Upfirst review
The rare AI receptionist whose $24.95 starter plan already books appointments, transfers warm and speaks 35+ languages.
Verdict
Upfirst is our No. 1 because it refuses to hold the useful stuff hostage. Booking into Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly or Clio, warm transfers and 35+ languages are on every plan, and the 90-call Premium plan covers a normal month for $59.95. Pick it if you want a receptionist that does real work from day one; skip it if your calls are long and few, where per-minute plans win.
The catch
It bills by the call: the $24.95 plan covers 30 calls, then $1.50 each, so a busy month is cheaper on Premium.
What it does well
- Calendar booking and warm transfers on every plan, even the $24.95 one
- 14-day trial (or 100 calls) with no credit card
- Spam and calls under 15 seconds are not billed
- Two-way texting included (brand statement)
- Zero data retention option (brand statement)
- Human support Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time (brand statement)
Who it is for, and who should skip it
Good pick if:
- Owner-operators who miss calls on the job and want appointments booked, not just messages taken
- Bilingual or multilingual customer bases (35+ languages stated)
- Law firms and agencies already on Clio, Calendly or Acuity
Skip it if:
- Businesses with very long calls and few of them (per-minute plans can be cheaper)
- Teams that need a live human to step in (look at Smith.ai)
What you get for $24.95
Most AI receptionists use their cheapest plan as bait: it answers, takes a message, and the features you actually wanted sit two tiers up. Upfirst does the opposite. Its pricing page lists the same feature set on every plan: 24/7 answering, two-way texting, warm transfers, appointment scheduling, call summaries, recordings and transcription, spam blocking, a knowledge base, a phone number, Zapier and API integrations, team access and simultaneous calls.
The plans only differ by volume: Starter covers 30 calls for $24.95, Premium 90 calls for $59.95, Pro 300 calls for $159.95 and Scale 600 calls for $299. White-glove onboarding and done-for-you integrations are kept for Scale and Enterprise. Annual billing saves 20%.
Per call, not per minute: the math
Upfirst counts calls, and Upfirst says it does not bill spam, robocalls, calls under 15 seconds or calls where nobody speaks. That matters more than it sounds: a plumber's line gets its share of "is this the owner of the vehicle?" calls, and here they are free.
Where per-call billing bites is volume. Extra calls cost $1.50 on Starter, $1 on Premium, 75¢ on Pro and 70¢ on Scale. For our reference month of about 80 calls (200 minutes at 2.5 minutes a call), Starter would cost $99.95 with overage, while Premium covers it for $59.95. So start on Starter during a quiet month, and move to Premium as soon as you pass about 50 calls.
Setup and integrations
You enter your website, Upfirst trains the receptionist from it, and you adjust the questions it asks and the answers to your FAQs. Upfirst also offers a free 30-minute onboarding call during the 14-day trial, plus chat support. Calendars covered: Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity Scheduling, Square and Clio Manage. CRMs: any CRM with an API, plus thousands of apps through Zapier.
You keep your number: forward your cell, landline or VoIP line to the Upfirst number, or port it at no extra charge. Extra agents for a second location cost $9.95 a month each.
The catch, in real life
Per-call pricing rewards short calls. If your typical call is a five-minute intake, Upfirst stays cheap; if you get 400 calls a month, you are in Pro territory at $159.95 and a minute-based plan may cost less. Human support runs Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern, with an AI assistant on weekends, which is fine for setup questions but not a live human backup on calls. BAAs for HIPAA compliance are listed on Enterprise only.
Upfirst plans and prices
Prices checked on November 11, 2026 on Upfirst's pricing page. US dollars, billed monthly.
| Plan | Price | Included | Extra | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $24.95/mo | 30 calls | $1.50/call | 30 calls, $1.50 per extra call |
| Premium | $59.95/mo | 90 calls | $1.00/call | 90 calls, $1 per extra call |
| Pro | $159.95/mo | 300 calls | $0.75/call | 300 calls, 75¢ per extra call |
| Scale | $299/mo | 600 calls | $0.70/call | 600 calls, 70¢ per extra call, white-glove onboarding |
Annual billing saves 20%. Extra agents are $9.95 a month each.
Overage: $1.50 per extra call on Starter, down to 70¢ on Scale; spam and calls under 15 seconds are not billed.
Specs
- Entry price
- $24.95/mo
- 200-minute month
- $59.95
- Included on entry plan
- 30 calls
- Extra minute
- $0.60
- Calendar booking
- On the entry plan
- Call transfer
- Warm transfer
- Languages
- 35+
- Free trial
- 14 days
- Setup
- Self-serve
- Integrations
- CRM via API + Zapier
- Human backup
- No
- HIPAA (brand statement)
- Stated
- Contract
- No contract; cancel, upgrade or downgrade anytime
- Booking details
- Books into Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity Scheduling, Square and Clio Manage on every plan
- Transfer details
- Warm transfers on every plan
- Languages stated
- 35+ languages
- Integration details
- Any CRM with an API plus Zapier on every plan; done-for-you integrations on Scale
- Setup details
- Trains from your website; free 30-minute onboarding call during the trial
- Compliance
- BAAs on Enterprise (brand statement)
Sources: upfirst.ai/pricing.
How Upfirst scores: 9.5/10
Excellent in our formula, No. 1 of 12. Each criterion is scored out of 10 from the brand's own pages; a criterion the brand doesn't state scores 2/10.
| Criterion | Weight | Score /10 |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of a 200-minute month | 25% | 8.4 |
| Entry price | 10% | 9.4 |
| Price of an extra minute | 10% | 4.4 |
| Appointment booking | 12% | 10.0 |
| Call transfer | 10% | 10.0 |
| Languages | 8% | 9.3 |
| Free trial or free plan | 8% | 9.0 |
| Setup effort | 10% | 10.0 |
| Integrations | 7% | 9.0 |
Also ranked in: Best AI receptionist for small business (No. 1 of 11), Best AI answering service (No. 1 of 12), Cheapest AI receptionist in 2026: the best under $100 (No. 1 of 8), Best AI receptionist for a medical or dental office (No. 1 of 8), Best AI receptionist for plumbers, HVAC and home services (No. 1 of 9), Best AI receptionist for law firms (No. 1 of 7).
Compare with rivals
The closest alternatives on price for a 200-minute month:
Phonely
Budget-minded teams that want 200 minutes and 50+ languages from $50
$50/mo for 200 minutes
Checked Nov 11, 2026
Rosie
Solo owners who want 250 minutes for $49 and a dead-simple setup
$49/mo for 250 minutes
Checked Nov 11, 2026
Head-to-heads: Upfirst vs Phonely. Or build your own in the comparison tool.
