NextPhone vs Wakeman: a receptionist for law firms and service businesses, or one built for the trades
Wakeman is an AI receptionist built only for home-service trades. It asks the questions a plumber or HVAC tech would, checks the address, and tells every caller it’s an AI and that the call is recorded. For a gas smell or water near electrics it gives safety steps written in advance and tries your on-call phone during the call, and it books jobs into Jobber once you turn booking on. After Hours ($149 a month) answers only while you’re closed. Front Desk ($349) and Dispatch ($829) answer day and night. NextPhone is an AI receptionist for law firms and service businesses, at a flat monthly price with unlimited calls. Here are the two side by side, from each company’s own pages.
Side by side
| Wakeman | NextPhone | |
|---|---|---|
| Plans | After Hours $149 (300 min) · Front Desk $349 (750 min) · Dispatch $829 (2,000 min). Front Desk and Dispatch answer day and night; After Hours answers only while you are closed. | Pro $199 a month, which you set up · Growth $299 and Scale $599, which NextPhone sets up. Unlimited calls on each. Paid yearly: Pro $1,990, Growth $2,990 |
| A busy week | $0.59 / $0.39 / $0.29 a minute by plan, published, with a monthly spending limit you set. Spam is never billed, and you are never moved to a bigger plan | No per-minute charge and no extra charge for more calls: a busy month costs the same as a slow one. Its terms set no limit on calls |
| Urgent calls | Gas, carbon monoxide, smoke or fire, water near electrics, major flooding, sewage: safety steps, then Wakeman tries your on-call phone during the call. No heat, no cooling or an active leak is urgent and texted at once. A safety net, not 911 | Detects signs such as no heat in a cold snap, AC failure in a heat wave, a gas smell or a carbon monoxide alarm, then transfers the call to your on-call number and takes a message |
| A person when needed | A caller who asks for a person a second time, is angry or has a complaint is put through to your on-call phone | Transfers to your team or anyone you choose, up to 10 people (500 on Scale); takes a message if nobody is free |
| Booking | Off until you turn it on. Then it offers only the time windows you choose, so you decide what a caller can be booked into, and each booked job lands in Jobber with the customer and the checked address. It doesn’t read your Jobber calendar | Books into Google or Outlook calendars, Calendly, Acuity, Cal.com or OnceHub on every plan |
| Field-service software | Jobber, built in. Housecall Pro is not generally available yet | Software connections, ServiceTitan among them, on Growth and Scale. Its HVAC page says jobs land on your ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro board, and it lists Jobber |
| Says it’s an AI | Yes, at the start of every call, and that the call is recorded | Your choice: its FAQ says you can have it mention it’s an assistant |
| Languages | English | 14 languages, including Spanish |
| Built for | Home-service trades only: plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing, restoration and their neighbours | Law firms and service businesses, with an HVAC page |
| Contract | No minimum term; cancel in the billing portal. The first month’s payment is refunded in full if you ask within 30 days | Month to month, no contract, no cancellation fee. Its terms say fees paid are non-refundable |
| How you start | Free for 14 days or 500 minutes, whichever comes first. No card; choose a plan once you have seen it work | 7-day free trial; cancel before it ends and you aren’t charged. Or book a demo |
Where these facts come from · checked September 29, 2026
Checked September 29, 2026. Prices and policies change; the links are the authority, not this page.
Which one you need
Choose Wakeman if
- You run a 2–15 truck plumbing, HVAC or electrical shop and want a receptionist built only for that.
- A gas smell or water near electrics at 2am should get safety steps written in advance, while Wakeman tries your on-call phone during the call.
- You run Jobber and want each booked job written straight into it, on every plan.
- You want the questions a plumber or an HVAC tech would ask, and every address checked.
Choose NextPhone if
- You dispatch from ServiceTitan or run Housecall Pro. Wakeman doesn’t write into ServiceTitan, and Housecall Pro is not generally available yet; NextPhone’s HVAC page says jobs land on either dispatch board.
- Many of your callers speak Spanish. Wakeman answers in English only; NextPhone lists 14 languages, Spanish among them.
- You get a very high number of calls and want one flat bill. NextPhone’s calls are unlimited, with no extra charge for more; Wakeman bills extra minutes at a published price.
- Your business isn’t a home-service trade. Wakeman is built only for the trades.
Common questions
Comparing more than two? Every option for contractors, on one page.
How much does NextPhone cost?
NextPhone lists three plans, each with unlimited calls and no per-minute or extra-call charge: Pro at $199 a month, which you set up yourself; Growth at $299, which NextPhone sets up for you and which adds connections to other software, ServiceTitan and Zapier among them; and Scale at $599. Paid yearly, Pro is $1,990 and Growth $2,990. There is a 7-day free trial (NextPhone's pricing page, checked 29 September 2026).
How do NextPhone's and Wakeman's prices compare?
NextPhone charges one flat price with unlimited calls: $199, $299 or $599 a month. Wakeman includes minutes in each plan: After Hours is $149 a month for 300 minutes and answers only while you're closed. Front Desk is $349 for 750 minutes and Dispatch $829 for 2,000, and both answer day and night. Extra minutes are $0.59, $0.39 or $0.29 by plan, and spam is never billed. What Wakeman's price buys is a receptionist built only for the trades: the questions a plumber or HVAC tech would ask, safety steps written in advance for dangerous calls while it tries your on-call phone, the address checked, and booked jobs written into Jobber on every plan.
What does a busy week cost?
On NextPhone, the same as a quiet one: calls are unlimited, with no extra charge for more, and its terms of service (updated 14 August 2026) set no limit on calls. On Wakeman, minutes past your plan are billed at a published price: $0.59, $0.39 or $0.29 a minute by plan. You set a monthly spending limit, and once it is reached, new calls are forwarded to your phone instead of the AI. Spam and robocalls are never billed, and you are never moved to a bigger plan.
Does NextPhone work with ServiceTitan or Jobber?
Yes, though its pages differ on which plan you need. Its pricing page lists software connections, ServiceTitan among them, on Growth ($299) and Scale ($599). Its HVAC page pairs the $199 price with jobs created in ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro, and says it also works with Jobber. Ask NextPhone which applies to your plan. Wakeman writes booked jobs into Jobber on every plan once you switch booking on. It doesn't write into ServiceTitan, and Housecall Pro is not generally available yet.
What does NextPhone do on an emergency call?
Its HVAC page says it detects signs such as no heat in a cold snap, AC failure in a heat wave, a gas smell or a carbon monoxide alarm, transfers the call to your on-call number and takes a message. Wakeman gives safety steps written in advance for gas, carbon monoxide, fire or smoke, water near electrics, major flooding and sewage, and tries your on-call phone during the call. No heat, no cooling and an active leak are urgent and texted at once. It is a safety net, not 911.
Does Wakeman answer in Spanish?
Not today. Wakeman answers in English only. NextPhone lists 14 languages, including Spanish.
Somebody’s always awake.
Try it on your own phone tonight. About ten minutes, no card.