Upfirst vs Wakeman: a receptionist for every small business, or one built for the trades
Wakeman is an AI receptionist built only for home-service trades. It answers in your business’s name, asks the questions a plumber or HVAC tech would and checks the address, and for a gas smell or water near electrics it gives safety steps written in advance and tries your on-call phone during the call. Upfirst calls itself an “AI receptionist that answers calls while you run your business”, for many kinds of business: law firms, property managers, salons and contractors among them. It bills by the call, from $24.95 a month for 30 calls, and every plan can hand a caller to you or your team. Here are the two side by side, from each company’s own pages.
- A customer calls. You’re busy.
- Wakeman answers as your business.
- You get the job by text.
- A customer calls. You’re busy.
- Wakeman answers as your business.
- You get the job by text.
Side by side
| Wakeman | Upfirst | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Starter $24.95 (30 calls) · Premium $59.95 (90) · Pro $159.95 (300) · Scale $299 (600) a month; less billed yearly |
| What is counted | Minutes: each call is rounded up to the next whole minute | Calls |
| Over your allowance | $0.45 / $0.35 / $0.29 a minute by plan, published, with a monthly spending limit you set | $1.50, $1.00, $0.75 or $0.70 a call by plan |
| Spam | Calls it classifies as spam are never billed | Spam, calls under 15 seconds and callers who never speak aren’t billed |
| Urgent calls | Gas, carbon monoxide, a downed power line, fire or smoke, 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 an active leak is urgent and texted at once. A safety net, not 911 | Not published |
| 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 live, warm handoff to you or your team, on every plan |
| 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 on Pro and Max each booked job lands in Jobber with the customer and the checked address. It doesn’t read your Jobber calendar | Google or Outlook calendar, Calendly, Acuity, Square or Clio |
| Field-service software | Jobber, built in on Pro and Max. Housecall Pro is not generally available yet | Zapier and custom actions; Jobber, ServiceTitan and Housecall Pro aren’t named |
| Languages | English | 35+ languages |
| Built for | Home-service trades only: plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing, restoration and their neighbours | Businesses of every kind, with pages for contractors, HVAC and plumbing |
| How you start | Free for 14 days or 500 minutes, whichever comes first. No card; choose a plan once you have seen it work | 14-day free trial, no card |
Where these facts come from · checked October 20, 2026
Checked October 20, 2026. Prices and policies change; the links are the authority, not this page.
- Upfirst pricing — plans, call counting, transfers, integrations, trial
- Upfirst home page — industries; keep your number
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 the trades.
- 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 want the price on the page and a free trial before you pay: 14 days or 500 minutes, no card.
- You run Jobber and want each booked job written straight into it, on Pro or Max.
Choose Upfirst if
- Many of your callers speak a language other than English. Wakeman answers in English only; Upfirst lists 35+ languages.
- 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 does Upfirst bill compared with Wakeman?
Upfirst counts calls: $24.95 a month for 30, up to $299 for 600, then $0.70–$1.50 a call; spam, calls under 15 seconds and silent callers aren’t billed. Wakeman counts minutes: Starter $49, Pro $149, Max $399 a month with minutes included, a published price for each extra minute, spam never billed, and a monthly spending limit you set.
Does Upfirst write jobs into Jobber?
Upfirst’s pages don’t name Jobber, ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro; it books into calendars such as Google, Outlook and Calendly and connects to other software through Zapier. Wakeman writes booked jobs into Jobber on Pro and Max, once you switch booking on.