Frontly vs Smith.ai
Both Frontly and Smith.ai answer calls for businesses. Frontly is Australian-built, Australian-hosted, answers inbound calls on a flat monthly rate, and runs outbound campaigns on Frontly's Pro plan. Smith.ai is a US-based service with an AI receptionist and North American human receptionists, billed per call in US dollars. Here is how they compare for Australian buyers.
The short answer
Should I choose Frontly or Smith.ai?
Smith.ai is a United States service that pairs an AI receptionist with human receptionists based in North America, billed per call in US dollars. Frontly is Australian-built and Australian-hosted, answers around the clock on a flat monthly plan in Australian dollars, and never routes an Australian caller to an overseas call centre. If your callers are Australian, Frontly is built for them.
- Flat monthly rate in Australian dollars with a monthly call-minute allowance (Smith.ai bills every call in US dollars)
- A visual workflow builder you edit yourself (Smith.ai publishes custom call playbooks, set up by their team)
- Outbound campaigns on Frontly's Pro plan (Smith.ai offers outbound only as an Enterprise add-on)
- Bookings captured in your Frontly dashboard (Smith.ai relays messages)
- Local support hours and onboarding team in Australia
CAPABILITY
Built for how your business runs
Both answer around the clock and both can put a person on the line. The difference is how much of your process the front desk runs, and in which languages.
| What your front desk needs | Frontly | Smith.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Answers every call 24/7, public holidays included | Yes | Yes |
| Full conversations in 40+ languages, a workflow for each | Yes | English and Spanish |
| Visual workflow builder you edit yourself, no code | Yes | Playbooks set up by their team |
| Remembers returning callers across calls | Yes | Yes |
| Warm transfer to your team with a spoken briefing | Yes | Yes |
| Hands a call between specialised AI agents | Yes | Not published |
| Books the appointment during the call | Yes | Yes |
| Outbound AI campaigns from your own lists | Yes | Human agents only |
| Customised to your process on our own codebase | Yes | Not published |
| Own-cloud or on-premise deployment | Enterprise | Not published |
| Call records hosted in Australia | Yes | Not published |
Swipe the table to see the Smith.ai column.
Australian Fit
| Feature | Frontly | Smith.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Data Hosting | Yes | Not published |
| Billed in Australian dollars | Yes | US dollars |
| Local AU Support Hours | Yes | US hours |
| Australian Onboarding Team | Yes | No |
Swipe the table to see the Smith.ai column.
Billing & Value
| Feature | Frontly | Smith.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Flat-Rate Monthly | Yes | No |
| Billed by | Plan minutes, then a per-minute rate | Per call |
| Per-Call Billing | No | Yes |
| Human receptionist calls past the plan | N/A (AI only) | US$8.50-$11.50 each |
| Setup fee | One-off, published | None |
| 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee | No | Yes |
Swipe the table to see the Smith.ai column.
Workflow & AI
| Feature | Frontly | Smith.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Visual Workflow Builder | Yes | Not published |
| Cross-Call Memory | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid AI + Human Receptionist | AI only | Yes |
| Natural Conversation AI | Yes | Yes |
| Knowledge Base (RAG) | Yes | Yes |
Swipe the table to see the Smith.ai column.
Outbound Capability
| Feature | Frontly | Smith.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Outbound Campaign Manager | On Pro | No |
| Outbound calling | On Pro | Enterprise add-on |
| Bulk Reminder / Recall Calls | On Pro | No |
Swipe the table to see the Smith.ai column.
Capture & Delivery
| Feature | Frontly | Smith.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Bookings captured in vendor's own dashboard | Yes | Message relay |
| Email + SMS notifications as workflow tools | Yes | Yes |
| Languages | 40+ | English and Spanish |
Swipe the table to see the Smith.ai column.
Support & Infrastructure
| Feature | Frontly | Smith.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited Concurrent Calls | Yes | Multiple at once |
| 24/7 Answering | Yes | Yes |
| Call Transcripts | Yes | Yes |
| Call Recording with Consent | Yes | Yes |
Swipe the table to see the Smith.ai column.
DEEP DIVE
Key Differences Explained
Smith.ai's Per-Call Bill, in US Dollars
Smith.ai's human receptionist plans start at US$300 a month for 30 calls, then US$11.50 for each extra call; its Pro plan is US$2,100 for 300 calls, then US$8.50 each. Its AI receptionist runs from a free plan of 25 calls (then US$3 a call) to US$150 a month on Pro, at about US$2 a call. An Australian practice taking 60 calls a business day on the human service needs about 1,300 calls a month, which is over US$10,000 a month even on Pro. Frontly bills by the minute in Australian dollars, not by the call, so a two-minute call costs two minutes of your plan rather than a fixed per-call fee.
Unlimited concurrent calls vs staffed capacity
When a dozen patients or clients call at once, Frontly answers every one in parallel with unlimited concurrent calls, day or night. Smith.ai's human tier is a staffed team, and a staffed team answers as many calls at once as it has receptionists free. On per-call pricing that same rush also multiplies your bill call by call. Frontly charges the minutes those calls use against your plan allowance, so a rush costs you minutes rather than a fresh charge for every caller.
When Smith.ai Might Still Be Right For You
If you specifically want a live human receptionist behind the AI, Smith.ai's hybrid model is a genuine differentiator: its AI can hand a call to a North America-based receptionist at any hour. Frontly is AI-only. For Australian businesses that want 24/7 AI answering, Australian hosting and billing in Australian dollars, Frontly is the match. For businesses that explicitly want a human voice on hand and are comfortable with an overseas team and offshore data, Smith.ai's hybrid model may suit.
How Pricing Compares
Australian-hosted. Outbound campaigns on Pro. Flat monthly rate in Australian dollars, sized by a published minute allowance.
US-based and billed in US dollars, per call. Human receptionists in North America.
INDUSTRY FIT
Is Frontly right for your industry?
AI intake reception for law firms is Smith.ai's core market, so this is the sharpest comparison on the site: same intake job, but answered in your timezone by an agent that knows Australian practice areas.
AI receptionist for accounting practices feels per-call pricing hardest in the weeks around lodgement deadlines, when volume triples and a per-call rate triples the bill with it.
AI receptionist for dental practices gets callers who expect a local voice, and a receptionist team on the other side of the world is a poor fit for same-day appointment questions.
AI receptionist for real estate agencies answers buyer, seller and tenant enquiries around the clock and books inspections, with call records hosted in Australia rather than the US.
AI reception for medical practices faces the same offshore-answering problem as legal work, except the caller is often unwell and calling their own clinic, where an unfamiliar overseas voice lands worse than anywhere else.
AI reception for healthcare clinics faces the same offshore-answering problem as general practice: the caller is often a patient or NDIS participant ringing their own clinic, and a local voice that books the appointment lands better than a message taken overseas.
AI receptionist for vet clinics gets callers who are anxious about a pet and expect a local voice, and per-call pricing climbs with every reminder and results call a busy clinic takes.
AI phone screening for recruitment gets candidate and client calls in bursts around a job ad, and per-call pricing climbs with the volume, where a plan covers the month and screening calls run over your own list.
AI receptionist for training providers gets enquiry spikes around intake dates, and per-call pricing multiplies the bill in the weeks that matter, where a plan covers a month of calls for one price.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Smith.ai is a US-based company serving primarily North American businesses, and it bills in US dollars. Its human receptionists are based in North America, and it does not publish Australian data hosting. Frontly is Australian-built, and your call records are hosted in Australian data centres.
Smith.ai bills per call in US dollars. Its AI receptionist is US$150 a month on Pro, at about US$2 a call, and its human receptionist plans start at US$300 a month for 30 calls, then US$8.50 to US$11.50 for each extra call. Frontly is a flat monthly rate in Australian dollars with a monthly call-minute allowance, and every plan and rate is published on our pricing page.
Not on its standard plans. Smith.ai offers outbound calling as an add-on on its Enterprise tier. Frontly runs outbound campaigns at scale on its Pro plan: recalls, arrears, follow-up and sales discovery, from the same platform that answers your inbound calls.
If you specifically need a live human receptionist behind the AI, at any hour, Smith.ai's hybrid AI + human model is a differentiator. Frontly is AI-only. For 24/7 AI answering with Australian data hosting, and outbound campaigns on Frontly's Pro plan from the same platform, Frontly is the match.
Yes. We rebuild your call flow in our visual workflow builder, you forward your existing number to the local number Frontly allocates for your state, and you are live in about an hour. No commitment beyond the plan you pick, on either side.
Smith.ai publishes conversational fluency in English and Spanish. Frontly holds full conversations in more than 40 languages, with a separate workflow for each language you serve, or talk to us about several languages on one number. That matters for Australian businesses whose callers are more comfortable in Mandarin, Hindi or another language at home.
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