Smith.ai vs Ruby is the head-to-head law firm owners ask about when they shop for an answering service, so this page compares the two the way a buyer would: on what each vendor publishes, plan by plan, with prices dated October 2026.
Asked in reverse (Ruby receptionist vs Smith.ai), the comparison lands on the same two price lists in different units, calls at Smith.ai and minutes at Ruby.
Both services sit inside the category covered on legal answering service, and the leak both are sold against is measured: in Clio's 2024 Legal Trends Report test, researchers posing as prospective clients reached only 52% of the 500 law firms they phoned, and 48% were unreachable even after the chance to respond to messages.
Callers set a fast bar: in Clio's 2019 survey of 2,000 US consumers, 79% expected a reply to a phone message or email within 24 hours, though that is a stated expectation rather than measured behavior.
Smith.ai for law firms: what it publishes
Smith.ai's homepage says it "runs end-to-end intake for law firms", with "AI and live agents trained on your firm" converting callers around the clock (October 2026).
Its legal page lists practice-specific legal intake, bilingual language support, conflict checks and text and email follow-up (Smith.ai, October 2026).
Its live-receptionist plans are $300 a month for 30 calls, $810 for 90 and $2,100 for 300, with overage at $11.50 a call past the 30-call bundle, $10.50 past 90 and $8.50 past 300 (Smith.ai's pricing page, October 2026).
Add-ons are priced per call: conflict checks at $0.50, third-party intake at $1.00, appointment booking at $1.50, and call recording with transcription at $0.25.
The pricing page also names HubSpot, Salesforce and Clio among supported CRMs, at $0.50 a call per additional CRM.
Smith.ai's homepage frames three tiers: AI-first from $1.60 a call, Hybrid from $2.50, where the page says most firms start, and Human-first from $7.
A separate AI Receptionist product runs free for 25 calls then $3.00 a call, Pro at $150 a month for 75 calls and Enterprise from $500 a month for 300 (October 2026).
What an AI-first tier can and cannot do is its own topic, covered on AI receptionist for law firms.
Ruby for lawyers: what it publishes
Ruby sells virtual receptionists and live chat, and its industry menu names legal for "attorneys, small firms, and other legal professionals" (its homepage, October 2026).
Its published receptionist plans are $250 a month for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200, which the page labels most popular, and $1,725 for 500 (Ruby's pricing page, October 2026).
Ruby says it charges no setup fees and nothing extra for after-hours coverage.
Its optional features include scheduling, bilingual answering and client intake.
Website chat is a separate purchase in bundles: up to 10 chats for $115, 30 for $268 and 50 for $416.
One price-check note: Ruby's pricing page shows more than one set of figures, so compare against the default monthly figures quoted here.
Smith.ai vs Ruby prices, side by side
Smith.ai publishes (October 2026)
- Live receptionists: $300/mo for 30 calls, $810 for 90, $2,100 for 300
- Overage: $11.50 a call past 30, $10.50 past 90, $8.50 past 300
- Per-call add-ons: conflict checks $0.50, third-party intake $1.00, booking $1.50, recording and transcription $0.25
- Homepage tiers: AI-first from $1.60/call, Hybrid from $2.50/call, Human-first from $7/call
- Separate AI Receptionist product: free for 25 calls, Pro $150/mo for 75, Enterprise from $500/mo for 300
Ruby publishes (October 2026)
- Minutes: $250/mo for 50, $395 for 100, $720 for 200 (most popular), $1,725 for 500
- Ruby says no setup fees and no charge for after-hours coverage
- Optional features: scheduling, bilingual answering, client intake
- Website chat bundles: up to 10 chats for $115, 30 for $268, 50 for $416
Neither list prices the other's unit, so there is no honest per-call-against-per-minute table.
Arithmetic on the list prices: Smith.ai's 30-call bundle works out to $10 a call and $11.50 for the first call past it, while Ruby's 200-minute plan works out to $3.60 a minute.
Per call or per minute: the math to run
Model one month of your call volume
Say a firm's phones miss 70 consultation-bound calls in a month: on Smith.ai's 90-call plan that is $810, about $11.57 a call, while the 30-call plan plus 40 overage calls at $11.50 comes to $760 (illustrative).
The same 70 calls at an illustrative 4 minutes each are 280 minutes, which runs past Ruby's 200-minute plan and lands on the 500-minute plan at $1,725.
At 2 minutes each, those calls are 140 minutes, past the 100-minute plan and onto the 200-minute plan at $720.
The totals move with call length, which is the point: count calls and minutes in your own logs before either vendor gets a forwarding number.
Price one gap in writing: Smith.ai publishes its overage rates, while the Ruby plan list read for this page shows none, so spike-month cost is a question to ask before signing.
The rule that reaches into both
Whoever picks up, the guidance is ABA Formal Opinion 506 (June 7, 2023): a lawyer may train and supervise a nonlawyer to do prospective-client intake, including gathering initial facts, running an initial conflict check and getting the fee agreement signed, as long as the prospective client can always speak with a lawyer.
Whether the nonlawyer may answer a specific question depends on the question, because Rule 5.5 bars assisting the unauthorized practice of law.
Two limits apply: ABA opinions are guidance rather than binding law, and the opinion was written about nonlawyer staff, so extending it to an outside answering service is an inference.
The process both plug into is covered step by step on legal intake, and the parent page works through the full division of labor.
Because the firm's own state rules and ethics opinions control, confirm any intake division of labor with your state bar's ethics counsel or an ethics lawyer.
If neither of these two fits
Answering Legal sells to law firms only and advertises no long-term contracts, no setup fees and a free trial pitched at 400 free minutes, but its prices appear only after a visitor submits contact details (October 2026).
On the software flank, Martindale-Avvo says its portfolio spans Martindale-Hubbell, Avvo, Nolo, Ngage Live Chat, Lawyers.com and Captorra, and claims over 25 million monthly consumers across those sites (self-reported, October 2026).
How to decide
- Pull one month of call logs: missed-call count, total minutes, average length and the after-hours share.
- Price both lists on those numbers: calls against Smith.ai's bundles, minutes against Ruby's, with the published overage rates applied.
- Add the per-call add-ons you would actually switch on, because Smith.ai's conflict checks, booking and recording each change the per-call cost.
- Ask each vendor in writing what a spike month costs, and which listed features are included rather than extra.
- Ask what gets written back into your CRM, and how you get recordings and data out if you leave.
- Run the intake division of labor past your state bar's ethics counsel or an ethics lawyer before you forward the main line.
The decision variables are documented; the outcomes are not, and with no independent test comparing the two for law firms, this page ranks neither.
Where More Booked Cases fits
More Booked Cases does not sell, resell or staff answering services, and this page is information for firms choosing between them.
What Gabe does is test the website and landing pages, one controlled test a month, and measure consultation and signed-case rates with read access to the firm's intake or CRM numbers.
He does not answer calls, staff intake or train intake staff.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Smith.ai cost for a law firm?
Its live-receptionist plans are $300 a month for 30 calls, $810 for 90 and $2,100 for 300, plus per-call add-ons such as conflict checks at $0.50 and appointment booking at $1.50 (Smith.ai's pricing page, October 2026). Its homepage lists AI-first, Hybrid and Human-first tiers starting at $1.60, $2.50 and $7 a call.
How much does Ruby cost?
Ruby's published plans are $250 a month for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200 and $1,725 for 500, as of October 2026, with website chat sold separately in bundles from $115 for up to 10 chats. Ruby says it charges no setup fees and nothing extra for after-hours coverage.
Does Smith.ai charge per call or per minute?
Smith.ai's receptionist plans charge per call, with published overage rates for calls past the bundle, while Ruby's plans charge per minute. The two units measure different things, so price one month of your own call logs against both lists rather than comparing list prices.
Which is better for a law firm, Smith.ai or Ruby?
This page does not rank them, because we found no independent test comparing the two services' results for law firms. The documented differences are pricing structure, AI tiers and add-ons, and the better fit depends on your call count, call minutes and after-hours volume.
Can an answering service answer callers' legal questions?
ABA Formal Opinion 506 (June 7, 2023) says whether a supervised nonlawyer may answer a specific question depends on the question, because Rule 5.5 bars assisting the unauthorized practice of law. That opinion is guidance rather than binding law and was written about nonlawyer staff, so confirm the division of labor with your state bar's ethics counsel or an ethics lawyer.
Do all law firm answering services publish their prices?
No: Smith.ai and Ruby both publish theirs, while Answering Legal shows its prices only after a visitor submits contact details, advertising no long-term contracts, no setup fees and a free trial pitched at 400 free minutes (October 2026).