Comparison
optni.ai vs Smith.ai
Written by optni.ai. We have an obvious interest in the outcome, so this page states where Smith.ai genuinely wins and who should pick them. Pricing was checked in September 2026.
In short
Smith.ai is a virtual receptionist service that combines AI with live human agents, priced from roughly $95 per month with live handoffs charged per call. optni.ai is AI-native, with pricing from $99 per month on flat interaction tiers and no per-call human fees. Smith.ai suits businesses that want a person in the loop on complex calls and are willing to pay per interaction. optni.ai suits practices with steady, repetitive call volume — booking, rescheduling, pricing, hours — where predictable cost matters more than a human fallback.
About Smith.ai
What Smith.ai is
Smith.ai has been in the virtual receptionist business for years and is well regarded, particularly among law firms and professional services. Their model pairs AI with real human receptionists in North America who can pick up anything the AI should not handle. That human layer is a genuine differentiator and the main reason to choose them.
Their pricing
Published AI receptionist plans start around $95/month, with higher self-service tiers reported around $270 and $800/month, and live human handoff charged per call. Managed annual plans run considerably higher. Checked September 2026.
Where they're strong
- • Real human receptionists available as a fallback on any call
- • Long operating history and a strong reputation in professional services
- • Handles genuinely unusual or sensitive calls that AI should escalate
- • Broad integration catalogue built up over years
Where they fall short
- • Per-call human handoff costs make a busy month expensive and hard to forecast
- • Built horizontally for professional services rather than around healthcare scheduling
- • Healthcare-specific workflows — recall, no-show follow-up, practice-management write-back — are not the focus
- • Cost scales with call volume, which penalises exactly the practices that need it most
Side by side
Feature comparison
| Capability | optni.ai | Smith.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $99/month | ~$95/month plus per-call handoff fees |
| Cost predictability | Flat interaction tiers | Varies with human handoff volume |
| Human receptionist fallback | Transfers to your staff, not ours | Their own human agentstheir win |
| Healthcare specialisation | Purpose-built for practices | Horizontal, strongest in legal |
| AI text front desk | Max — two-way SMS, core product | Available, secondary to voice |
| Shared memory across voice and text | Yes | No |
| Practice-management write-back | Open Dental, Dentrix, ezyVet, ChiroTouch and more | General CRM and calendar integrations |
| Patient recall and reactivation | Included | Not a focus |
| HIPAA BAA | On every plan | Available |
Honest recommendation
Which one is right for you
Choose Smith.ai if…
- • You want trained human receptionists as the fallback rather than your own staff
- • Your calls are complex, high-value and low-volume — legal intake is the classic fit
- • You are outside healthcare and want a proven generalist
Choose optni.ai if…
- • Your call volume is steady and mostly routine practice scheduling
- • You want a flat monthly cost you can forecast
- • You want appointments written back into your practice-management system
- • You want recall, reminders and no-show follow-up in the same product
The verdict
This is a model choice, not a feature contest. Smith.ai sells human judgment as the safety net and prices per call accordingly. optni.ai sells depth in one domain at a predictable price, escalating to your own staff rather than a third party's. For a practice fielding a high volume of booking and rescheduling calls, the per-call model is usually the more expensive way to solve a repetitive problem.
Questions
What people ask about this comparison
For complex, high-value, low-volume calls, a human is genuinely better and Smith.ai is a strong choice. For a practice taking many routine scheduling calls a day, paying per human interaction to handle 'can I move my Thursday appointment' is an expensive solution to a repetitive problem.
Entry prices are close — roughly $95 versus $99. The difference appears with volume: optni.ai stays flat within your tier, while Smith.ai adds per-call charges when calls reach a human. Model your actual monthly call volume before deciding.
Judge it yourself in thirty seconds
Comparison tables only go so far. Have Ava call you and decide from the call.