Dialzara Alternatives 2026: AI Receptionist Pricing and How Each Counts a Call
Published · prices checked October 26, 2026
Key takeaways
- Dialzara costs $408.50 at 13 three-minute calls a day; Goodcall costs $129, the least of 9 AI receptionists in our table (prices checked October 26, 2026).
- Six alternatives cost less than Dialzara at 13 calls a day. Only RingCentral AI Receptionist and Smith.ai AI Receptionist cost more.
- Dialzara bills to the second. Rosie rounds every call up to a minute and RingCentral to 30 seconds, so short calls cost more there.
- Dialzara sends callers to voicemail when minutes run out; Rosie, Upfirst, Goodcall and My AI Front Desk keep answering and bill for it.
- Its terms rule out refunds and end service on the cancellation date: move your calls before you cancel.
Dialzara costs $408.50 a month at 13 three-minute calls a day, and Goodcall, the lowest-cost alternative at that volume, costs $129 (prices checked October 26, 2026). At 3 calls a day Dialzara costs $121.50 and Upfirst $59.95.
What does Dialzara cost?
Dialzara starts at $29/month (60 minutes). At 3, 5 and 13 calls a day it costs $121.50, $199 and $408.50, with overage turned on. Each step up is a bigger plan, so the bill climbs with every call. Plan features, the voicemail rule and the refund terms are on the Dialzara pricing page.
Dialzara alternatives compared
Prices checked against each vendor's own pricing page on October 26, 2026.
| Service | Entry plan | 3 calls/day (90/mo) | 5 calls/day (150/mo) | 13 calls/day (390/mo) | If calls double (13 to 26 a day) | Overage | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dialzara | $29/month (60 minutes) | $121.50 | $199 | $408.50 | +$409.50 | $0.35 to $0.48 a minute | dialzara.com/pricing, read Oct 26, 2026 |
| Goodcall | $79/month (100 unique callers) | $79 | $118.50 | $129 | +$72.80 | $0.15 to $0.79 a caller | goodcall.com/pricing, read Oct 26, 2026 |
| NextPhone | $199/month (unlimited calls) | $199 | $199 | $199 | No change | None, unlimited calls | getnextphone.com/pricing, read Oct 26, 2026 |
| Upfirst | $24.95/month (30 calls) | $59.95 | $119.95 | $227.45 | +$197.55 | $0.70 to $1.50 a call | upfirst.ai/pricing, read Oct 26, 2026 |
| Phonely | Free (100 minutes), then $50/month (200 minutes) | $67.50 to $74.50 | $112.50 to $137.50 | $292.50 to $389.50 | +$292.50 to $409.50 | $0.25 to $0.35 a minute | phonely.ai/pricing, read Oct 26, 2026 |
| Rosie | $49/month (250 minutes) | $149 | $149 | $299 | Not computable | Moves up to the next plan | heyrosie.com/pricing, read Oct 26, 2026 |
| My AI Front Desk | $99/month (240 minutes: 200 voice plus a 1,000-credit pool worth 40) | $106.50 | $151.50 | $331.50 | +$292.50 | $0.25 a minute | myaifrontdesk.com/pricing, read Oct 26, 2026 |
| RingCentral AI Receptionist | From $49/month (100 minutes) | $134 | $224 | $584 | +$585 | $0.50 a minute | ringcentral.com/pricing/ai-receptionist.html, read Oct 26, 2026 |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | Free (25 calls), then $150/month (75 calls) | $187.50 | $270 | $695.30 | +$692.70 | $2.10 to $3.00 a call | smith.ai/pricing/ai-receptionist, read Oct 26, 2026 |
Our arithmetic: each vendor's cheapest published plan for that volume plus its published overage, at 3-minute calls over 30 days. Goodcall bills per unique caller; we count every call as a new caller. Taxes, setup fees and add-ons are not included. How we price.
At 13 calls a day Goodcall costs the least. Six of the eight alternatives cost less than Dialzara there; RingCentral AI Receptionist and Smith.ai AI Receptionist cost more.
At 3 calls a day Upfirst costs the least. Dialzara sits mid-table: below RingCentral, Rosie, Smith.ai and NextPhone, above Upfirst, Phonely, Goodcall and My AI Front Desk.
How each alternative counts a call
Our table prices every vendor at 3-minute calls. On calls of any other length, Dialzara meters to the second; the others round, count calls, count callers, or count nothing:
| Service | Billing unit | Rounding | Spam and short calls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dialzara | Per minute, in monthly minute bundles | Per second, no rounding up | Not published |
| Rosie | Per minute, in monthly minute bundles | 60 seconds, rounded up per call | Blocked numbers use no minutes; calls its spam detection hangs up on: not stated |
| RingCentral AI Receptionist | Per minute, in a monthly minute bundle | 30 seconds, rounded up | Not published |
| My AI Front Desk | Per minute, in a monthly minute bundle | Not published | Robocall filter blocks spam; billing of blocked calls not stated |
| Phonely | Per minute, in a monthly minute bundle | Not published | Not published |
| Upfirst | Per call | Per call; calls under 15 seconds not billed | Spam, robocalls and silent calls not billed |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | Per answered call | Per call; duration does not change the base call charge | Answered spam counts by default; up to 10% of the quota can be removed for spam and test calls |
| Goodcall | Per unique caller a month | No minute or call meter | Spam and wrong numbers not counted |
| NextPhone | Flat monthly subscription with unlimited calls | No per-minute or per-call charge | No per-call charge |
What it means for a 20-second hang-up: Dialzara bills 20 seconds, RingCentral 30, Rosie a full minute. Upfirst bills nothing under 15 seconds. Goodcall counts the caller once a month whatever the length, and NextPhone bills nothing for it.
Short calls favor Dialzara over the other per-minute plans. Long calls favor the per-call and flat ones: a 9-minute call costs Upfirst, Goodcall and NextPhone no more than a 1-minute call.
What happens when you go past the plan
Dialzara stops. Once the minutes hit zero, "callers go straight to voicemail" unless you turned on auto-recharge (dialzara.com/pricing, read October 27, 2026). The alternatives keep answering and bill for it:
- Rosie: moves you up to the next plan.
- Upfirst: $0.70 to $1.50 a call, depending on the plan.
- Goodcall: $0.15 to $0.79 a caller, at your plan's own rate.
- My AI Front Desk: "If you run out of credits, we automatically add more" (myaifrontdesk.com/pricing, read October 27, 2026).
- NextPhone: no allowance to pass.
If a capped bill matters more to you than a missed call, Dialzara's rule is the feature. If every call matters, turn on auto-recharge or pick a plan that bills overage by default.
Live virtual receptionists against Dialzara
At 100 three-minute calls a month the lowest-cost live virtual receptionist we price, ReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus, costs $260, against Dialzara's $135; Posh costs $630. Pick a person over an AI for judgment on the call, not for price: see virtual receptionist pricing. A full-time hire on the BLS median wage costs $4,399 a month (hire vs AI receptionist).
What each alternative does better and worse than Dialzara
Goodcall
Better: at 13 calls a day Dialzara costs $280 a month more. Call length is irrelevant: "A thirty-second call and a nine-minute booking cost the same." (goodcall.com/faq, read October 27, 2026)
Worse: no trial, and "Goodcall numbers are local US numbers today" (same FAQ). Dialzara sells toll-free numbers.
Rosie
Better: Rosie is flat at $149 from 3 to about 11 calls a day, the reach of its Scale plan's 1,000 minutes, less than Dialzara at 5 a day. At 13 a day it moves to Growth, $299, still less than Dialzara.
Worse: "Services Minutes are calculated and billed in 60-second increments" (heyrosie.com/legal/terms, read October 27, 2026). At 3 calls a day Rosie costs more than Dialzara.
Upfirst
Better: at 3 calls a day Dialzara costs 2.0 times Upfirst. Cancelling keeps the paid month: "Your plan will end at the end of your current billing period." (help.upfirst.ai, read October 27, 2026)
Worse: overage is automatic, with no voicemail cap. On Starter each extra call costs $1.50 a call.
NextPhone
Better: at 13 calls a day Dialzara costs $210 a month more than NextPhone, whose price ignores minutes.
Worse: at 3 calls a day NextPhone costs $78 a month more than Dialzara. The two cost the same at 5 a day.
Phonely
Better: Phonely costs less than Dialzara at 3, 5 and 13 calls a day: $292.50 to $389.50 at 13.
Worse: its Starter overage is published two ways, so at 3, 5 and 13 calls a day its cost is a range. Its pricing page FAQ says minutes after a transfer can be billed in some setups (phonely.ai/pricing, read October 26, 2026).
My AI Front Desk
Better: My AI Front Desk costs less at 3, 5 and 13 calls a day, $331.50 at 13, and its trial needs no card.
Worse: it publishes no rounding rule, and transferred-call minutes are billed separately from AI minutes, per its call log help page (read October 27, 2026).
RingCentral AI Receptionist
Better: a 14-day trial, twice Dialzara's.
Worse: at 13 calls a day it costs $176 a month more than Dialzara, and it rounds each call up to 30 seconds.
Smith.ai AI Receptionist
Better: AI calls can be passed to Smith.ai's live receptionists: "Live agent involvement is billed at a flat rate of +$3.00 per call, only when used." (Smith.ai help center, read October 7, 2026)
Worse: at every volume in the table it costs more than Dialzara. Cancelling takes notice: "If you ever cancel, we need 30 days' notice, and then you're done." (smith.ai, read October 26, 2026)
Where Dialzara is still the better buy
Short calls on a per-minute plan. Of the per-minute vendors in the table, Dialzara is the one that publishes billing to the second with no rounding.
A hard cap on the bill. With auto-recharge off, the plan price is the most you pay. None of the alternatives above publishes a cap like it.
Against RingCentral and Smith.ai. Dialzara costs less than both at 3, 5 and 13 calls a day, and less than Rosie and NextPhone at 3 a day.
Which alternative fits which situation
- Best at 13 calls a day, and for long calls: Goodcall. $129, the least in the table. Call length never enters the bill. No trial.
- Best at 3 calls a day: Upfirst. $59.95, the least in the table, and nothing billed under 15 seconds.
- Best flat bill up to about 11 calls a day: Rosie. $149 at 3 and 5 calls a day, less than NextPhone's flat $199 and less than Dialzara at 5 a day. At 13 a day it moves to Growth, $299. Every call rounds up to a full minute.
- Best at very high volume: NextPhone. No meter of any kind, and the only bill in the table that does not move from 13 to 26 calls a day; Goodcall costs more from about 770 calls a month. At 3 calls a day NextPhone costs more than Dialzara.
How to switch from Dialzara
Set up the new vendor first. Dialzara's full terms say cancelling "WILL BECOME EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY", and its terms of use: "We do not offer refunds on any purchases made of the digital products offered on our website." (dialzara.com/terms-of-use, read October 27, 2026)
So forward your line to the new vendor, test it, and cancel Dialzara close to its renewal date. If you ported your number in, ask Dialzara how to port it out before you cancel; its pages describe porting in only. If callers dial a Dialzara-issued number, that number does not come with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is cheaper than Dialzara?
At 13 three-minute calls a day, Goodcall, Rosie, Upfirst, NextPhone, Phonely and My AI Front Desk all cost less than Dialzara's $408.50. Goodcall costs the least, $129.
Is Rosie cheaper than Dialzara?
At 5 and 13 calls a day, yes: Rosie costs $149 at 5 and $299 at 13, against Dialzara's $199 and $408.50. At 3 calls a day Dialzara costs $121.50 and Rosie $149. Rosie rounds every call up to a full minute; Dialzara bills by the second.
Which AI receptionists bill by the second like Dialzara?
Of the ready-made AI receptionists we price, Dialzara is the one that publishes per-second billing with no rounding. RingCentral AI Receptionist rounds up to 30 seconds and Rosie to 60. Upfirst, Smith.ai, Goodcall and NextPhone do not bill by time at all.
Do Dialzara alternatives send callers to voicemail when minutes run out?
The ones we price keep answering and bill for it. Rosie moves you up a plan, Upfirst and Goodcall charge per extra call or caller, and My AI Front Desk adds credits automatically. Dialzara sends callers to voicemail unless you turn on auto-recharge.
Can I get a refund when I leave Dialzara?
Dialzara's terms of use say it does not offer refunds on purchases, and its full terms say cancelling takes effect immediately. Move your calls to the new vendor before you cancel.
How these numbers were made
Every vendor price on this page was read from the vendor's own pricing page on the date in its Source cell and saved as a dated capture. Monthly costs use each vendor's cheapest published plan for the volume plus its published overage, at 3-minute calls. The in-house figure uses the BLS median wage for receptionists over 2,080 paid hours (paid leave included), other employer benefit costs and turnover, each from the BLS release named below. Vendors that hide prices stay in the tables as quote only. We do not test answering quality and publish no ratings.
Sources
Vendor pricing and terms pages, from the price index
- Dialzara: dialzara.com/pricing (read October 26, 2026); dialzara.com/terms-of-use (read October 27, 2026)
- Goodcall: goodcall.com/pricing (read October 26, 2026); help.goodcall.com/en/articles/8007566-terms-of-service (read October 27, 2026)
- My AI Front Desk: myaifrontdesk.com/pricing (read October 26, 2026); myaifrontdesk.com/terms-of-service (read October 27, 2026)
- NextPhone: getnextphone.com/pricing (read October 26, 2026)
- Phonely: phonely.ai/pricing (read October 26, 2026)
- Posh: posh.com/pricing (read October 26, 2026); posh.com/terms (read October 7, 2026)
- ReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus: receptionhq.com/service/live-call-answering/virtual-receptionist (read October 26, 2026); receptionhq.com/call-answering-service-terms (read October 7, 2026)
- RingCentral AI Receptionist: ringcentral.com/pricing/ai-receptionist.html (read October 26, 2026)
- Rosie: heyrosie.com/pricing (read October 26, 2026); heyrosie.com/legal/terms (read October 27, 2026)
- Smith.ai AI Receptionist: smith.ai/pricing/ai-receptionist (read October 26, 2026)
- Upfirst: upfirst.ai/pricing (read October 26, 2026); upfirst.ai/terms-of-service (read October 27, 2026)
Hire-cost inputs, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- OEWS, receptionists and information clerks (SOC 43-4171) (May 2025, released May 15, 2026)
- Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, table 4 (June 2026 (2026 Q2), released September 9, 2026)
- Employee Benefits in the United States (March 2026, released September 25, 2026)
- Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, annual 2025 (released March 13, 2026)
- Heather Boushey and Sarah Jane Glynn, "There Are Significant Business Costs to Replacing Employees," Center for American Progress, November 16, 2012 (issue brief; PDF carries an August 31, 2015 correction to Figure 3)
Other pages quoted
- Dialzara terms of use: dialzara.com/terms-of-use, read October 27, 2026.
- Upfirst help, "How do I cancel my plan?": help.upfirst.ai, read October 27, 2026.
- Goodcall FAQ: goodcall.com/faq, read October 27, 2026.
- Rosie terms: heyrosie.com/legal/terms, read October 27, 2026.
Changes to these prices
- Upfirst: cancellation notice recorded as none. Its pricing FAQ says "You can cancel, upgrade, or downgrade anytime, no questions asked," the same strength as other cancel-anytime terms. Its setup-fee summary now reads "None stated": no page says there is no fee. No price changed.
- My AI Front Desk: the 1,000 monthly overage credits its pricing page lists as included ("Extra credits you get each month in case you go over your included usage") now count as 40 included minutes, so Business-in-a-Box covers 240 minutes before the $0.25 rate applies (was 200).
- Phonely: its Professional plan card says 650 minutes and its comparison table 750; the card is used. When two plans tie on their lowest cost, the one with the narrower range is chosen, so Phonely at 300 calls a month prices on Professional alone.
- My AI Front Desk: billing-term summaries (billing unit, rounding, time billed beyond the call, spam, setup fee, contract, trial) added from the vendor-data billing-terms and contracts files and their captures. No price changed.
- Phonely: billing-term summaries (billing unit, rounding, time billed beyond the call, spam, setup fee, contract, trial) added from the vendor-data billing-terms and contracts files and their captures. No price changed.
- RingCentral AI Receptionist: billing-term summaries (billing unit, rounding, time billed beyond the call, spam, setup fee, contract, trial) added from the vendor-data billing-terms and contracts files and their captures. No price changed.
- Rosie added from its own pricing page (captured October 26, 2026), with billing terms from its terms, FAQ and help pages (read October 27, 2026). Rosie moves an account up a plan instead of charging overage.
- Goodcall added from its own pricing page (captured October 26, 2026), with billing terms from its terms, FAQ and help pages (read October 27, 2026). Goodcall bills per unique caller a month; our arithmetic counts every call as a different caller.
- Dialzara added from its own pricing page (captured October 26, 2026), with billing terms from its terms, FAQ and help pages (read October 27, 2026).
- Upfirst added from its own pricing page (captured October 26, 2026), with billing terms from its terms, FAQ and help pages (read October 27, 2026). Upfirst does not bill calls under 15 seconds or spam.
- Smith.ai AI Receptionist Enterprise at 500 calls ($800, $2.10 per extra call) added from its pricing page, in a full re-check of every source page.
- Added NextPhone Pro, Growth and Scale from its public pricing page. All three plans include unlimited calls with no per-minute charge or overage fee.
- Smith.ai AI Receptionist: billing terms added.
- ReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus added as its own live row (messages and call transfers; read October 5, 2026): from $35 a month plus $2.99 a call to $2,440 for 1,000 calls, from its ReceptionistPlus page and the price table in ReceptionHQ's terms (read October 7, 2026), with its own billing terms ($0.30 a call after hours, $0.30 per transfer).
- My AI Front Desk: overage of $0.25 a minute (25 credits at $0.01) added; it was on the captured page but missing here.
- Smith.ai AI Receptionist: billing terms added from its terms, FAQ and help pages (read October 7, 2026): billing unit, rounding, time billed beyond the call, spam billing, setup fee, contract and trial.
- Posh: billing terms added from its terms, FAQ and help pages (read October 7, 2026): billing unit, rounding, time billed beyond the call, spam billing, setup fee, contract and trial.
- ReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus: billing terms added from its terms, FAQ and help pages (read October 7, 2026): billing unit, rounding, time billed beyond the call, spam billing, setup fee, contract and trial.
Download the data
The first table on this page (CSV, 9 rows). The full price index (CSV), free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
How to cite this page
ReceptionistPrices.com, Dialzara Alternatives 2026: AI Receptionist Pricing and How Each Counts a Call, prices checked October 26, 2026, https://www.receptionistprices.com/dialzara/alternatives/