AI receptionist for contractors: 5 tools compared (2026)

TL;DR

• Allo is best for contractors who want one bill because it is a full phone system with an unlimited AI receptionist that books appointments, all included starting from $18/month.
• Avoca is best for established HVAC, plumbing, and roofing shops because it books jobs straight into ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro, though its pricing is quote-only and aimed at bigger operators.
• Rosie is best for solo and small contractors because it adds an affordable AI answering layer to the phone you already have, from $49/month.

Sameday ($449/month) is the trade-built middle option that also books into your field-service software, and Nextiva (from about $122/month) is the established all-in-one platform.

Introduction

Contractors lose jobs to voicemail.

You are on a roof, under a sink, or driving between calls, and the phone rings with a customer ready to book. Miss it, and they call the next name on the list.

An AI receptionist answers that call for you, 24/7, and turns it into a booked job. In this article, I compare five that fit contractors: Allo, Avoca, Sameday, Rosie, and Nextiva.

Disclosure

Allo is our own product. I think it's a strength to write this kind of article because we know the market very well and have hands-on experience with a lot of these products.

But there's also a risk of being biased. To provide a fair comparison of the tools included, I leaned on third-party facts and reviews. I also kept a neutral tone throughout the article.

AI receptionists for contractors: understand the market

Before you compare features, you have two decisions to make. They matter more than any single feature, and they shape what you will pay.

Stand-alone answering service vs. full phone system

A standalone AI receptionist sits on top of the phone you already have. You forward your line to it, and it answers the calls you cannot. Avoca, Sameday, and Rosie work this way.

• The upside: you keep your current number and carrier, and you bolt on AI answering without ripping anything out. Standalone tools are often the most specialized, because answering is all they do. Switching to a different provider is also easier and quicker because you don't have to port your number to a new provider.
• The tradeoff: you still pay for your phone system separately, so you manage two vendors and two bills. The AI only ever touches the calls you forward to it.

A full phone system with a built-in AI receptionist gives you a business number and the AI in one product. Allo and Nextiva work this way.

• The upside: one vendor, one bill, one number. The AI is native to the phone system, so routing, SMS, and voicemail all connect. All-in, it is usually cheaper.
• The tradeoff: you switch phone providers and port your number, and a generalist phone system can be less trade-specialized than a dedicated answering service.

For most contractors, a full phone system is the simpler path. Reach for a standalone service when you are attached to your current setup or you need a trade-specific tool.

Integrated with your tools, or not

Contractors run on field-service management (FSM) software like ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber, and FieldEdge. The real magic is when the AI books the job directly into that software, with the customer's details and history attached, so dispatch happens on its own.

Here is the catch, and it is the single biggest driver of price. Native FSM integration is expensive. The tools that book straight into ServiceTitan, Avoca and Sameday, cost hundreds to thousands of dollars a month and are built for bigger shops. The cost rises to the roof, no pun intended, the moment you want that direct integration.

The cheaper generalist tools do not tie into FSM software out of the box. They book into Google Calendar, Cal, or Calendly, and they bridge to other apps through Zapier. Worth knowing: tools like Allo and Rosie can build a custom integration on request, so a missing native connector is not always a dead end. If you run a lean shop, a generalist tool with a calendar sync often does the job for a fraction of the price.

So the real question is not "which AI is smartest?" It is "do I need the job to land inside ServiceTitan automatically, and is that worth paying several times more?"

AI receptionists for contractors at a glance

Allo, best for contractors who want one flat bill

• ‍Setup: full phone system.
• ‍Integration: CRMs, API, MCP, and Zapier, custom on request.

What's to know about Allo?

Allo is an AI and mobile-first phone system built for small teams and small businesses. On G2 it holds 4.7/5 across 209 reviews, with 4.1/5 on Trustpilot.

For a contractor, the pitch is one tool for your business line and your AI receptionist, at a price a small shop can absorb.

Allo's AI receptionist at a glance

• It books appointments through Cal, Google Calendar, and Calendly.
• It answers in English, Spanish, or French, which helps crews and customers alike.
• It sends a missed-call text back automatically, so a missed call still starts a conversation.
• It learns your services, pricing, and service area from your website, documents, or pasted text.
• It transfers to a human when a caller needs one.
• It has call memory, so the agent reads previous calls and texts to pick up where a repeat customer left off.

On integration, the honest read: Allo connects natively to CRMs like HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Salesforce, plus Zapier and an API, but it does not natively tie into FSM tools like ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro today. Allo can build a custom integration on request, and Zapier or the API can bridge in the meantime, so confirm your FSM before you switch.

Allo pricing

• Solo: $18/month, billed yearly, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. One user only. Includes a business number, unlimited national calls, SMS, missed-call text-back, and the unlimited AI Receptionist.
• Business: $45/month per user (yearly: $32). Adds all integrations, a shared inbox, and analytics.

The AI receptionist is unlimited on every plan, with no per-call meter, so a busy storm week never changes your bill.

Allo demo

Avoca, best for established shops on ServiceTitan

• ‍Setup: standalone, you forward your line to Avoca.
• ‍Integration: deep, native FSM.

What's to know about Avoca?

Avoca is an AI answering service built specifically for the trades. It was co-founded in 2022 by MIT graduates Apurva Shrivastava and Tyson Chen, who started by catching missed calls for restaurants and pivoted to HVAC, plumbing, roofing, and electrical once they saw how costly a missed call is for a contractor. The company has raised $125 million and is based in New York.

This is the most trade-specialized option on the list, and it shows in the integrations.

Avoca's AI receptionist at a glance

• It answers every call, text, and web chat, and books jobs 24/7.
• It integrates natively with the software contractors actually run: ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber, FieldEdge, AccuLynx, ServiceMinder, plus Salesforce and Dynamics 365.
• It does a warm transfer to a human with full context: who is calling, what they need, their equipment, and their tone.
• It uses a voice-activated IVR, so callers speak naturally instead of pressing keys.
• It has caller memory: past jobs, equipment, and membership tier (only Avoca and Allo offer this)
• It also runs outbound nurture campaigns across SMS and calls to re-engage past customers.

This is the deepest FSM integration in the group, which is exactly why a contractor would choose it.

Important note: they don't offer a mobile app.

Avoca pricing

Avoca does not publish pricing. You go through a one-to-one demo to get a quote, and third-party sites mention figures above $1,000 per month, so this is aimed at the biggest shops. Remember it is standalone, so you keep paying for your existing phone system on top.

Avoca demo

Sameday, best for trades that want job booking in their FSM

• ‍Setup: standalone, you forward your line to Sameday.
• ‍Integration: native FSM.

What's to know about Sameday?

Sameday is an AI receptionist built for the trades. Its founder and CEO, Aaron Cooper, was Chief Marketing Officer at one of the fastest-growing home-services companies in the US, and the company went through Y Combinator. It is the trade-built option that sits at a more accessible price than Avoca.

Sameday's AI receptionist at a glance

• It books appointments and collects lead details.
• It integrates natively with Service Fusion, ServiceTitan, Jobber, FieldRoutes, and Housecall Pro, so jobs land in your FSM.
• It can run outbound calls to collect satisfaction and ask customers to leave Google reviews.
• You configure it with prompts and it can send campaigns.
• On higher tiers it adds voice cloning and multilingual voices.

Like Avoca, it is a standalone layer you forward your line to, so it pairs with your existing phone system rather than replacing it.

And like Avoca, it doesn't offer mobile apps.

Sameday pricing

• Launch: $449/month. Capped at 500 minutes, unlimited users, 3 locations, and pro scheduling into tools like ServiceTitan.
• Scale: $789/month. Adds a second 500 minutes (1,000 total) and voice cloning, scaling up to 6,000 minutes at higher cost.
• Enterprise: custom. Adds multilingual voices, advanced analytics, hands-on training, API access, and custom integrations.

Sameday gives you native FSM booking well below Avoca's entry point, which makes it the more realistic trade-built pick for a mid-sized shop.

Sameday demo

(Skip to the second part of the video if you want to see the real product in action)

Rosie, best for solo and small contractors

• ‍Setup: standalone, you forward your line to Rosie.
• ‍Integration: calendars and Zapier, custom on request.

What's to know about Rosie?

Rosie is a standalone AI answering service, so like Avoca and Sameday it needs a phone behind it. It launched in 2024, and it targets small and very small businesses. It covers the US and Canada. I could not find meaningful third-party review scores for it yet, so lean on the free trial (good news on that front: it doesn't require a credit card to test).

Rosie's AI receptionist at a glance

• It learns from your website and Google Business Profile, and on higher plans from internal documents like a price list.
• You write custom FAQs and set the greeting.
• It books directly into Google Calendar, Calendly, Acuity, or Appointlet.
• It can answer client questions by text, with instant notifications and AI summaries after each call.
• Its Zapier integration connects to 8,000 apps, which is how you bridge to an FSM tool, and Rosie can build a custom integration on request.

But there's a catch: on the entry Professional plan, Rosie cannot book appointments, transfer calls, or text links. It only answers and takes messages, so you still call people back. Real booking starts on the Scale plan (see detailed pricing below).

Rosie pricing

• Professional: $49/month. 250 minutes. Answering and message-taking only.
• Scale: $149/month. 1,000 minutes. Adds appointment links, call transfers, texts during calls, and warm transfers.
• Growth: $299/month. 2,000 minutes. Adds training files and personalized onboarding.

For a contractor who wants real booking, the realistic starting price is the $149 Scale plan, plus your existing phone line.

Rosie demo

Nextiva, best for an established all-in-one platform

• ‍Setup: full phone system.
• ‍Integration: CRMs, no native FSM.

What's to know about Nextiva?

Nextiva is a long-established business phone system, founded in 2008 in Arizona. It is a full platform: voice, video, team chat, and SMS in one place, with a strong reputation for reliability. On G2 it holds 4.5/5 across 3,567 reviews, and 4.6/5 on Trustpilot (phone systems usually get lower reviews on Trustpilot, this score is genuinely impressive). It works in the US, and reviewers note a steeper learning curve than newer tools.

Its AI receptionist is called XBert, sold as an add-on.

Nextiva's AI receptionist at a glance

• It answers FAQs, trained on your website, Google My Business profile, or documents.
• It books appointments through Google Calendar, Cal.com, and Calendly.
• It sends SMS confirmations for appointments.
• It transfers and routes calls to human operators.
• It gives you a dedicated report with call counts, appointments handled, and after-hours stats, which is useful for a shop that misses a lot of evening calls.
• It handles phone, text, web chat, and messaging apps.

On integration, Nextiva connects to CRMs like HubSpot and Outlook. It also integrates with ServiceTitan so it can book and cancel appointments.

Nextiva pricing

• Core: $23/user/month (yearly: $15). The base phone plan.
• AI Receptionist (XBert): $99/month per 100 interactions, then $0.99 per interaction after.

That puts the realistic all-in starting cost around $122/month. Note that Nextiva's other AI features sit behind the pricier Power Suite CX plan, so read the plan sheet carefully before you buy.

Nextiva demo

Conclusion

The best AI receptionist for your contracting business comes down to the two choices we opened with: standalone or full phone system, and native FSM integration or not.

• Allo (from $18/month): best for contractors who want a phone system and an unlimited, appointment-booking AI receptionist on one flat bill.
• Avoca (quote-only): best for established HVAC, plumbing, and roofing shops that need jobs booked straight into ServiceTitan and can pay a premium for it.
• Sameday (from $449/month): best for trades that want native FSM booking without Avoca's price tag.
• Rosie (booking from $149/month): best for solo and small contractors who want to keep their number and add an affordable AI layer.
• Nextiva (from ~$122/month): best for contractor businesses that want an established, all-in-one platform.

My honest take: if you run a lean shop, a full phone system with booking built in wins on simplicity and price, which is where Allo and Nextiva land. If your whole operation runs on ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro and a job must land there automatically, pay for Avoca or Sameday. Whichever you pick, decide first whether that native FSM integration is worth several times the price, because that one answer sorts this list for you.

FAQ

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How much do contractors usually pay for AI receptionists?

It ranges widely, and the driver is integration depth. A full phone system with a built-in AI receptionist can start as low as $18/month with Allo, or around $122/month with Nextiva once you add XBert. A standalone budget tool like Rosie starts at $49/month, though real booking is $149/month. Trade-specialized tools that book natively into your FSM cost far more: Sameday starts at $449/month, and Avoca is quote-only, with third-party sites citing $1,000+ per month. The deeper the integration with your dispatch software, the higher the price.

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