Damaruka and four alternatives, side by side
Damaruka is an AI receptionist from $19 a month. Smith.ai and Ruby add live people and call transfers, from $150 and $250 a month. Goodcall and My AI Front Desk are AI receptionists that put calls through to your staff, from $79 a month. If you need a person on the line, transfers or HIPAA today, one of them may suit you better; if you want every call answered and booked for the least money, Damaruka does that.
Prices and features read from each company's own pages on 17 October 2026. They change; the sources are at the end.
What each costs and does
| Detail | Damaruka | Smith.ai | Ruby | Goodcall | My AI Front Desk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What answers | An AI receptionist; no human staff | Two products: an AI receptionist, and live human receptionists | Live human receptionists, based in the US | An AI phone agent that can put calls through to your staff | An AI receptionist with its own CRM, texts and website chat |
| Lowest paid plan | $19 a month (Solo, 150 minutes) | AI: $150 a month (75 calls). People: $300 a month (30 calls) | $250 a month (50 minutes) | $79 a month (100 callers) | $99 a month, or $79 a month billed yearly ($948), for 200 minutes |
| Free way to try | 30 free minutes of test calls, no card | An AI plan with 25 calls a month, free | A refund for new customers within 21 days or 500 minutes, whichever comes first (its terms) | A free demo agent; you pay when you connect a number | A 7-day free trial |
| What you pay for | Per minute | Per call | Per minute, each call rounded up to the next minute | Per caller: one phone number counts once a month, however often it calls | Per minute, paid in credits |
| Past your plan | $0.08 a minute, only if you turn it on; otherwise Damaruka takes messages | AI: $2.10 to $3.00 a call. People: $8.50 to $11.50 a call | Not published ("billed according to the overage rate associated with your plan") | 79¢, 26¢ or 15¢ per extra caller, by plan | 25 credits a minute at $0.01 a credit: $0.25 a minute |
| Puts calls through | Not yet | Yes, warm transfers | Yes, to any number | Yes, down a list of up to three people | Yes, warm transfers with a transcript |
| Live people | No | Yes, as a plan or a handoff from the AI | Yes | No staff of its own named | No |
| HIPAA | No claim | Its medical page says it is not HIPAA compliant | A HIPAA option with a signed BAA, at no extra charge | Says it is HIPAA compliant; a BAA is not mentioned | Its own pages disagree: two say it signs BAAs, one updated in August 2026 says it does not |
| Languages | English in the US; Hindi and English in India | English and Spanish | English and Spanish (its FAQ gives two different hours for Spanish) | English ("English, today") | "20+ languages" on its pricing page; "10+ languages on higher tiers" on another page |
| Hours | Every hour of the day | 24/7 | 24/7, every day of the year | 24/7 | 24/7 |
| Connects to | Google Calendar; email after every call; Zapier, Slack, HubSpot and webhooks; Clio Grow for law firms | Salesforce, HubSpot, Clio, Calendly; thousands of apps through Zapier and Make | Google Calendar, Calendly, Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Clio, MyCase, Filevine, Zapier and others | Google Calendar, Google Sheets, HighLevel, Zapier, an API and MCP servers | Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, Cal.com, HubSpot, GoHighLevel, its own CRM, Zapier and webhooks |
Each one beside Damaruka
- Damaruka and Smith.aiTwo products: an AI receptionist, and live human receptionists. From AI: $150 a month (75 calls). People: $300 a month (30 calls).Where Smith.ai is better, and how they differ
- Damaruka and RubyLive human receptionists, based in the US. From $250 a month (50 minutes).Where Ruby is better, and how they differ
- Damaruka and GoodcallAn AI phone agent that can put calls through to your staff. From $79 a month (100 callers).Where Goodcall is better, and how they differ
- Damaruka and My AI Front DeskAn AI receptionist with its own CRM, texts and website chat. From $99 a month, or $79 a month billed yearly ($948), for 200 minutes.Where My AI Front Desk is better, and how they differ
Sources
Each company's own pages. Where a company's pages disagree with each other, the comparison says so.
- 1Smith.ai, AI receptionist pricing, read 17 October 2026
- 2Smith.ai, receptionist pricing, read 17 October 2026
- 3Smith.ai, AI receptionist, read 17 October 2026
- 4Smith.ai, medical answering service, read 17 October 2026
- 5Ruby, pricing, read 17 October 2026
- 6Ruby, FAQs, read 17 October 2026
- 7Ruby, terms, read 17 October 2026
- 8Ruby, integrations, read 17 October 2026
- 9Goodcall, pricing, read 17 October 2026
- 10Goodcall, how it works, read 17 October 2026
- 11Goodcall, home page, read 17 October 2026
- 12My AI Front Desk, pricing, read 17 October 2026
- 13My AI Front Desk, home page, read 17 October 2026
- 14My AI Front Desk, integrations, read 17 October 2026
- 15My AI Front Desk, who we serve and who we do not, read 17 October 2026