Smith.ai pairs human receptionists with AI assist. That works, but it's built for low-volume professional services and priced that way. Forge Voice is an AI receptionist built for North Georgia home repair shops, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and handyman, with English and Spanish native on every call, 24/7 coverage, and sub-second response latency. Voice Pro is $499/mo for 1,000 included minutes. Same job. Different math.
Public Smith.ai pricing and feature data as of 2026. If any row is out of date, email support@forgedev.studio and we'll update it.
| Feature | Forge Voice | Smith.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Voice Pro $499/mo, Voice Scale $1,000/mo, $0.25/min overage | Per-call tiers, $255 to $1,000+/mo |
| Minutes included | 1,000 (Pro) or 2,000 (Scale) minutes per month | Measured in calls, roughly 20 to 500 calls/mo |
| Languages supported | English and Spanish native on every call | English primary, Spanish add-on where staffed |
| Coverage hours | +24/7/365, never out-of-office | 24/7 on higher tiers, dependent on staffing |
| Agent type | Fully AI, custom brand voice | Human receptionist with AI assist |
| Avg response latency | Sub-second, first-word pickup | Ring-to-human, typically 15 to 30 seconds |
| Call recording & transcripts | +Every call, searchable, encrypted | +Available, plan-dependent |
| CRM integration | Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber, HubSpot, GoHighLevel, custom | Pipedrive, HubSpot, Clio, Salesforce, others |
| Setup time | 5 to 7 business days, custom knowledge base | Same day to 1 week, form-based intake |
| Month-to-month | +Yes, from day one | +Yes, from day one |
| 30-day money-back guarantee | +Yes, on Voice Pro and Voice Scale | -No standard money-back guarantee |
Not every category has a winner. Here's where each service pulls ahead, written honestly.
The agent detects the caller's language on the first word and holds the whole conversation in it. Native English and Spanish on every call, no "press 2 for Spanish" dead-end.
Bilingual is an add-on on certain plans and depends on whether a bilingual human receptionist is on shift when the call comes in.
Voice Pro is $499/mo for 1,000 included minutes. Voice Scale is $1,000/mo for 2,000 minutes across up to 3 locations. Overage is a flat $0.25/min on either plan.
Starter is $255 for 20 calls. Growth tiers run $765 to $1,000+ for 100 to 300 calls. Per-minute economics favor Forge Voice for any shop doing real call volume.
The voice is trained on natural conversation, tuned to your brand. Callers rarely clock it as AI. But it is still AI.
Real humans. For high-emotion intake (estate planning, injury cases, grief calls) a trained human on the line is a real advantage.
Same agent answers at 2 a.m. as at 2 p.m. No overflow routing, no missed calls at weird hours, no regional staffing variance.
24/7 on higher tiers. Availability of bilingual and specialist receptionists depends on shift coverage.
Custom knowledge base loaded with your pricing, FAQs, service area, policies, warranty terms. The agent handles real questions, not just intake routing.
Receptionists work from call scripts, FAQs, and intake forms. Deep product knowledge depends on receptionist training.
Agent reads live availability from your calendar or CRM, offers only open slots, writes the booking back on confirmation, triggers the confirmation email.
Receptionists book via integrated calendar links. Accuracy depends on how real-time the integration is and how well the receptionist reads availability.
Smith.ai lists plans by calls, not minutes. We converted at roughly 4 minutes per call for comparison. Always use the provider's own current pricing for your exact scenario.
Overage $0.25/min above included minutes on Pro and Scale. 30-day money-back guarantee. English and Spanish native on every call.
Human receptionist service, AI-assisted. Add-ons for bilingual, CRM sync, chat. Figures per smith.ai public pricing, 2026.
We don't think every business should switch. Here's when each is the right tool for the job.
We've done this migration enough times to have a checklist. Here's what happens.
Pull your Smith.ai call scripts, FAQ cards, intake forms, and routing rules. Forward them with a 15-minute call. That's the entire knowledge kickoff.
We load everything into the Forge Voice knowledge base, build your custom brand voice in English and Spanish, and wire calendar, CRM, and transcript email.
You get a real phone number on day 4 or 5 to call yourself. Have your team and a few trusted customers test it in English and Spanish, after-hours and during peak.
We either port your existing number or set up a clean forward. Once calls are hitting Forge Voice and appointments are booking, you cancel Smith.ai.
Per minute, yes. Smith.ai's Starter plan is $255 per month for roughly 20 calls. Forge Voice Pro is $499 per month for 1,000 included minutes, and Voice Scale is $1,000 per month for 2,000 minutes across up to 3 locations. Overage on either plan is $0.25 per minute. For home repair shops with steady call volume, the per-minute math comes out far better. The tradeoff is that Smith.ai uses human receptionists while Forge Voice uses an AI agent.
Smith.ai offers bilingual receptionists as an add-on on some plans, but bilingual coverage depends on which human agent is on shift. Forge Voice answers in English and Spanish natively on every call, with automatic language detection on the first word. If your North Georgia service area has Spanish-speaking homeowners calling at any hour, Forge Voice handles those calls consistently with no add-on fees.
If your call volume is under roughly 100 calls per month, your callers specifically want a warm human voice, and your margins absorb a $255 to $600 per month receptionist spend for a small number of calls, Smith.ai is a reasonable fit. It is a human-first service with AI assist. Forge Voice is an AI-first service designed for home repair shops that need 24/7 coverage, English plus Spanish on every call, and predictable monthly pricing.
Most businesses migrate in 5 to 7 business days. We load your Smith.ai call scripts, FAQs, and intake forms, rebuild them into the Forge Voice knowledge base, wire your calendar and CRM, and run a staging line you can test. When you are happy with the sample calls, we port or forward your number and you cancel Smith.ai.
Forge Voice supports warm transfer to you or any team member, real-time SMS alerts, email summaries, and optional live notifications on Slack, Teams, or Telegram. If the agent hits a question it cannot answer, it transfers rather than guessing.
Yes. Voice Pro at $499/mo and Voice Scale at $1,000/mo are month-to-month, and both come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Smith.ai is also month-to-month from day one.
Call the live Forge Voice demo. Talk to the agent in English or Spanish, ask it about after-hours service calls, dispatch routing, anything a home repair customer might ask. Then decide.