A Vertical AI guideGuide · Small business
Best AI receptionist for small business 2026: the buyer's shortlist
Call 1800 570 693 to talk to the demo agent. Plans start at A$299 a month.
Key takeaways
- Johnni scores 93 of 100 on five measures read from each vendor's own pages on 8 November 2026. It costs A$49 a month plus GST for 60 minutes, charges no setup fee and puts callers through to you on every plan.
- Vertical AI ranks second at 75, and we make it. Johnni beats it on entry price and on the job software it names, and AiDial beats it on named systems too.
- Hey Jodie gives unlimited minutes on every plan, but its comparison table holds bookings and transfers back until Professional. With tax added at checkout, that plan costs A$218.90 a month.
- AiDial names Cliniko, Halaxy and ServiceM8, and Sophiie names ServiceM8, simPRO and Ascora. AiDial quotes booking integrations separately and Sophiie publishes no price, so both lose most of the points for cost.
- Valory is the one vendor here whose own team builds the agent for you. Its setup fee starts at A$990, and its A$149 Intro plan includes 100 minutes.
What an AI receptionist for a small business is and is not
An AI receptionist answers the number on your website, your van or your shopfront when nobody is free to pick up. It talks with the caller in ordinary speech, takes down the details, answers from what you have told it, and then books the job or hands the call to you.
For a business of one to twenty people, a handful of things decide whether it pays its way. The monthly price has to sit well below what one missed job costs you. Setting it up should fit inside an afternoon, with no consultant and no project plan.
It has to write into the calendar or job system you already run, or someone retypes every booking at night. A caller with a burst pipe, a locked-out tenant or a patient in pain has to reach a person while still on the line.
It is not a human answering service, where an operator reads your call sheet and bills you for each call. It is not a front desk either. It greets nobody at a counter and does no admin between calls.
Three of the six vendors below bill by the minute, AiDial bills by the call, and Hey Jodie charges a flat month with no cap on minutes. Check what the cheapest plan leaves out before you compare prices. Hey Jodie's comparison table leaves bookings and transfers off its entry plan, and AiDial quotes every booking integration separately.
How we ranked these AI receptionists for small business
We fixed five measures and their weights before scoring any vendor, then read each vendor's pricing, integrations and home pages on 8 November 2026. A measure a vendor does not publish scores 0.
Where a vendor's price excludes GST or adds tax at checkout, we add 10 per cent. Where it states nothing about GST, we use the price shown. A tie goes to the lower entry price.
| Measure | Weight | How it scores |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price of the cheapest plan that books appointments, GST included | 30 | A$100 or less 30, A$200 or less 22, A$300 or less 15, above A$300 8, booking only as a quoted add-on 4, not published 0 |
| Minutes in that plan | 10 | Unlimited or 500 and more 10, 200 to 499 6, under 200 3, not published 0. A per-call plan counts 3 minutes a call |
| Setup fee to start | 20 | None, and you set it up yourself 20, a published fee 10, set in a quote or not published 0 |
| Systems named on the vendor's own site | 20 | A calendar 5, a CRM 5, a trade job or clinic practice system such as ServiceM8 or Cliniko 10 |
| Urgent calls put through to a person | 20 | Live transfer on the cheapest plan 20, only on a higher plan or with no plan named 10, not published 0 |
The best AI receptionists for small business in 2026
We scored six AI receptionists sold to Australian small businesses and list all six here in score order. We make Vertical AI. It ranks second at 75, and Johnni scores higher on entry price and on named systems, while AiDial also beats it on named systems. Sophiie ranks last because it publishes no price.
1. Johnni, best for a low entry price with trade job software
Johnni scores 93 of 100. Its Pay As You Go plan costs A$49 a month plus GST, which comes to A$53.90, for 60 minutes, read on johnni.ai on 8 November 2026. Minutes past the allowance cost A$0.50, falling to A$0.35 on the A$899 Growth plan.
Every plan answers 10 calls at once, and up to 20 when needed. Johnni lists no setup fee, and its 7-day trial includes 30 free setup minutes. It takes your card at signup without charging it, and the plan starts when you receive your number or after 7 days.
Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook sync comes with every plan. ServiceM8, Simpro and ServiceTitan connect as a custom add-on that Johnni quotes for each business, and its home page also names HubSpot, Pipedrive and Zoho. That gives it the full 20 for named systems.
When a caller is upset or urgent, Johnni puts the call through and briefs you on the context first. Warm transfer sits on every plan, so it takes 20 for urgent calls. The 60-minute entry plan earns only 3 of 10 on minutes, the one measure where Johnni drops points.
You can ring its line on 07 4519 7035 before signing up. Its home page shows 5.0 from 19 Google reviews. Brodie Legget founded Johnni, which runs out of Queensland, and SMS alerts add A$50 a month on any plan.
Best suited for: A trades business on ServiceM8, Simpro or ServiceTitan that takes fewer than 30 calls a month and wants to start cheaply. Get the quote for the job software connection first, because Johnni prices it business by business.
2. Vertical AI, best for 500 minutes with bookings and transfers on the entry plan
We make Vertical AI, and it scores 75 of 100. Starter costs A$299 a month for 500 minutes, with extra minutes at A$0.40, so it earns 15 of 30 on entry price. Johnni's cheapest booking plan costs A$245.10 a month less.
Every plan books into a calendar, takes a message and texts it to you, and puts a caller through to a person, warm or blind. After-hours and overflow routing also come with every plan, so an urgent caller reaches whoever you nominate. That earns the full 20 for urgent calls.
You can build the agent yourself in the visual editor, from your website and documents, with no setup fee. If you would rather our team builds it, the Launch build costs A$2,490 once and goes live in 5 days, and a late delivery refunds the fee.
Our integrations list names Google Calendar, Calendly, Salesforce, HubSpot and Pipedrive, and CRM connectors start on Growth at A$599 a month. It names no trade job or clinic practice system, so we score 10 of 20 for named systems. Reaching ServiceM8 or a similar system takes a custom API tool on Scale at A$999 or a build.
Starter answers 2 calls at once, Growth 6 and Scale 12. Each call stays in Australia by default, from the audio and speech recognition to the voice and the AI model, and so do its recordings and transcripts. Ring the demo agent on 1800 570 693 to hear one answer.
Best suited for: A small business that wants bookings and live transfer on its cheapest plan, with minutes for up to 10 calls a day. It suits an owner who will set the agent up in an editor, or pay once for us to build it.
3. Hey Jodie, best for unlimited minutes at a flat monthly price
Hey Jodie scores 60 of 100. Its Australian plans cost A$99, A$199 and A$399 a month, each with unlimited minutes, and its pricing page says tax is added at checkout, read 8 November 2026. Enterprise starts at A$1,000 a month, and a yearly plan includes 2 free months.
The comparison table marks bookings and call transfers as missing from Basic, so the cheapest plan that books is Professional at A$218.90 with GST. That puts Hey Jodie on 15 of 30 for entry price and 10 of 20 for urgent calls. Its plan cards and table disagree on some features, so confirm what Basic includes before you buy it.
Its FAQ says setup takes about 2 minutes, and there is no setup fee. The 7-day trial needs no credit card, and the service pauses if you do not pick a plan. It takes the full 20 for setup and 10 of 10 for minutes.
Its integrations page names two CRMs, Rex and GoHighLevel, and no calendar app by name. Zapier comes with Premium, and webhooks with Professional and above. That leaves it on 5 of 20 for named systems, the lowest of any vendor that publishes a price.
Summaries reach you by text or email, with push alerts from its app, and the agent speaks 32 languages. Hey Jodie is Jodie AI Limited, registered in London. Its privacy policy names Ireland and the United States as where it processes data by default, read on 29 October 2026.
Best suited for: A busy line that mostly needs messages taken, where unlimited minutes beat any per-minute plan. Budget for Professional if the agent has to book appointments or put callers through.
4. Valory, best for a team that builds and tunes the agent for you
Valory scores 55 of 100. Intro costs A$149 a month for 100 voice minutes and 50 texts, with extra minutes at A$0.90, read on valory.com.au on 8 November 2026. Section 7.5 of its terms says every fee excludes transaction taxes, so Intro costs A$163.90 with GST.
Intro lists lead capture and booking workflows, which earns 22 of 30 on entry price and 3 of 10 on minutes. Core costs A$299 for 250 minutes and adds CRM and webhook integrations, and Premium costs A$499 for 700 minutes with outbound calling included.
Every plan carries a one-time setup fee from A$990. It pays Valory's team to learn the business, plan call handling, connect the agreed calendars and tools, and test calls before launch, and a published fee scores 10 of 20. New customers get 14 days free from go-live, and cancelling inside them waives any unpaid setup fee.
Its home page names Google and Outlook calendars, Salesforce, HubSpot and Zoho, and no trade or clinic system, which scores 10 of 20. The home page says calls can be transferred to a person, but no plan on the pricing page lists transfers, so it scores 10 for urgent calls. You set the urgent hand-off rules during onboarding.
Monitoring, maintenance and improvements come with every plan. Valory says most clients go live within 3 to 5 business days, and its call line is 0483 919 051. The home page shows 5.0 on Google with no review count.
Best suited for: An owner who wants a team to build, tune and watch the agent every month, and will pay a setup fee for that. It suits a line under 100 minutes a month, since Intro charges A$0.90 for every minute past it.
5. AiDial, best for per-call pricing and the widest clinic and salon software
AiDial scores 47 of 100 and charges by the call. Core is A$149 a month for 60 calls, Scale A$249 for 150 and Max A$449 for 400, and each call unit covers up to 10 connected minutes, read on aidial.com.au on 8 November 2026. Its pricing page says nothing about GST.
Booking, CRM and practice software integrations are optional and scoped and quoted separately. The cheapest plan that books therefore has no published price, and AiDial scores 4 of 30 there. Setup fees and any minimum term sit in each customer's scope of work, which scores 0 for setup.
Those quoted integrations are the widest set on this list for a clinic or a salon. AiDial names Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly, HubSpot and FluentCRM, and Cliniko, Halaxy, Phorest, Simple Salon, ServiceM8 and PracSuite, so it takes the full 20 for named systems.
Every plan includes human hand-off. A warm transfer briefs your team member before the caller is connected, to a landline or a mobile, and the rules can follow your hours, the urgency and the department. That earns 20 for urgent calls.
Each plan includes one text per call unit and an email summary of every call. Voicemail, wrong numbers and very short connections each use a unit, and unused calls do not roll over. A Compliance Pack at A$100 a month adds seven-year retention and no overseas AI model calls, and the AI line is 02 6422 0000.
Best suited for: A clinic or salon on Cliniko, Halaxy, Phorest or Simple Salon that will pay for a scoped integration. Its call units favour long conversations, because 9 minutes on the line uses the same single unit as 1 minute.
6. Sophiie, best for trade job software alongside accounting software
Sophiie scores 25 of 100 because it publishes no price. Its home page carries a demo form and no plan table, and sophiie.ai/pricing shows the home page, read 8 November 2026. Entry price, minutes and setup fee all score 0 for that reason.
Its integrations page lists 21 entries, among them Google Calendar and Outlook, ServiceM8, simPRO and Ascora for job management, and Xero and QuickBooks for accounting. It names no CRM, so it scores 15 of 20 for named systems. Zapier and webhooks cover other tools.
Its FAQ says the agent can transfer a complex or sensitive call to a team member or log a priority callback. With no plans published, nobody outside Sophiie can say which plan carries the transfer, so it scores 10 of 20. The plumbers card on its home page promises emergency and routine calls handled around the clock.
Sophiie's home page reports more than 1,600 businesses and more than 1,000,000 calls handled, with a 4.8 rating on Google and no review count. It lists 18 trades. To hear it, you fill in a form and Sophiie rings you back for a two-minute demo call.
Other publishers, most of them competing vendors, put Sophiie at A$200 to A$600 a month in pages Vertical AI read in October 2026. Sophiie has confirmed none of those figures, so this list does not score them.
Best suited for: A trades business on ServiceM8, simPRO or Ascora that also wants Xero or QuickBooks connected. Ask for a written price with the setup fee before you compare it with the others.
Every AI receptionist for small business scored side by side
Each cell shows what the vendor publishes, followed by the points that fact scored. The points across a row sum to that vendor's score.
| Vendor | Cheapest plan that books | Minutes in it | Setup fee | Systems named | Urgent calls | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnni | A$53.90, Pay As You Go, 30 | 60, 3 | None, 20 | Calendar, CRM and ServiceM8, 20 | Warm transfer on every plan, 20 | 93 |
| Vertical AI | A$299, Starter, 15 | 500, 10 | None, 20 | Calendar and CRM, 10 | Transfer on every plan, 20 | 75 |
| Hey Jodie | A$218.90, Professional, 15 | Unlimited, 10 | None, 20 | CRM only, 5 | Professional and above, 10 | 60 |
| Valory | A$163.90, Intro, 22 | 100, 3 | From A$990, 10 | Calendar and CRM, 10 | No plan named, 10 | 55 |
| AiDial | Booking quoted separately, 4 | 60 calls, 3 | Set in a scope of work, 0 | Calendar, CRM and Cliniko, 20 | Hand-off on every plan, 20 | 47 |
| Sophiie | Not published, 0 | Not published, 0 | Not published, 0 | Calendar and ServiceM8, 15 | No plan named, 10 | 25 |
Which AI receptionist fits your small business
No vendor leads on every measure, so start from the row that describes your business. Each fact comes from the vendor's own pages, read on 8 November 2026.
| Your business | Vendor | Why, from its own pages |
|---|---|---|
| A sole trader with under 30 calls a month | Johnni | A$49 a month plus GST for 60 minutes, with warm transfer included |
| A trade business on ServiceM8 or Simpro | Johnni | Both connect as an add-on quoted for each business |
| About 10 calls a day that end in bookings or transfers | Vertical AI | 500 minutes on Starter at A$299, with both features on every plan |
| A busy line that mostly takes messages | Hey Jodie | Unlimited minutes on every plan from A$99 a month plus tax |
| An owner who wants the agent built and tuned for them | Valory | Setup from A$990 and monthly improvements on every plan |
| A clinic on Cliniko or Halaxy | AiDial | Both named, with the integration scoped and quoted |
| A tradie who also wants Xero or QuickBooks linked | Sophiie | Both on its integrations page, price on request |
Results from an agent we run
The Mayfair Emerald, a pub, bistro and motel in Emerald, Queensland, moved its courtesy bus line onto one of our agents. 98 calls in 100 now finish without a person, and the other 2 asked for one and were put through to the venue.
43 per cent of those calls arrive after 6pm, when most front desks have closed. Each call is recorded and transcribed, so management can read back a Friday night the following morning.
Ring the demo agent, then book a call with our team
Ring 1800 570 693 and ask our demo agent a question about your own business. Then book a call with our team in Perth. Bring your call count and the calendar or job system you run. We show you which plan covers it and what an urgent call does on that plan. You leave the call with a monthly price and a date the agent goes live.
Questions
Johnni scores highest on our five measures at 93 of 100, with Vertical AI second at 75 and Hey Jodie third at 60. Johnni pairs the lowest entry price that books, A$53.90 a month with GST, with warm transfer on every plan.
The cheapest plan that books appointments runs from A$53.90 a month at Johnni to A$299 at Vertical AI, with tax added where a vendor excludes it, read 8 November 2026. Sophiie publishes no price, and AiDial quotes its booking integrations separately.
Johnni, Hey Jodie and Vertical AI charge none when you set the agent up yourself. Valory's setup starts at A$990, and AiDial sets its fee in each customer's scope of work.
Johnni, AiDial and Sophiie all name ServiceM8 on their own sites. Johnni and AiDial quote the connection for each business, and Sophiie publishes no price for anything.
On Johnni, AiDial and Vertical AI, the agent can put the caller through to a person on the cheapest plan. Hey Jodie keeps transfers for Professional and above, and Valory and Sophiie describe transfers without naming a plan.
Hey Jodie's FAQ says about 2 minutes, and Johnni includes 30 free setup minutes in its trial. Valory says most clients go live within 3 to 5 business days, and our Launch build goes live in 5 days.
Johnni gives 7 days with 30 setup minutes, Hey Jodie 7 days with no card, and Valory 14 days from go-live. Vertical AI lists no trial, and you can ring its demo agent on 1800 570 693 first.
Sources
- Johnni pricing, read 8 November 2026
- Johnni home page, read 8 November 2026
- Hey Jodie Australian pricing, read 8 November 2026
- Hey Jodie home page and FAQ, read 8 November 2026
- Hey Jodie integrations, read 8 November 2026
- Hey Jodie privacy policy, read 29 October 2026
- Valory pricing, read 8 November 2026
- Valory home page, read 8 November 2026
- Valory terms, sections 7.5 and 7.7, read 8 November 2026
- AiDial pricing and FAQ, read 8 November 2026
- AiDial home page, read 8 November 2026
- AiDial integrations, read 8 November 2026
- Sophiie home page, read 8 November 2026
- Sophiie integrations, read 8 November 2026
- Vertical AI plans, 8 November 2026
- Vertical AI integrations list, 8 November 2026
Related pages
The team that wrote this guide
Vertical AI builds and runs voice and text agents for Australian organisations. Book a call to see one handle calls like yours.