Ruby alternatives
Ruby alternatives
The right Ruby alternative depends on how many of your calls need a person: Smith.ai if you still want human receptionists on some plans, Upfirst, Rosie or Dialzara for AI answering at a fraction of Ruby's per-minute rate, and Voxipo if you want callers booked into your calendar while they are on the line and missed callers phoned back from your own number, from $49 a month for 250 minutes.
Updated . Ruby facts checked on on its own website.
Why people switch
Why Ruby users look at other options
Ruby sells live receptionists by the minute: $250 for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200 and $1,725 for 500. That works out to between $3.45 and $5.00 per receptionist minute, and it is the main reason owners start pricing other services. This page lists five options, what they charge, and the cases where Ruby is still the better buy. Prices come from each vendor's own website, checked on October 30, 2026.
Five dollars a minute on the entry plan
Ruby's $250 plan includes 50 receptionist minutes, so a three-minute call about a quote uses about $15 of the allowance and the plan covers roughly 16 calls of that length. Busy weeks use the minutes up long before the month ends.
The overage rate is not on the pricing page
Ruby's pricing page lists its four plans but no overage rate, trial or guarantee. Owners with seasonal call spikes find it hard to predict the bill.
People paid to answer routine questions
Many calls to a contractor, salon or small office ask about hours, service areas or whether a slot is open. Paying a trained receptionist's minute rate for those calls is what pushes owners to try AI for the routine work and keep people for the rest.
At a glance
Ruby and its alternatives side by side
| Product | Who answers | Entry price | Cost per included minute or call | Books appointments | Calls back missed callers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby | Live receptionists, 24/7 | $250 a month for 50 minutes | $5.00 a minute, down to $3.45 on the $1,725 plan | Receptionists schedule them for you | Not listed on its pricing page |
| Voxipo | AI agent | $49 a month for 250 minutes | About 20 cents a minute, $0.30 a minute over | Into Google Calendar, Outlook, Cal.com or GoHighLevel during the call | Yes, from your SMS-verified number, 8am to 9pm caller's time |
| Smith.ai | AI, or people on its human-first plans | AI free for 25 calls; human plans from $300 for 30 calls | $2.00 a call on AI Pro; about $10 a call on human Starter | AI scheduling with Calendly and other calendars | Not listed on its pricing page |
| Upfirst | AI agent | $24.95 a month for 30 calls | About 83 cents a call, $1.50 a call over | Google, Outlook, Clio, Acuity, Calendly, Square | Not listed on its pricing page |
| Rosie | AI agent | $49 a month for 250 minutes | About 20 cents a minute; overage not listed | Direct booking from the $149 Scale plan | Not listed on its pricing page |
| Dialzara | AI agent | $29 a month for 60 minutes | About 48 cents a minute, $0.48 a minute over | Google and Outlook calendar sync from the $99 Pro plan | Not listed on its pricing page |
Sources: Ruby pricingSmith.ai virtual receptionist pricingSmith.ai AI Receptionist pricingUpfirst pricingRosie pricingDialzara pricing
The options
5 alternatives to Ruby
Where Voxipo fits
Where Voxipo fits for a Ruby customer
Pay cents a minute for the routine calls
Voxipo plans are $49 for 250 minutes, $99 for 600, $199 for 1,400 and $399 for 3,000, with overage from $0.30 down to $0.15 a minute. At three minutes a call, the $49 plan covers about 83 calls, against about 16 on Ruby's $250 plan.
The appointment is on your calendar before the caller hangs up
The agent reads your free times and books into Google Calendar, Outlook, Cal.com or GoHighLevel, respecting your business hours and minimum notice. Phone bookings use a standard time slot, and the agent can move or cancel a booking it made earlier in the same call.
Your number, your caller ID
Nothing changes on your cards or truck. Carrier conditional forwarding sends the calls you cannot take to Voxipo, and the callback shows your SMS-verified business number, so the person recognizes who is calling back.
Notes your team can act on
Calls Voxipo handles are kept with a recording, transcript, summary and outcome, and callers are stored as contacts matched by phone number, so the person who calls back knows what was asked.
What Voxipo does not do yet
- There is no person on the line. Callers hear at the start that they are talking to an AI assistant and that the call may be recorded, which some Ruby customers will not want.
- Live call transfer is not available yet. The agent takes the details and your team returns the call.
- The standard agent setup has no texting tool, and Voxipo does not run SMS campaigns.
- Only one appointment can be booked per time slot across the whole business.
- Callbacks run only from 8am to 9pm in the caller's local time, and callers outside the US and Canada need a follow-up by hand.
The honest answer
When to stay with Ruby
Ruby's receptionists do things an AI agent cannot. If these describe your calls, the per-minute price may be worth it.
- Your callers expect a person, and an AI notice at the start of the call would cost you business.
- Calls need judgment, sympathy or a live hand-off to you, which Ruby's receptionists provide and Voxipo cannot yet.
- You want weekend and holiday coverage by people, with English and Spanish call handling.
- You also want website chat from the same company. Bought together with a receptionist plan, the chat packages are listed at $115, $268 and $416 a month for 10, 30 or 50 chats, a 20% saving on the chat price.
Switching
How to switch from Ruby to Voxipo
Write down what Ruby's receptionists do for you
List the greeting, the questions they ask, how they schedule, and which callers they put through to you. That list becomes the agent's instructions and shows which calls still need a person.
Build and test the agent in your browser
Start your 14-day free trial, which needs no card, pick a home-services template in English or Spanish if it fits, add your answers and documents, and talk to the agent until it handles your common calls the way your receptionists did.
Connect a calendar and turn on forwarding
Connect Google Calendar, Outlook, Cal.com or GoHighLevel and set your hours. Once you choose a plan, ask your carrier to forward busy and unanswered calls to the Voxipo forwarding number, and verify your business number by SMS for callbacks.
Overlap, compare, then end the Ruby plan
Ruby advertises no long-term contracts, but check your own agreement for notice terms. Your missed calls can forward to one destination at a time, so pick a date to move forwarding to Voxipo, then read its call records against your last weeks of Ruby messages. Go back to Ruby if many calls still need a person.
Questions
Ruby alternatives: FAQs
Why do people look for Ruby alternatives?
Mostly cost. Ruby's entry plan is $250 for 50 receptionist minutes, $5 a minute, and its pricing page does not list the overage rate. AI services charge cents per minute or about a dollar or two per call.
What is the cheapest alternative to Ruby?
For a person answering, Smith.ai's human Starter plan is $300 for 30 calls. For AI, Upfirst starts at $24.95 for 30 calls, Dialzara at $29 for 60 minutes, and Voxipo and Rosie at $49 for 250 minutes, as of October 30, 2026.
Is there a Ruby alternative that still uses real receptionists?
Smith.ai sells human-first receptionist plans from $300 a month for 30 calls, and its AI plans can hand calls to its live receptionists. Voxipo, Upfirst, Rosie and Dialzara answer with AI.
Can I keep my business number if I leave Ruby for Voxipo?
Yes, if your carrier supports busy and no-answer forwarding to an outside number. You keep your number with your carrier and turn on conditional forwarding for busy and unanswered calls to Voxipo. Voxipo calls missed callers back from that same number once you verify it by SMS. Your plan also includes a local number that answers directly.
Will Voxipo put callers through to me like Ruby does?
Not yet. Live call transfer is not available in Voxipo. The agent records what the caller needs, books the appointment if they want one, and your team calls back. If live hand-off matters, Smith.ai, Upfirst, Rosie's Scale plan and Dialzara list it.
14-day free trial
Set up and test Voxipo free for 14 days before you leave Ruby.
Set up your agent, connect your calendar and test it in your browser for 14 days, with no card needed to start. Choose a plan when you are ready for it to take real calls.