Ruby Receptionist vs Wakeman: a person on every call, or an AI priced by the month
Ruby is a live receptionist service: real people answer your calls around the clock, from $250 a month for 50 minutes. Wakeman is an AI receptionist built only for home-service trades, from $149 a month for 300 minutes. If a person on every call decides it, choose Ruby. If the 2am gas smell, your Jobber schedule and the bill decide it, read on.
Side by side
| Wakeman | Ruby | |
|---|---|---|
| Who answers | An AI, which says so at the start of every call | A person |
| Plans | After Hours $149 (300 min) · Front Desk $349 (750 min) · Dispatch $829 (2,000 min). After Hours answers only while you are closed. | 50 min $250 · 100 min $395 · 200 min $720 · 500 min $1,725 a month — about $3.45–$5.00 per included minute |
| Over your minutes | $0.59 / $0.39 / $0.29 a minute by plan, published, with a monthly spending limit you set | Not published as a dollar rate. Each call is rounded up to 60 seconds, and hold time counts |
| Urgent calls | Gas, carbon monoxide, smoke or fire, water near electrics, major flooding, sewage: safety steps, then your on-call phone is alerted during the call. An ordinary leak is urgent and gets a text. A safety net, not 911 | A receptionist takes the call; emergency handling is not described on the pages we checked |
| Booking | Off until you turn it on. Then it offers the times you set, and booked jobs go into Jobber with the customer and the checked address. It doesn’t read your Jobber calendar | Not published for home-service scheduling software |
| Software it connects to | Jobber, built in. Housecall Pro is not generally available yet | Clio, Grasshopper, JobNimbus and Zapier are listed; Jobber, Housecall Pro and ServiceTitan are not |
| Languages | English | Spanish: its pricing page says 24/7; its FAQ says bilingual receptionists work weekdays, 5am–6pm Pacific |
| Contract | No setup fee, no minimum term, cancel in the billing portal | No setup fees, no contract |
| How you start | Free for 14 days or 500 minutes, whichever comes first. No card; choose a plan once you have seen it work | Money-back guarantee for new customers: 21 days or 500 minutes, whichever comes first |
Where these facts come from · checked September 24, 2026
Checked September 24, 2026. Prices and policies change; the links are the authority, not this page.
Which one you need
Choose Ruby if
- Your callers expect a person, and an AI answering would cost you the job.
- Your calls are long, sensitive or need judgement a script can’t give.
- You run a business outside the trades, or use Clio or JobNimbus.
- Your call volume is low enough that 50–100 minutes a month covers it.
Choose Wakeman if
- A gas smell or a burst pipe at 2am should ring your on-call phone while the caller is still on the line.
- You run Jobber and want booked jobs written straight into it.
- You want minutes at well under a dollar each, and spam never billed.
- You run a 2–15 truck plumbing, HVAC or electrical shop and want a product built only for that.
What we are not going to pretend
Ruby alternatives
- Smith.ai — an AI receptionist that can hand a call to a live person at any hour, priced per call, with a free plan of 25 calls a month. Smith.ai vs Wakeman
- Rosie — an AI receptionist from $49 a month for 250 minutes, answering in English and Spanish on every plan. Rosie vs Wakeman
- Jobber’s AI Receptionist — included on Jobber’s Plus plan, if your jobs already live in Jobber. Jobber vs Wakeman
- Wakeman — an AI receptionist built only for home-service trades, from $149 a month for 300 minutes, that rings your on-call phone for dangerous calls and books into Jobber once you switch booking on.
Every option, AI and human, with prices from each vendor’s own page: the best AI receptionists for contractors, compared.
Common questions
Comparing more than two? Every option for contractors, on one page.
How much does Ruby cost?
Ruby lists four minute bundles: $250 a month for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200 and $1,725 for 500 — roughly $3.45–$5.00 per included minute. It does not publish an overage rate. Each call is rounded up to 60 seconds and hold time counts. No setup fee and no contract (Ruby's pricing page and FAQ, checked 24 September 2026).
Is Ruby an AI receptionist?
No. Ruby's receptionists are people. It uses AI tools to help them, but does not sell an AI receptionist on its own. Wakeman is an AI receptionist, and says so at the start of every call.
Does Ruby work with Jobber?
Ruby's integrations page lists Clio, Grasshopper, JobNimbus and Zapier; Jobber, Housecall Pro and ServiceTitan are not on it. Wakeman writes confirmed jobs into Jobber once you switch booking on.
Does Ruby answer in Spanish?
Ruby's own pages say two things: its pricing page lists 24/7 Spanish, and its FAQ says bilingual receptionists work Monday to Friday, 5am to 6pm Pacific. Ask Ruby which applies to your plan. Wakeman answers in English.
Which is cheaper, Ruby or Wakeman?
Per minute, Wakeman: Front Desk is $349 a month for 750 minutes, about $0.47 per included minute, against Ruby's $3.45–$5.00. What Ruby's price buys is a person on the line, which some callers prefer.
Somebody’s always awake.
Try it on your own phone tonight. About ten minutes, no card.