Smith AI vs Poly AI - Which one should you pick in 2025?

Smith AI - a quick overview

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Founded in 2015 in Palo Alto, California by Aaron Lee and Justin Maxwell, Smith.ai delivers advanced AI-powered virtual receptionist and phone agent services for small and mid-sized businesses. Leveraging a team with backgrounds at Google, Apple, Intuit, and Home Depot, Smith.ai blends artificial intelligence with live agents to handle calls, web chats, texts, lead qualification, appointment booking, client intake, outbound calling campaigns, CRM integrations, and more.

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With over 3,000 active customers across North America—including law firms, IT consultancies, marketing agencies—Smith.ai is trusted by busy professionals who need responsive customer engagement without the overhead of an in-house team. Recognized as one of the Best Places to Work by Business Intelligence Group in 2022 for its employee-centric culture and innovation in remote work environments.

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The following section will break down Smith.ai’s features alongside pros/cons analysis, pricing details, and user reviews compared to Poly AI and Ringly.io.

Smith AI's features

• 24/7 Virtual Receptionists
  Smith AI offers round-the-clock live and AI-powered receptionists who answer calls, greet customers with custom scripts, qualify leads, and take messages. This is ideal for businesses needing reliable coverage at all hours. Unlike Poly AI’s focus on conversational automation or Ringly.io’s deep e-commerce integrations, Smith AI emphasizes a human touch with seamless escalation to real agents when needed.
• Lead Qualification & Screening
  Their team screens callers using tailored questions to identify high-value leads and filter out spam or irrelevant inquiries. This helps sales teams focus on the most promising opportunities. While Poly AI can automate similar flows via voice bots, Ringly.io stands out by integrating lead actions directly into your business tools during calls for instant follow-up.
• Appointment Booking (Multi-Calendar Support)
  Smith AI books appointments in real-time across various calendar platforms like Calendly and Outlook—handled by live agents if needed—which reduces scheduling friction for service businesses. Poly AI automates bookings but may lack the same breadth of calendar support; Ringly.io focuses more on transactional actions like order status checks rather than appointment management.
• Custom Call Routing & Transfers
  Calls are routed based on rules you set—by department, urgency, or staff availability—with options for warm transfers (with context) or cold transfers (direct handoff). This ensures callers reach the right person quickly. While Poly AI can automate routing via conversational logic, only Ringly.io provides advanced triggers that combine smart routing with full call summaries sent to your team automatically.
• CRM & Business Tool Integrations
  Smith AI connects natively with 30+ CRMs and productivity tools including Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, billing systems, and intake forms—keeping customer data synced without manual entry. However, compared to Ringly.io’s no-code integration through Zapier/Make.com covering thousands of apps plus custom workflow automations mid-call, Smith’s integrations are robust but less flexible for complex e-commerce needs.
• Instant Notifications (SMS/Email/Slack)
  After every call or chat interaction you receive instant notifications via email or SMS—and optionally Slack—to keep your team updated in real time about new leads or urgent issues. This is comparable to both competitors; however only Ringly.io lets its agent send personalized SMS links/codes live during calls to remove purchase barriers instantly.
• Call Intelligence Analytics & Reporting
  Detailed analytics track caller type (lead/client/spam), call outcomes (resolved/transferred), priority level—and provide summaries so you can optimize workflows over time. While this matches industry standards seen in PolyAI and others’ dashboards as well as basic reporting from most providers—Ringly.io goes further by analyzing caller mood/emotion trends alongside actionable improvement suggestions after every conversation.
• Hybrid Human + Advanced AI Approach
  Smith.ai uniquely blends North America-based human receptionists with advanced conversational AIs: if the bot hits a limit it escalates seamlessly to a trained agent who continues where it left off—a major benefit over pure-AI solutions like PolyAI that may struggle with nuanced requests without fallback coverage. Still—for e-commerce automation tasks such as abandoned cart recovery calls or order lookups—Ringly.io’s specialized phone agents handle these scenarios end-to-end without ever needing human intervention unless truly necessary.

Pros

• Professionalism & Detail-Oriented Service – Users consistently praise Smith AI’s virtual receptionists for being highly professional, detailed, and accurate with every caller.
• Improved Lead Capture & Reduced Missed Calls – Many reviewers highlight that Smith AI helps them never miss important calls or leads, especially during off-hours or when in-house staff are unavailable.
• Scalability & Flexibility – Businesses appreciate how the service adapts to fluctuating call volumes without requiring additional internal resources.
• Easy Setup & Integration – Customers find onboarding straightforward; integrations with CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot are seamless, making it easy to track leads.
• Spam/Unwanted Call Filtering – The system automatically blocks spam or sales calls so only relevant calls count toward your plan limits—saving time and money.
• Responsive Customer Support – Multiple users mention prompt responses from support staff who resolve issues quickly when they arise.
• No Long-Term Contracts Required – Clients value the flexibility of month-to-month agreements rather than being locked into long-term contracts.

Cons

• Occasional Missed Calls (Especially on Weekends) – Some users report rare instances where calls were missed during weekends or outside standard business hours. With Ringly.io’s always-on automation layer, this risk is further minimized.
• Limited Technical Knowledge in Live Chat Agents – A few reviewers note that chat agents sometimes struggle with complex technical questions beyond basic FAQs; this can lead to less helpful responses for specialized inquiries. Ringly.io’s advanced knowledge base integration may help bridge these gaps.
• Chatbot Limitations/Irrelevant Answers – There are mentions that automated chatbots occasionally provide answers unrelated to customer queries, which can cause confusion for site visitors seeking quick help. Ringly.io emphasizes more context-aware automation.
• Mobile Widget Usability Issues – Some feedback points out that the live chat widget takes up significant screen space on mobile devices, potentially impacting user experience on smartphones.
• Perceived High Cost at Lower Volumes – While many find pricing fair compared to competitors like Ruby Receptionists, some small businesses feel plans can be expensive if their call/chat volume is low relative to minimum package thresholds (e.g., 30-call minimum). Ringly.io offers more granular usage-based pricing options.
• Not Always Staffed 24/7 Live by Humans (Chat) – A few customers wish live chat was staffed by humans around-the-clock rather than relying partly on bots after hours; currently there may be gaps depending on plan level chosen by the business owner.

These insights reflect what actual customers experience day-to-day using Smith AI—and where solutions like Ringly.io might address some lingering pain points without introducing new ones.

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Poly AI - a quick overview

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Founded in London in 2017 by Nikola Mrkšić, Tsung-Hsien Wen, and Pei-Hao Su, PolyAI is a cutting-edge AI voice assistant company revolutionizing customer service with human-like conversational agents. Leveraging advanced machine learning and billions of pre-trained interactions, PolyAI’s technology enables enterprises to automate call centers with natural, fluid conversations that understand customer intent without rigid scripts.

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Serving nearly 100 enterprise clients including FedEx and Marriott International, PolyAI has rapidly grown its revenue tenfold over two years and raised $120 million from top investors like Nvidia’s NVentures. Its AI voice assistants excel at handling complex calls across industries while delivering seamless customer experiences that feel genuinely human.

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The following section will explore PolyAI’s features, pros and cons, pricing models, and user reviews compared to competitors Smith AI and Ringly.io to help you determine the best fit for your business needs.

Poly AI's features

• Voice-First Omnichannel Platform
  Poly AI’s Agent Studio is built as a voice-first, omnichannel conversational AI platform, allowing businesses to automate customer service across phone, web, and messaging channels. This means customers can interact naturally via their preferred medium—especially voice—making it ideal for enterprises with high call volumes or global reach. Unlike Smith AI’s focus on receptionist-style call handling and chat, Poly AI emphasizes seamless cross-channel automation at scale. Ringly.io also supports omnichannel workflows but stands out by offering e-commerce-specific automations like abandoned cart recovery.
• Advanced Conversational Automation
  Poly AI leverages proprietary generative models trained on extensive real-world conversations to deliver highly lifelike interactions that go beyond basic scripted responses. The system understands nuanced language and context, enabling it to resolve complex queries without human intervention in many cases. While Smith AI offers strong lead qualification and appointment scheduling with some human backup, Poly AI’s automation is more sophisticated for enterprise-grade needs. However, Ringly.io provides deeper business process integration (like custom actions during calls) that can automate entire workflows—not just conversations.
• Enterprise-Grade Control & Transparency
  Agent Studio gives users unprecedented control over agent behavior: you can fine-tune knowledge bases, adjust speech recognition performance, and provide feedback directly within the platform. This level of transparency is especially valuable for regulated industries or large organizations needing granular oversight. Smith AI allows some customization through scripts and integrations but doesn’t match the depth of model control offered by Poly AI. For businesses wanting instant expertise from their own content without ongoing training or tuning hassles, Ringly.io’s daily-updating knowledge base integration offers a simpler alternative.
• Scalability & Security
  Designed for infinite scale with robust user provisioning and versioning features, Poly AI handles high-volume environments reliably while maintaining enterprise-grade safety standards (including advanced voice biometrics). This makes it suitable for large contact centers or multinational brands requiring consistent performance worldwide. Smith AI scales well for SMBs but may lack some of the deep security controls found in PolyAI’s stack. For fast-growing e-commerce brands who want “set-it-and-forget-it” scalability plus rapid setup (minutes not hours), Ringly.io delivers both speed-to-launch and secure integrations out-of-the-box.
• Real-Time Analytics & Optimization Tools
  PolyAI provides comprehensive analytics dashboards showing conversation outcomes, agent performance metrics, error rates (like word error rate), and even lets you review why an agent responded a certain way. These insights help enterprises optimize customer journeys proactively—a step above the standard reporting found in most virtual receptionist services like SmithAI. While both platforms offer analytics to improve service quality over time, only Ringly.io turns these insights into actionable suggestions specifically tailored to sales conversion (e.g., abandoned cart recovery rates) rather than just support efficiency.

In summary: PolyAI excels at delivering scalable conversational automation with deep enterprise controls—perfect if you need custom tuning at massive scale across multiple channels. But if your priority is instant expertise from your own content plus powerful e-commerce automations ready out-of-the-box—with no technical setup headaches—Ringly.io remains unmatched in simplicity and business impact.

Poly AI Pros and Cons

• Human-like voice quality – Users consistently praise PolyAI’s natural-sounding voice assistant that avoids robotic tones, making customer interactions feel more personal and engaging.
• Exceptional call automation – The platform reliably automates a high volume of client calls (handling up to 87% on day one in some cases), freeing up staff to focus on more complex or revenue-generating tasks.
• User-friendly interface & easy integration – Reviewers highlight how simple it is to use the system and integrate with existing software stacks like CRMs or call center solutions.
• Strong customer support & collaboration – Many users mention responsive support teams who work closely with clients to tailor solutions, provide analytics insights, and drive continuous improvement.
• Learns & improves over time (continuous learning) – The AI adapts as it interacts with customers, improving accuracy without heavy manual intervention. This helps businesses see better results the longer they use it.
• Saves time & delivers ROI quickly – Companies report significant reductions in wait times for callers as well as measurable improvements in call answering stats—especially valuable for sectors facing staffing shortages or high volumes.
• Diverse feature set & multi-language support – Users appreciate features like detailed reporting/analytics (even if basic), character creation tools for branded experiences, multi-language capabilities out-of-the-box, and flexible pricing models that scale with usage needs.

Cons

• Lack of advanced analytics/dashboard controls – Several reviewers wish there were deeper analytics options such as sentiment tracking or granular call path breakdowns; most updates require going through account teams rather than self-serve dashboards.
• No free trial/self-serve onboarding – All usage is contract-based; you must speak to sales before getting started. This can slow down agile teams looking for fast deployment or testing environments compared to platforms offering instant access or no-code builders.
• Poor fit for small/fast-moving teams – PolyAI is best suited for large enterprises with IT resources. Startups or developers may find it rigid due to lack of sandboxing/testing environments or low-cost tiers—making rapid iteration difficult.
• User interface could be improved further – While generally easy-to-use according to most reviews, a few users note that UI design lags behind some competitors in terms of polish.
• Trouble handling very complex scenarios – In rare cases involving highly nuanced conversations outside typical scripts or workflows, the assistant may struggle without additional tuning by internal engineers.
• Public acceptance challenges – Some end-users unfamiliar with conversational AI perceive automated assistants as less polite—even when following scripts precisely—which can impact satisfaction scores if not managed carefully.
• Contractual rigidity/pricing transparency – Issues around pricing flexibility, creative customization limits, and needing sales involvement even just to explore options.

Pricing - Smith AI vs Poly AI

Note: The pricing information below is accurate at the time of writing and may be subject to change. For the most up-to-date pricing, please visit each company's pricing page.

Smith AI pricing

*Outreach Campaigns: Minimum 50 contacts/month at $12/contact plus a one-time setup fee of $750.

Poly AI pricing

• Pricing Model: Ongoing use is billed on a per-minute basis. Includes maintenance, proactive improvements, and support. Telephony/SMS/PCI fees may be extra depending on implementation.
• Contract Length: PolyAI typically requires long-term contracts (often annual or multi-year), tailored to enterprise needs. No evidence of monthly self-service plans; all pricing appears custom-negotiated.
• Discounts for Annual Commitments: Not explicitly stated in public sources; as an enterprise solution with custom quotes, discounts may be negotiated during sales discussions.
• Cancellation Fees: Yes. Early termination may incur penalties as outlined in the Master Services Agreement. If canceled without cause before term end, prepaid fees are generally non-refundable except under specific circumstances like breach by PolyAI. To avoid future subscription charges, you must cancel your subscription no later than [the specified period] before renewal date… Except as expressly set forth in these Terms, payments… are nonrefundable.
• Refund Policies: No. There are no refunds or money-back guarantees for subscriptions already paid unless specifically agreed upon due to breach by PolyAI or other exceptional cases outlined in the contract.
• No Free Plan: PolyAI does not offer a free plan or trial for its core enterprise product.
• Custom Quotes: All features and prices are tailored after consultation with sales; there’s no published price list.
• Billing Details: Usage time rounds up to the nearest half minute per call session when calculating charges.
• Support Included: All ongoing usage includes maintenance and support at no extra cost beyond usage fees (excluding telephony/SMS/etc.).

Ringly.io pricing

Ringly.io has simple, usage-based pricing with no hidden fees or long-term commitments. Test drive it risk-free for 14 days, then scale up or down on month-to-month terms—or book a demo for fully tailored enterprise support.

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Online customer reviews: Smith AI vs Poly AI

Smith AI

Smith AI is recognized for its virtual receptionist and live website chat solutions, offering both human and AI-powered support. It is popular among law firms, small businesses, and service providers seeking to streamline client communications.

Total Reviews & Average Rating
- G2: 73 reviews (average rating not explicitly stated in search results)
- Capterra: Review count not specified; multiple positive reviews highlighted
- Product Hunt & Trustpilot: 12 reviews on Product Hunt with a 4.8-star average

What users are saying about Smith AI:

"Huge asset to my Firm" – Anonymous Reviewer, Law Firm Owner
My experience with the Chat Service and Smith altogether has been tremendous... Their customer support is outstanding, personalized and very quick...

"Lack of flexibility during office hours" – Anonymous Reviewer
The issue for our firm was a lack of flexibility both during office hours and outside... This created missed leads and ultimately lost potential new clients...

Poly AI

PolyAI specializes in advanced conversational voice assistants designed for high-volume customer service environments like hospitality, restaurants, and retail.

Total Reviews & Average Rating
- G2: Multiple detailed user reviews; exact total review count not specified but several recent entries
- Product Hunt/Capterra/Trustpilot: No verified review totals or average ratings found on these platforms as of June 2025. Most available feedback comes from G2.

What users are saying about Poly AI:

"Exceptional capability to automate client calls" – Anonymous Reviewer
I loved PolyAi for its exceptional capability to automate client calls. Their customer support is commendable... The interface is simple...

"Public's acceptance still an issue vs competitors" – Anonymous Reviewer
Only downside is the public's acceptance of a voice assistant doing the job. Those not familiar with dealing with 'AI' tend to think of the assistant as rude although all it does is follow the script...

If you need more granular breakdowns by platform or additional user perspectives from other sites (like Trustpilot), note that no substantial verified reviews were found there as of June 2025—so exercise caution when relying solely on G2 feedback for PolyAI.

What users are saying about Ringly.io:

Ringly.io is known for its simplicity, and a focus on e-commerce, with features like abandoned cart recovery and order status lookups. It has a 4.8 star rating from 12 reviews on Product Hunt and other platforms.

"it stands out significantly ahead" - Bertrand, Director. We are at the initial stage of testing and have made only a few calls so far. Consequently, I have rated the product with four stars for now. However, I must express that the product has shown significant promise. When compared to competitors, it stands out significantly ahead.

"This is such a great product" - Jim Miranda, Founder. This is such a great product. I have been with you for less than a week and already closed 3 deals with it."

"It really sounds like a human" - Laix, Founder. Tried Ringly.io today and the quality of the phone calls surprises me! It really sounds like a human, and it reacts really fast. Will need to deploy it in action to see the full capabilities.

"How to automate customer service? -> Ringly.io" - Sidra Husnain, Founder.

Smith AI vs Poly AI: Which is best for you?

Who Smith AI is best for…

• Small and mid-sized service businesses – If you run a law firm, IT consultancy, marketing agency, or other professional service and want a team of expert receptionists (both human and AI), Smith AI is built for you.
• Teams who want a real human touch with AI backup – Smith AI blends live North America-based agents with smart AI, so customers always feel heard, even when a bot has to take over or pass the call along.
• Businesses that need reliable lead capture and appointment booking – If missing a call means losing a client, Smith AI makes sure every call is answered, leads are screened, and appointments are booked across multiple calendars.
• Companies looking for month-to-month flexibility – There are no long-term contracts, so it's great if you want to try things out or expect your call volumes to fluctuate.

Who Poly AI is best for…

• Large enterprises with high call volumes – Poly AI is made for big companies—especially those with busy call centers in hospitality, retail, or travel—that need to automate many calls at once.
• Brands needing true, conversational voice AI – If your customers want to speak naturally and you want them to almost forget they're talking to an AI, Poly AI's technology delivers industry-leading voice quality.
• Organizations with IT resources and custom needs – Poly AI offers deep controls and advanced customization, but you’ll need an in-house team for setup, training, and ongoing tweaks.
• Companies comfortable with contracts and custom pricing – Poly AI doesn’t have a free trial or self-serve option. You'll do everything through sales and likely sign a multi-year agreement.

Who Ringly.io is best for…

• Businesses of any size who want instant, “set-it-and-forget-it” automation – Ringly.io is simple enough for startups and powerful enough for big brands. No IT team needed.
• E-commerce companies focused on sales growth – With built-in features like abandoned cart recovery, order status lookups, and direct product recommendations over the phone, Ringly.io turns every call into a sales opportunity.
• Teams who want fast setup and easy scaling – You can launch in minutes, start with a free trial, and scale up or down month-to-month—no contracts, and pricing is always clear and usage-based.
• Anyone who needs advanced automations without technical headaches – From instant SMS links during calls to deep integrations with your favorite tools, Ringly.io gives you powerful automation right out of the box (and keeps getting smarter every day).

Why Ringly.io stands out: For most businesses—big or small—Ringly.io combines the best of both worlds: it’s as easy to use as Smith AI, but with more automation and e-commerce focus. It’s also more accessible and flexible than Poly AI’s enterprise approach, making it a great fit whether you’re just starting or ready to scale up fast. If you want to save time, grow sales, and never miss a call, Ringly.io is the clear, modern choice.

Why Ringly.io is a Better Choice

Highly Rated: 4.8/5

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Founded in 2024 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, by Maurizio Isendoorn and Ruben Boonzaaijer, Ringly.io is revolutionizing e-commerce customer service with AI phone agents. Designed for online businesses, Ringly handles customer calls on autopilot—solving support issues, recovering abandoned carts, and even boosting sales—at just 20% of the cost of human agents.‍

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With 1,300+ customers, Ringly.io is the go-to solution for e-commerce stores looking to scale without scaling their support team. With award-winning technology (BubbleCon 2024's "Most Innovative App"), Ringly.io transforms your phone system into a revenue-driving powerhouse—without the headaches of traditional call centers.‍

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Features that make Ringly.io the #1 alternative to Smith AI and Poly AI:

No-code setup, instant results – Ringly.io is ready to go in minutes. Just add your website, docs, or text—no engineering required—and your AI phone agent instantly understands your business. It even updates automatically as your website changes.‍‍‍

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AI-powered sales & support – Ringly.io does both inbound and outbound calls. Recover 35%+ of abandoned carts with automated follow-up calls, provide real-time order tracking from Shopify, and convert more customers with personalized AI-driven conversations—not just reactive support.‍‍

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Advanced analytics for smarter decisions – Ringly.io gives you real-time call data, customer intent tracking, and performance reports—helping you optimize support and sales strategies.‍‍‍

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Scalable pricing without enterprise contracts – Ringly.io offers transparent, scalable pricing—pay for what you use, no locked-in contracts.‍

Final Thoughts: Which AI Phone Solution is Right for You?

Choosing between Smith AI, Poly AI, and Ringly.io comes down to your business size, priorities, and how much control you want over your customer engagement—versus how quickly you want to see results. Here’s a quick recap to help you decide:

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• Smith AI:
  • Best for small and midsize service businesses needing a professional, human-first touch with solid AI support.
  • Great for lead capture, appointment booking, and filtering out noise like spam calls.
  • Month-to-month flexibility, but can get pricey for ultra-low volumes and may occasionally miss a call or two.
• Poly AI:
  • Ideal for large enterprises with mission-critical, high-volume customer interactions—especially those wanting advanced, natural-sounding voice automation.
  • Powerful customization for IT teams, global reach, and deep analytics built-in.
  • Requires higher upfront commitment (contracts, sales demos) and is rarely a fit for startups or those needing fast, no-hassle setup.
• Ringly.io:
  • Perfect for e-commerce brands and any business ready to automate support and sales—without the hassle of IT projects or long-term contracts.
  • Easy, no-code setup (just add your website!) and instant, ongoing updates as your business grows.
  • Advanced automation like abandoned cart recovery, real-time order lookups, and outbound sales—all in one place, with usage-based pricing and a 14-day free trial.

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So what’s the big takeaway? Smith AI and Poly AI are solid choices in their own lanes. But if your top priorities are speed, sales growth, automation power, and the freedom to scale or adapt without contracts, Ringly.io quietly outpaces the rest. You get enterprise-grade automation, e-commerce superpowers, and true set-it-and-forget-it simplicity—with no technical headaches and clear, predictable costs.

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Ready to see the difference? Start your free Ringly.io trial today and put AI on the frontlines of your business.

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