August 18, 2025
Ruby Receptionist Alternatives You Need to Try
Ruby Receptionist is one of the most popular virtual receptionist (VR) services on the market, helping businesses deal with high volumes of calls without sacrificing customer service quality.
But Ruby isn’t the only option. Whether you’re planning to invest in your first VR service or you’re an existing customer shopping around for a new provider, it pays to know what else is out there.
Why consider Ruby Receptionist alternatives? 🤷♀️
Credit where it’s due; Ruby is a solid tool.
It has an average answer time of <10 seconds, handles 1.1+ million conversations a month, and captures over 1.6 million leads a year on behalf of customers.
But no virtual receptionist solution is perfect for every business, and Ruby certainly has some downsides.
It’s one of the most expensive VR services we’ve seen, with prices ranging from $245 – $1,695 per month, putting it beyond the reach of many small business users. This is a big issue given that small businesses are often most in need of outsourcing customer support. We’ve also heard reports that Ruby’s service quality has dropped off significantly in recent years:
All of which means plenty of businesses are now searching for Ruby Receptionist alternatives…
5 top Ruby Receptionist alternatives to level up your customer support 🤝
The best Ruby Receptionist alternative varies from business to business. Your decision will be influenced by the specific functionality you require.
For instance, if your audience spans multiple locations and time zones, you might need bilingual support and 24/7 availability. But some call-handling services charge extra for these features – so if they’re not essential, you shouldn’t pay a premium for them.
Tool name | Best for… | Free trial | Pricing | Testimonial |
Rosie AI | Affordable custom call handling | 25 minutes free call handling | $49 – $199/month | “More accuracy, faster responses, 24/7 availability” |
Goodcall | Businesses with lower numbers of unique callers | 14 days free | $59 – $199/month | “Allows you to function as a larger business” |
Moneypenny | Human call handling with Microsoft Teams integration | n/a | $145+/month | “Our sales team are more productive” |
AnswerConnect | Bundling human call handling and live chat | n/a | Unlisted | “Saves time, money & stress” |
Posh | Lower-cost human call answering | 1 week, up to 250 minutes | $65 – $1,850/month | “Helps me generate new leads every day” |
1. Rosie AI
🥇 Best for: Affordable call handling tailored to your business
🤔 What is it: Rosie AI is an AI-powered call answering service with advanced training capabilities that allow it to learn about your business. Our AI agent answers FAQs, captures customer information, and books appointments – and if it can’t handle a caller’s query, it’ll escalate the call to you or a member of your team.
🥊 Rosie AI vs Ruby Receptionist:
Affordability: Rosie is super affordable, even for the smallest businesses – and our plans scale naturally as you grow, giving you more call-handling time and greater scope to customize your AI agent. Meanwhile, Ruby’s initial costs are too expensive for smaller businesses (and they ramp up fast). To give a stark example, Rosie gives you up to 250 minutes of call-handling time for just $49 per month, whereas Ruby charges 14X more for only 200 minutes 🤯
Custom training: Ruby relies on human receptionists who aren’t well-trained on the specifics of your business or niche. On the flip side, Rosie learns about your business through your Google Business profile and website. Plus you can submit custom training sources, such as spreadsheets containing complex product-specific pricing information.
Setup time: It’s much faster to train an AI agent than a human VR. For instance, when you upload files to Rosie’s knowledge bank, it takes ~5 minutes for your agent to learn the information. Plus you can make changes whenever you want and the AI will adapt instantly.
Flexible support: Ruby users say their call scripts are pretty rigid, which can be frustrating for customers. Rosie is the exact opposite. Your Rosie AI agent changes tone based on the caller's disposition and helps the caller in any way she can – whether that's answering FAQs or taking messages for you to follow up.
Customer experience: Long wait times are a common issue for any live, human-powered virtual receptionist service – and callers hate being stuck on hold. Whereas Rosie instantly answers every call that comes into your business, even handling multiple calls simultaneously.
💵 Price: $49 – $199 per month
📣 Testimonial: “After using Rosie AI, I fired my live answering service because Rosie provides more accuracy, faster responses, and 24/7 availability – all at a fraction of the cost.”
2. Goodcall
🥇 Best for: Businesses with lower numbers of unique callers
🤔 What is it: Like Rosie AI, Goodcall is a pure AI-powered answering service, making it significantly cheaper than Ruby Receptionist. Goodcall charges based on the number of unique callers to your business – so if you receive a lot of calls from the same people, it’s a good way to keep costs down.
🥊 Goodcall vs Ruby Receptionist:
Affordable pricing: Goodcall is much cheaper than Ruby. For $59 per month with Goodcall, you get unlimited call handling for up to 100 unique customers, whereas Ruby’s entry-level plan costs $245 a month and only includes 50 minutes of call-handling time. The only downside to Goodcall’s model is that if the same customer calls you from multiple different numbers, each will be counted as a different customer.
Tone of voice: With Goodcall, you can choose from a range of AI personas to best align with your brand and style. Meanwhile, Ruby lets you update its virtual receptionists on your preferred call answering instructions – but each agent will have their own tone, and it won’t necessarily suit your business.
Ease of use: Ruby Receptionist is super simple to use; just share information about your business and let the live agents do the work. Goodcall requires more technical knowledge – such as the ability to create complex logic flows – to get the most from the platform.
💵 Price: $59 – $199 per month
📣 Testimonial: “Allows you to function as a larger business and drive support at scale.”
3. Moneypenny
🥇 Best for: Human call handling with Microsoft Teams integration
🤔 What is it: Moneypenny is a human-powered answering service, although it recently added AI functionality (its AI voice agent is currently in beta testing). It serves businesses in all industries, but with a particular focus on legal, healthcare, home services, real estate, finance, and franchises.
🥊 Moneypenny vs Ruby Receptionist:
Transparent pricing: Ruby publishes full details of all its price plans, whereas Moneypenny forces you to reach out for a quote to learn exactly how much it costs (and what you get for your money).
AI functionality: Currently, Ruby only offers human-powered virtual receptionist and live chat services, making it one of the most expensive options for anyone looking to outsource call-handling. Moneypenny has recently added AI voice support, although it’s still in beta.
Integrations: Both tools rely on Zapier for the majority of their integrations, but Moneypenny has a native integration with Microsoft Teams – so when calls are forwarded to your employees, they’ll be working in a familiar platform.
💵 Price: From $145 per month
📣 Testimonial: “With every call answered, our sales team are more productive as they’re able to concentrate on their own jobs and avoid distraction.”
4. AnswerConnect
🥇 Best for: Bundling human call handling and live chat
🤔 What is it: AnswerConnect is a human-powered call answering service that also offers live chat support. It predominantly works with businesses in nine industries, including ecommerce, finance, and media.
🥊 AnswerConnect vs Ruby Receptionist:
Transparent pricing: AnswerConnect doesn’t publish pricing information – although multiple sources (like this one and this one) state that prices start at $350 per month for 200 minutes of call handling. On the flip side, Ruby shares full detail about its VR services, making it easy to choose the right plan for your needs.
Native integrations: AnswerConnect integrates with 25+ other platforms, including CRMs, email marketing software, and scheduling tools. Ruby leans on Zapier for most of its integrations.
Payment processing: Ruby Receptionist is capable of processing customer payments on behalf of your business via a secure link, whereas AnswerConnect lacks this functionality.
💵 Price: Unlisted
📣 Testimonial: “Saves us time, money, stress, and potential customers.”
5. Posh
🥇 Best for: Lower-cost human call answering
🤔 What is it: Posh is a human-powered call answering service targeting businesses of all sizes, from startups to enterprises. It specializes in three core industries – finance, legal, and real estate.
🥊 Posh vs Ruby Receptionist:
Affordability: While it can’t compete with AI call answering services on price, Posh is significantly cheaper than Ruby Receptionist, offering 50 minutes of call-handling time for $125 a month – almost half the price of Ruby.
Live chat functionality: As well as its VR service, Ruby offers human-powered live chat for engaging and converting website visitors. Posh doesn’t do this.
Industry focus: Ruby Receptionist focuses on a wider range of industries than Posh, serving customers across business services, financial services, healthcare, home services, and legal.
💵 Price: $65 – $1,850 per month
📣 Testimonial: “I can do as little as possible on my phone knowing the service helps me generate new leads every day.”
What’s the best Ruby Receptionist alternative? 💪
While the top Ruby Receptionist alternative will depend on your budget, goals, and niche, we’re confident that Rosie AI is the obvious choice for most businesses.
Our affordable pricing and generous allowances make us a fantastic fit for smaller businesses with tight budgets, while our scalability and the advanced training capabilities of our AI mean we can support even enterprise-grade organizations with complex needs.
👉 Get started with the best Ruby Receptionist alternative by creating your free Rosie account today!
FAQs
Are virtual receptionists worth it?
Virtual receptionists can be a cost-effective investment, especially for startups and businesses of any size that struggle to handle all the incoming calls they receive. Hiring a virtual receptionist service helps you deliver professional customer support at scale, answering FAQs, schedule appointments, and more.
How much does a virtual receptionist cost?
The cost of a virtual receptionist service varies widely based on functionality, call volume, and other factors. For instance, prices for Ruby Receptionist range from $245 – $1,695 per month. AI-powered answering services are a cheaper option, with Rosie AI offering up to 250 minutes of call-handling time for just $49 per month.
Can AI virtual receptionists really replace human receptionists?
Currently, AI virtual receptionists can’t completely replace human receptionists, but they can lighten the load for human employees by answering common questions, capturing customer details, booking appointments, and only escalating calls that require the human touch.
Do AI virtual receptionists sound professional to callers?
AI virtual receptionists sound like real humans. AI-powered answering services like Rosie let you choose your agent’s tone of voice – casual, cheerful, or formal – and create your own default greeting, ensuring every call is answered in a professional manner.
What kinds of businesses usually use virtual receptionists?
Virtual receptionists are used by all types of businesses, but they have a few characteristics in common. Typically, they receive a high volume of calls and don’t have a dedicated in-house team to answer them. Purchasing a virtual receptionist service frees up their employees to focus on their “day job” with fewer distractions.