Best list
Best AI Receptionist for Contractors: A Contractor's Shortlist
Prices last checked on vendor sites: October 14, 2026
A missed call in this business usually isn't a voicemail. It's a job that went to whoever picked up next. When you're on a roof, under a house, or driving between bids, you can't answer every call. An AI receptionist answers the ones you miss, takes the details, and hands them back to you.
Here are the options worth a look for a small contracting or home-service business. Every price below was read off the vendor's own pricing page on October 14, 2026.
The short list
| Tool | Starting price | What's included at that price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| OnCrew | $49/mo (Starter) | 100 answered calls, then $0.99 per call | 14 days, no card to start |
| Rosie | $49/mo (Professional) | 250 minutes per month | 7 days |
| My AI Front Desk | $99/mo, or $79/mo billed annually | 200 voice minutes, plus chat, SMS, CRM | No permanently free plan |
| Jobber Receptionist | $29/mo add-on | Add-on to a Jobber plan | Jobber trial is 14 days |
| Housecall Pro CSR AI | Built into Housecall Pro | Answers calls and chats | Housecall Pro trial is 14 days |
OnCrew: built for the trades
OnCrew is aimed squarely at contractors. Its plans are priced by answered calls, not minutes:
- Starter, $49/mo: 100 calls, 1 AI phone number, call alerts to you and 3 people, emergency triage and alerts, transcripts and recordings.
- Pro, $149/mo: 400 calls, 2 numbers, alerts to you and 5 people.
- Multi-Truck, $349/mo: 1,000 calls, 5 numbers, multi-location support.
Extra calls are $0.99 each. OnCrew says hang-ups before anyone speaks and recognized robocalls don't count against your plan. There's no setup fee, plans are month to month, and annual billing (on request) takes two months off. Spanish is a setting at no extra charge.
Good fit if: you want call-based pricing that's easy to predict, and you work a trade where emergency calls matter.
Rosie: minute-based plans with a low entry price
Rosie's plans are priced by minutes:
- Professional, $49/mo: 250 minutes, message taking, appointment links by text, spam detection, website chat widget.
- Scale, $149/mo: 1,000 minutes, books appointments directly on your calendar, warm and live call transfers.
- Growth, $299/mo: 2,000 minutes, waterfall transfers that try several numbers, custom training.
Every plan includes iOS and Android apps, English and Spanish, call summaries and recordings, and a Zapier integration. Rosie offers a 7-day free trial, and paying annually gets two months free.
Good fit if: you want the cheapest way to stop sending calls to voicemail, and you're fine upgrading to Scale when you need calendar booking and transfers.
My AI Front Desk: more than a phone answerer
My AI Front Desk's Business-in-a-Box plan is $99/mo, or $79/mo billed annually. It includes 200 voice minutes plus 100 chatbot conversations, 400 SMS, an AI CRM, and sequence automations. Past 200 minutes, voice draws from a pool of overage credits (25 credits, or $0.25, per minute). There are no contracts, and you can cancel anytime.
Good fit if: you also want website chat, text follow-ups, and simple automations in the same tool.
Already on Jobber or Housecall Pro?
Check what your field-service software offers before adding another tool.
- Jobber Receptionist is a $29/mo add-on (included on the Plus plan). It answers calls and texts 24/7, books visits using your existing online booking settings, creates work requests, and transfers urgent calls based on keywords you choose.
- Housecall Pro CSR AI answers calls and chats and books jobs from your Housecall Pro schedule. Housecall Pro lists text answering as coming soon.
The upside of these is that the AI already knows your services and schedule. The downside is that you're tied to that platform.
How I'd choose
- Count the calls you actually miss in a normal week. That number decides which plan tier makes sense.
- If you're already on Jobber or Housecall Pro, try the built-in option first.
- If not, run a free trial on nights and weekends only before you forward your main line.
- Make sure urgent calls (no heat, active leak) can reach your cell, not just a message log.
Next: My AI Front Desk vs Rosie and AI answering for HVAC, plumbing and roofing.
Check current pricing
OnCrew pricing Rosie pricing My AI Front Desk pricing Jobber pricing Housecall Pro pricing