The AI receptionist that comes with your phone system.
Smith.ai, Ruby and Rosie are answering services: separate services that pick up the calls you send them. Sage is the AI receptionist built into CallSprout's phone system. It is on every seat, it is optional, and the first 30 seconds of every call are free. The phone system comes with a US-based team that sets it up and picks up when you call.
Why teams choose CallSprout over Smith.ai, Ruby & Rosie
The features you expect, with a team and a platform you can count on.
Our support team is in West Palm Beach, Florida. Call us and a person picks up, not an overseas call center.
Critical outages get a response within 15 minutes from the team that runs your phones.
Three short forms: an LOA for your numbers, a user list and your call routing instructions. Give us access to your current system and we pull your settings ourselves, then port, build and train.
A redundant, geographically distributed network built for 99.999% uptime.
Connect your CRM, calendar and practice software, send call activity to your own systems, and bring your own AI agent if you have one.
Built in and optional: turn it on per user, department, ring group, queue or phone number. The first 30 seconds of every call are free, then it bills by the second.
Four ways to answer the same call.
All three take the calls you send them, but each one answers differently. Smith.ai offers AI-first, hybrid and human-first answering and bills by the call. Ruby uses live, human receptionists and bills by the receptionist minute. Rosie is an AI answering service sold in monthly minute plans.
Meet Sage, the AI voice agent built into every CallSprout seat. There is no separate AI subscription and nothing to forward. Turn Sage on per user, department, ring group, queue or phone number, and leave it off everywhere else. The first 30 seconds of every call are free, then it bills by the second.
You get the phone system too. Business includes unlimited US calling, enhanced ring groups, call recording and voicemail transcription, and we set it all up for you. When you call us, a person on our team in West Palm Beach picks up.
CallSprout vs Smith.ai, Ruby & Rosie
| Feature | Sage (CallSprout) | Smith.ai | Ruby | Rosie |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | An AI voice agent built into your CallSprout phone system, optional on every seat | An answering service with AI-first, hybrid and human-first options | Live, human virtual receptionists, with AI tools that support them | An AI answering service |
| How calls reach it | It is part of your phone system. Turn it on per user, department, ring group, queue or phone number | You forward calls from your current line, or port your number to Smith.ai | You forward your number all the time, part of the time or on a delay, or port it to Ruby | You forward your calls to a Rosie number and keep the number your customers know |
| How it is billed | No separate AI subscription. The first 30 seconds of every call are free, then Sage bills by the second | Monthly plans with a set number of calls, then a charge for each extra call | Monthly plans with a set number of receptionist minutes, billed in 60-second increments | Monthly plans with a set number of minutes |
| Answers 24/7 | Yes, on every line where you turn it on | Yes, on every plan | Yes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year | Yes, on every plan |
| Booking and your business systems | Looks up and updates your CRM, calendar or other systems during the call, through your MCP server if you have one, or one we build for you | Books through tools like Calendly and connects to Clio, HubSpot, Salesforce and Zapier. On human-first plans, booking is a per-call add-on | Receptionists book in your calendar, and caller data flows to tools like Clio, HubSpot and Salesforce | Books into Google Calendar, Calendly, Acuity or Appointlet on Scale plans and up, and other apps through Zapier |
| Hands the call to your team | Transfers on the same phone system, with the caller's name, number and reason | Warm transfers with context. Free transfer destinations vary by plan | Transfers to any number you choose, other than the one forwarded to Ruby | Warm and live transfers on Scale plans and up |
| Setup | We set it up for you with your phone system, then train your team | Smith.ai onboards you and gives you a number to send your calls to | Onboarding specialists set up your call-handling instructions | Trained from your Google profile and website, with white-glove onboarding on the Growth plan |
Smith.ai, Ruby & Rosie details as of October 2026, from Smith.ai, Ruby & Rosie's published materials. Plans change often, so confirm with Smith.ai, Ruby & Rosie before you decide.
Booking and calendar features work through your existing scheduling system and depend on that system offering a compatible API. Availability varies by provider.
Where CallSprout pulls ahead of Smith.ai, Ruby and Rosie
The receptionist, the phone system and the people, in one place.
Smith.ai, Ruby and Rosie answer the calls you send them from your phone line. Sage is part of your CallSprout phone system, so it answers on your own lines and hands calls to your team on the same system.
Smith.ai bills by the call, Ruby by the receptionist minute in 60-second increments, and Rosie in monthly minute plans. Sage has no separate AI subscription: the first 30 seconds of every call are free, then it bills by the second.
Smith.ai's human-first plans charge per call for extras like booking, call recording and a Spanish line. Call recording is included on every CallSprout plan at no extra charge, on demand or by default.
Sage can look up and update your CRM, calendar or other systems while the caller is on the line, through your MCP server if you have one, or one we build for you. Your data stays open to you instead of sitting in a walled garden.
Moving from Smith.ai, Ruby & Rosie is on us.
We handle it all. You fill out three short forms, and we take it from there, down to pulling your current settings ourselves.
- TodaySmith.ai, Ruby & Rosie
Your numbers, users and call flows as they are now.
- Step 1Fill out three short forms
A letter of authorization (LOA) to move your numbers, your user list and your call routing instructions.
- Step 2We pull your setup
Give us access to your current system and we copy your settings ourselves. Nothing to export.
- Step 3We build and port
We rebuild your call flows, port your numbers and test it all before you go live.
- Step 4Your team is trained
We walk everyone through the apps. Keep the desk phones you already own.
- You're hereLive on CallSprout
Same numbers, with a US team behind them.
Have Sage call you.
The fastest way to compare is to hear it. Leave your number and Sage, our AI voice agent, calls you in about 10 seconds.
Switching, answered.
Short version: we do the work, and you keep running your business.
- Is CallSprout a good alternative to Smith.ai, Ruby or Rosie?
- Yes, especially if you want your phone system and your receptionist in one place. Sage is built into every CallSprout seat, so there is no second service to forward calls to, and it answers only where you turn it on. You also get the phone system itself, set up by us and supported by a US team in West Palm Beach that picks up the phone.
- How does CallSprout charge for Sage?
- There is no separate AI subscription, and Sage is optional. It answers only where you turn it on, and the first 30 seconds of every call are free. After that, it bills by the second. Smith.ai bills by the call, and Ruby and Rosie sell monthly plans with a set number of minutes.
- How hard is it to switch from Smith.ai, Ruby or Rosie?
- Not hard, because we handle it. You fill out three short forms (an LOA for your numbers, a user list and your call routing instructions), and if you give us access to your current phone system, we pull your setup ourselves. Then we port your numbers, build your call flows, set up Sage where you want it and train your team. Once your numbers are on CallSprout, there is nothing to forward, and you can keep the desk phones you already own.
- Who do I call when something goes wrong?
- A person on our team in West Palm Beach. Critical outages get a response within 15 minutes.
- Can Sage book appointments and work with my CRM?
- Yes, when your systems allow it. Sage can look up and update your CRM, calendar or other systems during the call, through your MCP server if you have one, or one we build for you. When a caller needs a person, Sage transfers the call to your team with the caller's name, number and reason.
- Can I hear Sage before I switch?
- Yes. Leave your number and Sage calls you back in about ten seconds, so you can hear exactly how it handles a call before you move anything.
- Do I have to use Sage?
- No. Sage is optional. Turn it on per user, department, ring group, queue or phone number, and leave it off everywhere else. Where Sage does answer, the first 30 seconds of every call are free.
Other comparisons.
Ready to switch from Smith.ai, Ruby & Rosie?
Start a free trial, or talk to a person on our team in West Palm Beach.