free plan lists AI scheduling with Calendly and similar tools. On the human-first plans, booking an appointment is a per-call add-on at $1.50.
- Quality Studio
- Lets a business test how the AI handles calls before going live. It is included on the free plan.
- CRM and intake integrations
- Call details go to a CRM or Zapier, with Clio, Filevine and Lawmatics named. Human-first plans include the first CRM; each extra one costs $0.50 per call.
- Add-ons billed per call
- Human-first plans price extras per call, such as a dedicated Spanish line at $1.00, call recording at $0.25 and conflict checks at $0.50.
Plans
Goodcall
Starter$79
per month for 100 unique customers
Then 79¢ per extra customer, about 150 calls a month, 5 workers, 1 external tool, 1 team member and 30-day call history.
Growth$129
per month for 500 unique customers
Then 26¢ per extra customer, about 750 calls, 10 workers, 5 external tools, 5 team members and 90-day call history.
Scale$299
per month for 2,000 unique customers
Then 15¢ per extra customer, about 3,000 calls, 20 workers, 15 external tools, 10 team members and unlimited call history.
EnterpriseCustom
For more than 2,000 customers a month, several connected systems or franchise groups; volume pricing, onboarding and an SLA.
Smith.ai
Free$0
AI-first. 25 calls a month, then $3.00 per call. Call screening, lead qualification, scheduling and Quality Studio testing.
AI Pro$150
per month for 75 calls, AI-first
$2.00 per call. Adds dedicated onboarding, live phone, email and chat support, and custom SMS branding. Larger blocks cost less per call.
AI Enterprise$500
per month for 300 calls, AI-first
$1.67 per call. Smith.ai builds and runs a custom setup, with a success manager and multi-location support.
Human-first Starter$300
per month for 30 calls, live agents
Live receptionists, 1 free transfer destination. $11.50 per call over 30.
Human-first Basic$810
per month for 90 calls, live agents
2 free transfer destinations. $10.50 per call over 90.
Human-first Pro$2,100
per month for 300 calls, live agents
10 free transfer destinations. $8.50 per call over 300.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Goodcall or Smith.ai?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Goodcall is cheaper to start with: $79 a month, against $150 a month for Smith.ai. Goodcall starts at $79 per month for 100 unique customers, and Smith.ai starts at $150 per month for 75 AI-answered calls.
Which has a free plan, Goodcall or Smith.ai?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Smith.ai has a free plan. Goodcall does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.