Voco vs Smith.ai

Smith.ai vs Voco: the UK alternative compared

Smith.ai is a US provider selling two separate products: an AI receptionist starting free at 25 calls a month, and a human virtual receptionist service starting at $300 a month for 30 calls. Both are billed in US dollars. Voco is a UK AI receptionist charged at 29p a minute ex VAT with no monthly fee and no contract. For a UK business the deciding factors are usually cost at low volume, whether you want to be invoiced in dollars, and whether you need a human on the line. Prices on this page were checked on 4 September 2026.

What Smith.ai charges

Smith.ai publishes rate cards for two separate products, and this is the thing most comparisons get wrong. Its AI receptionist and its human virtual receptionist service are priced very differently.

AI receptionist:

• Free, $0 per month. 25 calls included, then $3.00 per call.

• Pro, $150 per month. 75 to 300 calls, working out between $2.00 and $1.67 per call.

• Enterprise, $500 per month. 300 to 1,000 or more calls.

Human virtual receptionist: a separate product starting at $300 per month for 30 calls. If you are quoted a Smith.ai price, check which of the two products it refers to before you compare it against anything.

The arithmetic a UK buyer should do

Smith.ai's free AI tier covers 25 calls a month at no cost, which is hard to beat at very low volume. Above that you pay $3.00 a call, and on the Pro plan between $2.00 and $1.67. Those are per-call prices, so a 25-second wrong number costs the same as a six-minute booking.

Voco charges 29p a minute. On Voco's own observed data the average billed call runs about 1.9 minutes, so a typical call costs around 55p. A short call costs less. Nothing is charged for a month in which nobody rings.

Two things are worth saying plainly. Smith.ai's free tier is a real advantage Voco does not match, and if 25 calls a month covers you their AI product costs nothing at all. Smith.ai also sells human agents, which is a materially different service from AI alone, so if you want a person on the line for some calls you are not comparing like with like and you should weight that heavily.

The currency question, which most comparisons skip

Smith.ai bills in US dollars. For a UK business that means the sterling cost of the same plan moves with the exchange rate, month to month, with no change on the invoice line. It also usually means a foreign transaction fee from your card issuer, typically around 3%, though that depends entirely on your provider.

Voco bills in pounds. The number you agree is the number you pay.

This is not a knock on Smith.ai, which is a serious product with a strong reputation. It is a practical consideration that UK buyers tend to discover after they sign rather than before, and it belongs in the decision.

Time zones and cover

Smith.ai's published hours and its human agent coverage are built around US business hours. Voco answers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including UK bank holidays, at one rate.

For a UK business the practical question is what happens to a 4pm Friday call in Manchester, which is 11am on the US east coast, versus an 8am Monday call, which is 3am there. Check the current published hours on Smith.ai's own site before deciding, as these change.

Data handling

Voco is a UK company handling UK call data. If you are in a regulated sector, or you handle client confidential information, where call recordings sit and under which jurisdiction is a question your compliance lead will ask. Ask it of any provider, including this one, and get the answer in writing. Voco's data processing agreement sets out its position.

The honest summary

Choose Smith.ai if 25 calls a month covers you and their free AI tier does the job, or if you want human agents available and billing in dollars is not a problem for you.

Choose Voco if you want UK billing in pounds, no monthly minimum, per-minute charging rather than per-call, and 24/7 UK cover at a single rate. The rate is published on the pay as you go page.

Both publish their prices, so you can check every figure on this page yourself in about five minutes.