Frontdesk vs Smith.ai
Smith.ai is a human-AI hybrid receptionist service. Their agents combine AI intake with live-human handoff. Frontdesk is a self-serve AI receptionist that runs end-to-end without a human in the loop, priced by monthly credits.
At a glance.
Frontdesk vs Smith.ai: feature-by-feature.
| Capability | Smith.ai | Frontdesk AI |
|---|---|---|
| Answering | Human agents after AI greeting | Fully automated AI |
| Answers end-to-end without a human | No | Yes |
| Live appointment booking on call | Yes (via agent) | Yes (AI, no human) |
| CRM writes (HubSpot / Salesforce / Pipedrive) | Partial / manual | Native, structured fields |
| 24/7 coverage | Yes | Yes |
| Bilingual (Spanish + additional languages) | Add-on | 20+ languages included |
| Self-serve setup | Guided onboarding | Self-serve |
| Pricing model | Per-call plans | Monthly credit pool |
Which one fits your team.
Pick Smith.ai if
- You explicitly want a human agent to pick up after the AI greeting
- You need bilingual live agents on the phone
- You prefer pay-as-you-go per-call billing
Pick Frontdesk if
- You want the AI to run the full call, not hand off to a human
- You want predictable monthly pricing that scales with usage
- You need native CRM writes (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive) on every call
- You want fully automated 24/7 coverage without a human queue
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Contact supportFrontdesk is a self-serve AI receptionist that answers calls, qualifies leads, books appointments on your calendar, and syncs conversations to your CRM. The right choice between Frontdesk and Smith.ai depends on how much you want the AI to run end-to-end versus hand off to a human, how deep the CRM integration needs to be, and your preferred pricing model. Check each product's live pricing page before you decide.
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