Other apps, not clones.

Apex Receptionist

Ours · five pillars (voice, text, web, tailored page, sales) · planned flow builder that can plug other vendors

$199/mo proposed shop price, not live billing. One book across voice + SMS/text + webpage + booking. Flow builder comes after the Northline proto. Wedge is custom flow plus the hub, not “AI that answers.”

Honest gaps: no live DID yet, no Stripe, outreach frozen. Prototype at https://apex.socialtokens.site/grok/receptionist/proto/ (may 404 if that dir is not deployed). Trial door has no checkout.

Not selling. Research log only.

https://apex.socialtokens.site/grok/receptionist/

Smith.ai

Hybrid · AI front desk with live North America agents as backup · separate human receptionist product · Barry tested 27 Aug 2026

Two public catalogs, both billed per call.

AI Receptionist (vendor): Free $0/mo · 25 real calls · $3.00/call after. Pro $150/mo · 75 calls · $2.00/call (~2–3 calls/day) · extra $2.50. Enterprise $500/mo · 300 calls · $1.67/call · extra $2.17. Month-to-month; 30 days’ notice to cancel. AI Scheduling (Calendly and more). Custom AI prompting is Enterprise only. Live-agent transfer is a built-in backup; extra fee for that transfer is not a dollar figure on the AI pricing page.

https://smith.ai/pricing/ai-receptionist

Human receptionists (vendor): Starter $300/mo · 30 calls · $11.50 overage. Basic $810/mo · 90 calls · $10.50. Pro $2,100/mo · 300 calls · $8.50. Booking appointments is a $1.50/call add-on. SMS/Slack notifications $0.50/call. Spanish line $1.00/call. 24/7 live staff, no extra for 2:00 AM vs 2:00 PM. Fit: law (Clio, conflict checks, inmate collect calls), home services, professional services.

https://smith.ai/pricing/receptionists

SMS: yes as a paid add-on on the human catalog; AI page lists “Custom SMS branding” on Pro, not a two-way shop inbox. Web book: calendar integrations, not a shop webpage Apex owns. Custom flow: Enterprise custom prompting, not a shop-facing flow builder.

Already on Smith → do not sell a clone. Hub-connect is the only remaining pitch. $199 does not beat $0 AI Free or $150 Pro on sticker, and does not beat a human at $300 on warmth.

Ruby Receptionists

Human live virtual receptionists · optional AI enhancements listed as no extra cost

Vendor virtual-receptionist plans: $250/mo · 50 receptionist minutes. $395 · 100 min. $720 · 200 min. $1,725 · 500 min. Same features on every plan. 24/7 including after-hours, weekends, and holidays. Scheduling, bilingual answering, payment collection, intake. Website chat is a separate catalog ($143 / 10 chats, $335 / 30, $520 / 50).

https://www.ruby.com/plans-and-pricing/

Fit: law, realty, clinics, any SMB that wants a person. SMS: “call and text from your business number” is on the feature list; not a priced SMS SKU. Web book: scheduling, not a shop site Apex builds. Custom flow: call-handling options, not a visual builder.

Already on Ruby → they paid for a human. Apex $199 is not Ruby. Drop unless they want a cheaper overflow that still plugs Ruby.

Rosie

Pure AI answering · heyrosie.com

Vendor: Professional $49/mo · 250 minutes · 2 message scenarios · send appointment links by text. Scale $149/mo · 1,000 minutes · book on calendar · warm transfers · mid-call SMS. Growth $299/mo · 2,000 minutes · unlimited scenarios · waterfall transfers. Website chat free on all plans. Website Texting add-on $50/mo · 25 conversations · $1 extra. 7-day free trial. English and Spanish. Industry pages include plumbing, HVAC, construction, law, property management, home services, electricians.

https://heyrosie.com/pricing

Overage: the public pricing FAQ heading exists; the page fetch did not return a dollar overage. Do not guess. Custom flow: scenario counts by plan, not Apex’s planned builder.

Already on Rosie → cheap AI coverage exists. $199 vs $49 is a price fight Apex loses unless the shop needs one book plus a hub that Rosie does not offer.

Upfirst

Pure AI virtual receptionist

Vendor pricing page: $24.95/mo (annual $20), then $59.95 ($48 annual), $159.95 ($128), $299 ($240). Extra calls $1.50 / $1.00 / $0.75 / $0.70. Vendor help center (26 May 2026): those tiers are Starter 30 calls, Premium 90, Pro 300, Scale 600. 14-day trial, no contract. Books Google, Outlook, Clio, Acuity, Calendly. In-call texting of links. Help center: back-and-forth SMS is on the roadmap; one-way texts only today. One agent per account.

https://upfirst.ai/pricing

https://help.upfirst.ai/en/articles/11996964-upfirst-pricing-faqs

Fit: micro and small businesses shopping the cheapest AI answer. Custom flow: training text, not a visual builder.

Already on Upfirst → $199 cannot win on price. Drop, or hub-only if they still need a webpage and a shop book.

Goodcall

Pure AI voice agent · billed per unique customer, not per minute

Vendor: Starter $79/mo per agent · 1 logic flow · 100 unique customers · $0.50 after. Growth $129 · 3 logic flows · 250 unique. Scale $249 · 25 logic flows · 500 unique. Annual shown as $66 / $108 / $208. Unlimited minutes and AI tokens. A unique customer is a phone number that actually speaks in that month; spam and silent hangups do not count. Custom logic flows are the product.

https://www.goodcall.com/pricing

SMS as a priced line: not on the pricing page that was opened. Zapier for CRM. Fit: SMBs; one agent per location if they have several. Closest cheap-AI cousin to Apex’s planned flow builder.

Already on Goodcall with logic flows → custom-flow wedge shrinks. Drop or hub-connect. Do not claim Apex is the only flow product.

Jobber AI Receptionist

Native in Jobber · home-service FSM

Vendor pricing page: Receptionist add-on $29/mo. Plus plan lists “Never miss a lead with an AI-powered Receptionist” in the plan copy. Call or text; books jobs into the Jobber calendar. Jobber Core for 1 user starts at $49/mo monthly on that same page (FSM, not the receptionist SKU).

https://www.getjobber.com/pricing/

Jobber Help (article text indexed 2026, Cloudflare blocked a later fetch of the live help URL): included unlimited on Plus; add-on $29/mo includes 30 conversations, then $0.79 each. Treat the $29 as vendor-page; treat 30 / $0.79 as help-center until that URL opens cleanly. Feature page https://www.getjobber.com/features/ai-receptionist/ also bot-walled on fetch.

DROP. Already on native Jobber AI → do not pitch Apex voice. Hub-connect only if they still want a webpage Apex owns. Shops on Jobber without the receptionist add-on are not this kill.

Housecall Pro CSR AI

Native in Housecall Pro · paid add-on for 24/7 phone

It exists. Product page: answers calls and chats, books jobs from HCP services and availability, 24/7, text answering “coming soon.” Help Center 22 Jul 2026: other AI teammates are included; CSR AI is the optional add-on for 24/7 call answering. Dollar price for CSR AI: not on their public page. HCP Basic itself is $59/mo billed annually / $79 monthly for 1 user — that is the FSM, not CSR AI.

https://www.housecallpro.com/features/ai-team/csr-ai/

https://help.housecallpro.com/en/articles/9311875-ai-team-overview

https://www.housecallpro.com/pricing/

DROP if CSR AI is on. HCP without CSR AI is not this kill.

ServiceTitan Virtual Agent

Native in ServiceTitan · also sold as AI Voice Agent

Vendor blog 17 Apr 2026: books / reschedules jobs, overflow and after-hours, no commitment, per-call usage fee — no dollar on that page. Help FAQ updated 11 Jul 2026: billed on usage; every call counts; Spanish auto-switch; SMS payment link; escalate to a live agent or a third-party answering service. Target: residential home services on Essentials / Works with Basic Phones or Phones Pro. Contact Center Pro page also names AI Virtual Agents. Public per-call rate: not on their public page.

https://www.servicetitan.com/blog/webinar-recap-ai-virtual-agents-call-booking

https://help.servicetitan.com/residential-s-r/docs/ai-voice-agent-for-basic-phones-and-phones-pro-faq

https://www.servicetitan.com/features/pro/contact-center

DROP if the Virtual Agent / Voice Agent is on. ServiceTitan without it is not this kill. They can already escalate to another answering service — that is the connect slot, not a greenfield Apex voice sale.

MAP Communications

Human 24/7 answering · still real

Vendor: Pay As You Go $49/mo · 0 minutes included · $1.37 extra minute. Business $179 · 125 min · $1.30. Enterprise $339 · 250 min · $1.28. Premium $649 · 500 min · $1.28. English and Spanish, HIPAA, no long-term contracts. Customization listed on every plan. Message delivery, not a shop webpage.

https://www.mapcommunications.com/pricing/

Fit: medical and contractor shops that want a person and a low entry. Custom flow: scripts, not a builder.

Already on MAP → they have a person. Apex $199 is not that. Drop unless they want AI plus a hub.

AnswerConnect

Human 24/7 live answering · still real (their 2026 “best answering service” badge is their own)

US vendor services page: Entry $350/mo · 200 minutes · $49.99 setup · $2.50 extra minute. Growth $395 · 300 min · no setup · $1.85. Standard $575 · 400 min · $49.99 setup · $1.85. First 30 interactions under 30 seconds free per cycle; rounded to the next minute. Dedicated /pricing URL returned 404 when opened. Canadian site lists different figures in CAD — do not mix.

https://www.answerconnect.com/services

https://www.answerconnect.com/services/answering-services/inbound-sales

Appointment scheduling is a named service. Fit: SMB, franchise, after-hours human cover.

Already on AnswerConnect → drop. Human cover at $350+ is not Apex’s $199 fight.

Dialfyne

Sells an AI receptionist and a sales dialer · public prices do not lock to one receptionist SKU

Opened https://dialfyne.com/pricing: prepaid wallet for Roleplay / Dial / Email. Roleplay from $0.20/min. Calling described as about $70 a person or about $350 all day, rates typically 10¢ or 6¢. That is a dialer, not a shop receptionist card.

Search-indexed Dialfyne receptionist URLs exist (https://dialfyne.com/receptionist, https://dialfyne.com/services/ai-receptionist, https://dialfyne.com/ai-voice-agent, https://dialfyne.com/virtual-receptionist-pricing) and those pages quote different starting numbers ($149, $197, $240, $347, $697) depending on the URL. Fetches of the receptionist URLs returned unrelated sales-queue copy, so not one public receptionist price I could lock from a clean page. Include as a real 2026 seller; do not pick a number.

If a shop is already on Dialfyne voice, they have AI answer. Do not invent their bill. Hub only.

OnceHub

Scheduling SaaS with phone agents · not a receptionist shop

Vendor: Basic free (web booking only). Schedule $12/seat/mo ($10 billed yearly) includes dedicated booking phone numbers. Route $23 ($19 yearly). Engage $47 ($39 yearly). Extra phone numbers $4/mo. Phone Agents: natural-language booking, greeting, conversation summary. SMS notifications need SMS credits. Fit: appointment-driven teams (consultants, clinics), not HVAC dispatch.

https://www.oncehub.com/pricing

They are selling phone booking to SMBs. They are not selling a trades receptionist. Included because the ask was to check.

If the shop only needed a phone that books a calendar, OnceHub is cheaper than $199. That is not Apex’s ICP.

Synthflow

Enterprise voice-AI platform · not an SMB receptionist SKU

Vendor: enterprise contracts start at $30,000 annually. Scoped around volume, concurrency, telephony, integrations. Not a $199 shop product.

https://synthflow.ai/pricing

Not a competitor for an independent HVAC/plumber lead. Do not put Synthflow on a shop pitch list.