Wakeman vs AnswerConnect
A 24/7 live answering service priced by quote, next to an AI receptionist for the trades with its price on the page.
Comparison · Ruby
Ruby Receptionist vs Wakeman: an AI built for the trades, or a person on every call
Wakeman is an AI receptionist built only for home-service trades: it asks the questions a plumber or HVAC tech would. Ruby is a live receptionist service: people answer your calls around the clock.
- Facts from each company’s own pages
- Checked September 24, 2026
At a glance
| Wakeman | Ruby | |
|---|---|---|
| Who answers | An AI, which says so up front | A person |
| Plans | From $49 a month, 100 minutes | From $250 a month, 50 minutes |
| Dangerous calls | Safety steps, then it tries your on-call phone | Not described on its pages |
| Software | Jobber, built in on Pro and Max | Clio, JobNimbus, Zapier; Jobber isn’t listed |
The full table, and where each fact comes from, is below.
Side by side
| Wakeman | Ruby | |
|---|---|---|
| Who answers | An AI, which says so at the start of every call | A person |
| Plans | Starter $49 (100 min) · Pro $149 (500 min) · Max $399 (1,500 min). Every plan answers day and night; any plan can be set to answer 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 | $0.45 / $0.35 / $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, a downed power line, fire or smoke, a medical emergency, a child or pet locked in a car, water near electrics, a structural collapse, major flooding and sewage inside: safety steps, then Wakeman tries your on-call phone during the call. No heat, no cooling or a leak that can’t wait is urgent and texted at once. A safety net, not 911 | A receptionist takes the call; emergency handling is not described on the pages we checked |
| Booking | Booking is off until you turn it on. It offers the arrival windows you set in Wakeman and checks occupied time in a connected Jobber calendar before offering or confirming a booking. If that connected calendar cannot be read, it takes a request for your team to confirm instead. Without a connected calendar, it uses Wakeman’s own booking records. It does not guarantee against every scheduling conflict. On Pro and Max, jobs Wakeman books go into Jobber with the customer, checked address and arrival window. The dashboard shows whether the job reached Jobber. It does not send every message to Jobber as a booked job. | Not published for home-service scheduling software |
| A person when needed | Puts the caller through to your own people: your on-call phone, then the owner’s if nobody picks up. It does this on a dangerous call, a complaint or an angry caller, or when someone asks for a person twice. The AI answers every call; there’s no call center | A person answers every call |
| Software it connects to | Jobber, built in on Pro and Max. Housecall Pro is not generally available yet | Clio, Grasshopper, JobNimbus and Zapier are listed; Jobber, Housecall Pro and ServiceTitan are not |
| Languages | English and Spanish | 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. You pick a plan at sign-up; nothing is charged until the trial ends, and you can change the plan or cancel before then | Money-back guarantee for new customers: 21 days or 500 minutes, whichever comes first |
Where these facts come from · checked September 24, 2026; “A person when needed” October 20, 2026
Checked September 24, 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 reach 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 included, a published rate after that ($0.29–$0.45/min by plan), and spam never billed.
Choose Ruby if
- Every caller must reach a person. Wakeman is an AI, and says so at the start of every call.
- You prefer staffed bilingual reception to an AI answering the call. Wakeman also supports Spanish; Ruby lists bilingual receptionists, though its pages differ on the hours.
- Your business isn’t a home-service trade. Wakeman is built only for the trades.
Day and night, or only after hours
Every plan answers day and night: Starter ($49 a month, 100 minutes) or Pro ($149 a month, 500 minutes). If someone already answers during the day, switch on answer only while you’re closed and calls ring your team while you’re open.
If not Ruby
Ruby alternatives
- Wakeman (our entry) — an AI receptionist built only for home-service trades, day and night from $49 a month, or $149 on Pro. It tries your on-call phone on dangerous calls and books into Jobber once you switch booking on.
- 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 — lives inside Jobber and listens for keywords you set; included on Jobber’s Plus plan. Jobber vs Wakeman
Every option, AI and human, with prices from each vendor’s own page: the best AI receptionists for contractors, compared.
Published by Wakeman, one of the products compared. Sources, review dates and corrections. Wakeman capabilities and limits.
Hear a scripted Wakeman booking example, then test the same workflow during your trial. The example uses AI-generated voices; it is not a head-to-head performance test.
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 and Spanish.
How do Ruby's and Wakeman's prices compare?
Ruby's bundles work out at about $3.45–$5.00 per included minute, with each call rounded up to 60 seconds and hold time counted. Wakeman's Pro is $149 a month for 500 minutes, day and night, about $0.30 per included minute, with spam never billed. What Ruby's price buys is a person on every call.
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Every option for contractors on one page, with prices from each vendor’s own page.
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