Smith.ai vs Wakeman: people behind the AI, or an AI built for the trades
Smith.ai sells an AI receptionist and human receptionists, and its AI can hand a call to a person at any hour. It serves thousands of businesses of every kind and bills per call. Wakeman is an AI receptionist built only for home-service trades and bills per minute. If a person behind every AI call decides it, choose Smith.ai. If the 2am gas smell and your Jobber schedule decide it, read on.
Side by side
| Wakeman | Smith.ai AI Receptionist | |
|---|---|---|
| Plans | After Hours $149 (300 min) · Front Desk $349 (750 min) · Dispatch $829 (2,000 min). After Hours answers only while you are closed. | Free: 25 calls a month · Pro: $150 for 75 calls, $270 for 150, $500 for 300 |
| Over your allowance | $0.59 / $0.39 / $0.29 a minute by plan, published, with a monthly spending limit you set | $3.00 a call on Free; $2.17–$2.50 a call on Pro |
| Spam | Calls it classifies as spam are never billed | Known spammers are filtered out, and you can remove up to 10% of calls as spam each cycle |
| A person when needed | A caller who asks for a person a second time is put through to your on-call phone | Can transfer to a live receptionist in North America, any hour; handoff price not published on the AI pricing page |
| 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 | Urgent calls reach on-call technicians, based on the escalation rules you configure |
| Field-service software | Jobber, built in. Housecall Pro is not generally available yet | Lists Jobber (its Jobber page’s guides use Zapier), ServiceTitan and Housecall Pro |
| Built for | Home-service trades only: plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing, restoration and their neighbours | Businesses of every kind, with a home-services page |
| Contract | No minimum term; cancel in the billing portal | Month to month, with 30 days’ notice to cancel |
| How you start | Free for 14 days or 500 minutes, whichever comes first. No card; choose a plan once you have seen it work | The free plan: 25 calls a month |
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 Smith.ai if
- You want a live person to take over when the AI can’t help, at any hour.
- You run ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro and want a vendor that lists them.
- You want to try it free before paying anything, with 25 calls a month.
- Your calls are long, so paying per call works out cheaper than per minute.
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, with safety steps written in advance.
- You run Jobber and want booked jobs written straight into it.
- Your calls are short, so paying per minute works out cheaper than per call.
- 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
Common questions
Comparing more than two? Every option for contractors, on one page.
How much does Smith.ai cost?
Smith.ai's AI Receptionist has a free plan with 25 calls a month, then $3.00 a call, and Pro plans from $150 a month for 75 calls to $500 for 300, with extra calls at $2.17–$2.50. Its human receptionists start at $300 a month for 30 calls, up to $2,100 for 300, with extra calls at $8.50–$11.50. Both bill per call, not per minute (Smith.ai's pricing pages, checked 24 September 2026).
Does Smith.ai have people as well as AI?
Yes. Its AI receptionist can transfer a call to a live receptionist based in North America at any hour; its AI pricing page does not publish the price of that handoff. Wakeman is AI only: a caller who asks for a person a second time is put through to your on-call phone.
Does Smith.ai work with Jobber?
Smith.ai lists Jobber on its integrations pages, and the guides on its Jobber page connect the two through Zapier. It also lists ServiceTitan and Housecall Pro. Wakeman writes confirmed jobs straight into Jobber once you switch booking on; it does not write into ServiceTitan, and Housecall Pro is not generally available yet.
Does Smith.ai bill spam calls?
Smith.ai filters out known spammers and lets you remove up to 10% of calls as spam each billing cycle. Wakeman never bills calls it classifies as spam.
Is per-call or per-minute pricing cheaper?
It depends on how long your calls run. Per-call pricing favours long calls and per-minute pricing favours short ones. Pull a month of call lengths from your phone system and price both before you choose.
Somebody’s always awake.
Try it on your own phone tonight. About ten minutes, no card.