For most contractors, the right AI answering service depends on how it charges: per call (Smith.ai), per minute (Rosie), per distinct caller (Goodcall) or per office user (Brody by Buildalytic, Quo, Allo). Published prices checked November 11, 2026 start at $49 a month. On one example workload of 120 calls, Goodcall cost $79, Rosie $149, Smith.ai $262.50 and Brody $302 a month.
What to take away
- Compare what each price counts (calls, minutes, distinct callers or office users) before comparing the headline number.
- Price your own month: the cheapest headline is not always the cheapest bill.
- An answering-only service and a phone system with an AI teammate solve different problems.
- Test any shortlist with the same construction calls before you sign.
The seven options at a glance
Prices are copied from each provider's own pricing page on November 11, 2026. They change often and exclude taxes. The order is grouped by how each one charges, not a ranking. Buildalytic makes Brody, one of the options, and says so here.
“Best for” is our reading of each provider's published plans, not a hands-on test. Use it to pick two or three to test with your own calls.
| Option | Best for (our view) | Published starting price | What the price counts | One drawback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goodcall | Many repeat callers, such as service-call customers who ring several times | $79 a month for 100 unique customers | Distinct callers; 79¢ each after 100 | Count distinct callers, not calls, to estimate your bill |
| Rosie | Small shops that want simple answering by the minute | $49 a month for 250 minutes | Minutes; Scale is $149 for 1,000 minutes | Professional allows custom message taking for 2 scenarios |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | Low volume that may later need its human receptionists too | Free for 25 calls; Pro $150 a month for 75 calls | Calls; $2.50 per extra call on Pro | Every answered call counts toward the quota by default |
| Quo | Teams that mainly want a business phone and shared texting, with some AI answering | Seats from $15 a user a month billed annually; 10 AI calls included | Users, plus AI-call credit tiers from $25 a month | Summaries and transcripts for all calls need a higher plan |
| Brody by Buildalytic | Construction companies that want calls tied to jobs, field texting and records in Procore | $99 per office user a month ($89 billed annually); 14-day free trial | Office users; each adds 50 AI-call minutes, then $0.40 a minute | Costs more than answering-only services for after-hours calls alone |
| Joist AI Receptionist | Contractors already using Joist for estimates and invoices | Add-on from $49 a month on a Joist plan | Not stated on the page | Price of extra AI-answered calls is not published |
| Allo | Small teams that want an AI agent inside a simple phone system | AI Receptionist $32 a month per agent, billed yearly, on a paid plan | Agents (seats) | Allo says its pricing is early and can still change |
Sources: Goodcall: pricing (checked November 11, 2026); Rosie: pricing (checked November 11, 2026); Smith.ai: AI receptionist pricing (checked November 11, 2026); Quo: pricing (checked November 11, 2026); Buildalytic: Platform pricing and usage (checked November 11, 2026); Joist: AI Receptionist and pricing (checked November 11, 2026); Allo: pricing (checked November 11, 2026)
One month priced the same way for each
Headline prices hide the unit. We priced one example month from the published pages: 120 answered calls averaging 3 minutes (360 minutes), from 90 distinct callers, for a company with 2 office users. These inputs are illustrative. Replace them with your own call log.
Brody costs the most here because it also includes the office phone system, texting and team messaging for each paid user, not only the answering. If after-hours answering is all you need, an answering-only service is likely cheaper. Quo, Joist and Allo are left out of this table because their pages do not publish enough to price this month without assumptions.
| Option | How the month is priced | Example month |
|---|---|---|
| Goodcall Starter | 90 distinct callers is within the 100 included | $79 |
| Rosie Scale | 360 minutes exceeds Professional's 250; Scale includes 1,000 (Professional's overage rate is not shown) | $149 |
| Smith.ai AI Pro | $150 for 75 calls, plus 45 extra calls at $2.50 | $262.50 |
| Brody by Buildalytic | 2 users at $99 ($198), 100 AI minutes included, 260 extra minutes at $0.40 ($104) | $302 ($282 billed annually) |
Sources: Goodcall: pricing (checked November 11, 2026); Rosie: pricing (checked November 11, 2026); Smith.ai: AI receptionist pricing (checked November 11, 2026); Buildalytic: Platform pricing and usage (checked November 11, 2026)
The 10-call test: eight metrics to score
Place the same 10 construction calls to every service you shortlist (a new lead, an out-of-area request, an existing job known only by address, an after-hours emergency, a named person, that person not answering, a Spanish-speaking caller, a supplier, jobsite noise and a price question) and score each service on the same eight metrics.
The targets are a sensible bar for a construction office, not industry benchmarks. Set your own before the first call. Buildalytic hasn't published results of this test yet; when it does, they will appear here with the date and method.
| Metric | What it measures | How to calculate | Target to set |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answer rate | Calls answered by the service, without voicemail or a busy signal | Answered ÷ 10 | 10 of 10 |
| Speed to answer | Rings before the greeting starts | Median rings across the 10 calls | 2 rings or fewer |
| Intake accuracy | Required details captured correctly: name, callback number, job address, request | Correct fields ÷ required fields, across all calls | At least 95% |
| Right next step | The call ends in the outcome you defined: booked, routed, declined, message | Calls with the right outcome ÷ 10 | At least 9 of 10 |
| Transfer success | A transfer reaches a person who can act, and that person hears or sees a brief first | Transfers connected ÷ attempted; briefs received ÷ transfers | All transfers; a brief on every one |
| No-answer recovery | After an unanswered transfer, the caller is told the next step and a message reaches you | Minutes from hang-up to the message arriving | Under 5 minutes |
| Invented facts | Dates, prices or promises the service made up | Count across all 10 calls | 0 |
| Hard calls | Spanish caller, jobsite noise and after-hours emergency handled correctly | Passes ÷ 3 | 3 of 3 |
How one call is scored (illustrative)
An illustrative example, not a test result: call 6, where the caller asks for the superintendent and nobody picks up. “Service X” answers in 2 rings, takes the caller's name, number and reason, and tries the transfer. Nobody answers for 25 seconds. It tells the caller, “Mike will call you back within the hour,” and texts the office a message 3 minutes later.
Score: answered (yes), speed (2 rings), intake (3 of 3 fields), right next step (yes, a message with an owner), no-answer recovery (3 minutes), invented facts (1: nobody configured a one-hour callback promise). One invented promise is enough to fail the call, because a caller who hears “within the hour” and waits three hours is the lead you lose.
How these seven were chosen
We listed the AI answering services that appeared in ChatGPT answers to contractor buying questions and in Google's results for “AI receptionist for contractors” on November 11, 2026, then kept those that publish a price. Housecall Pro's CSR AI was left out because its page offers tailored pricing rather than a number; AnswerConnect's pricing page was unavailable when checked.
Staffed services such as Ruby and PATLive, and the trade-off between AI and people, are covered in the companion guide on AI receptionists versus answering services.
What a construction company should check beyond price
A homeowner booking an estimate, a superintendent calling about a delivery and a sub asking about a pay application need different handling. Check whether the service can recognise an existing job, send the right person a usable summary, text crews from the same number and save the result where your team works.
Brody is built for those calls: it answers as a disclosed AI assistant for your company, transfers to your team and writes results to tools such as Procore. General answering services are often better suited to simple lead capture. Test both kinds with the same calls.
Test two or three before you sign
Call each finalist with the same scripted calls: a new inquiry, a caller who knows only the job address, an urgent after-hours problem, a Spanish-speaking caller and a request for a named person who doesn't answer. Write the expected outcome first, then compare what each service captured and who got the follow-up.
Most options offer a trial or a free tier: Rosie 7 days, Joist 14 days, Brody 14 days, and Smith.ai a free 25-call plan. Use it on real calls, not a demo script.
Sources: Rosie: pricing (checked November 11, 2026); Joist: AI Receptionist and pricing (checked November 11, 2026); Smith.ai: AI receptionist pricing (checked November 11, 2026); Buildalytic: Platform pricing and usage (checked November 11, 2026)
Common questions
What is the cheapest AI answering service for contractors?
It depends on your calls. In our example month of 120 calls from 90 distinct callers, Goodcall's Starter plan was lowest at $79, using prices published on November 11, 2026. A different call mix can change the order.
Is Brody the best option on this list?
Not for every contractor. Buildalytic makes Brody. It fits construction companies that want calls, texts and job records in one place. If you only need after-hours lead capture, an answering-only service may cost less.
Do these services transfer calls to a person?
Transfer options vary by plan. Check each provider's documentation and test an unanswered transfer before buying. The companion handoff guide lists what to test.
How often are these prices checked?
They were copied from each provider's pricing page on November 11, 2026. Prices change, so confirm on the provider's site before you buy.
How should we test an AI receptionist before buying?
Place the same 10 construction calls to each service and score answer rate, speed to answer, intake accuracy, right next step, transfer success, no-answer recovery time, invented facts and the hard calls (Spanish, noise, emergency). Any invented price, date or promise should fail the call.
Sources and editorial notes
- Goodcall: pricing (checked November 11, 2026)
- Rosie: pricing (checked November 11, 2026)
- Smith.ai: AI receptionist pricing (checked November 11, 2026)
- Quo: pricing (checked November 11, 2026)
- Joist: AI Receptionist and pricing (checked November 11, 2026)
- Allo: pricing (checked November 11, 2026)
- Housecall Pro: pricing (checked November 11, 2026)
- Buildalytic: Platform pricing and usage (checked November 11, 2026)
- Buildalytic: AI receptionist for construction
Prepared with AI assistance. Reference date: 2026-11-11. Worked examples are illustrative and are not customer results. Product details can change; confirm the current scope and terms before rollout.
How we prepare and update field notesPrice your own month, then test the calls.
Bring your call log and three difficult construction calls. See Brody answer them, hand off to your team and save the record, and get a written monthly price for your company.
Start with the call, text or record your team already handles. Review the expected outcome and the human handoff before choosing a rollout.
Try Brody on your calls Explore the relevant capability
