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 a fully AI multilingual receptionist, native in English, Spanish, and 30+ other languages (French, Portuguese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Arabic, and more), 2,000 to 12,000 minutes per month, 24/7, with sub-second response latency. Same job. Different math.
Public Smith.ai pricing and feature data as of 2026. If any row is out of date, email hello@forgedev.studio and we'll update it.
| Feature | Forge Voice | Smith.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat monthly, 3 tiers: $497 / $997 / $1,997 | Per-call tiers, $255 to $1,000+/mo |
| Minutes included | 2,000 / 5,000 / 12,000 min per month | Measured in calls, roughly 20 to 500 calls/mo |
| Languages supported | English & Spanish native, 30+ languages available | 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 after launch | Yes, after 6-month launch term | +Yes, from day one |
| 30-day guarantee | +Yes, 30-day performance guarantee | -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 Spanish, 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.
Core is $497 for 2,000 minutes, roughly $0.25/min. Scale is $1,997 for 12,000 minutes, about $0.17/min. Predictable monthly cost.
Starter is $255 for 20 calls. Growth tiers run $765 to $1,000+ for 100 to 300 calls. Per-minute economics favor Forge once volume grows.
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.
2,000 to 12,000 minutes included. Native across 30+ languages 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 (English, Spanish, and 30+ other languages), and wire calendar, CRM, and transcript email.
You get a real phone number on day 4 or 5 to call yourself. Have your team, spouse, and a few trusted customers test it in English, Spanish, or any of the 30+ other languages you care about.
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 Core is $497 per month for 2,000 minutes. On a straight minute-to-minute basis Forge Voice is roughly 4 to 15 times more minutes per dollar depending on which Smith.ai tier you compare against. The tradeoff is that Smith.ai uses human receptionists while Forge Voice uses a fully 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 is natively multilingual across 30+ languages (English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Arabic, and more), on every call, with automatic language detection on the first word. If your market is mixed-language, Forge Voice will answer consistently in every language your customers speak 24/7 without 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 scale, 24/7 coverage, and multilingual demand across 30+ languages.
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.
Plans are sold as 6-month agreements during the launch window because the setup work is custom, then they roll month-to-month. Smith.ai offers month-to-month from the start. If month-to-month from day one matters more than setup savings and minute volume, that is a real tradeoff to weigh.
Call the live Forge Voice demo. Talk to the agent in English, Spanish, or any of the 30+ other languages it handles. Ask it about multilingual routing, after-hours behavior, anything. Then decide.