Bigly Sales vs Smith.ai

Smith.ai answers your phone with trained human receptionists, and Smith.ai pricing is per call, starting at thirty calls a month. Bigly Sales runs a managed AI calling operation priced by the minute in volume plans that start at $99 a month, built to scale from a single line to teams whose phone volume runs into the thousands. The two are not really chasing the same buyer, and the number that decides it is how many calls a month you actually take.

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Why Teams Compare Both

Smith.ai is a genuinely good answer below a few hundred calls a month, and the people answering are people. Bigly becomes the better fit at the point where per-call pricing starts growing faster than the revenue those calls produce. The Smith.ai pricing comparison below shows where that point sits.

Priced For Volume

Bigly charges by the minute in volume plans, so the cost of each conversation falls as volume rises instead of staying flat at a per-call rate.

Outbound As Well As Inbound

Bigly runs qualification, aged lead reactivation and follow-up campaigns on the same platform, not only the calls that happen to arrive.

Compliance Before The Dial

Consent checks, suppression lists, known litigant screening and state calling rules run before a call is placed rather than being reviewed after the fact.

Connected To Your Stack

Call outcomes, transcripts and dispositions write back into your CRM and calendar rather than sitting in a separate dashboard, so your team works from the records it already uses.

TECHNICAL BREAKDOWN

A practical comparison for teams choosing between a human answering service and a managed AI calling operation. Smith.ai figures are their published plans, ours are the live Bigly tiers.

Smith.ai plans and rates as published on their pricing page. Bigly tiers as published on our Try Now page. Both were checked in August 2026 and pricing changes, so confirm before you budget.
FEATURE CAPABILITYBIGLY SALESSMITH.AI
Best fitTeams handling thousands of calls a monthTeams handling tens to a few hundred calls a month
Who answersAI voice agents, with live transfer to your teamTrained human receptionists, with an AI-first option
Pricing modelMinutes in volume plans, outbound and inbound alikePer call, billed against a monthly call allowance
Entry price$99 a month for 500 minutes$300 a month for 30 calls
Effective rate at plan sizeAbout 20 cents a minute on Scout, 8 cents on RainmakerAbout $10 a call on Starter, $7 a call on Pro
Cost of 1,000 inbound callsInside the $500 Prospector plan when calls average three minutes or lessAbout $8,050 on the Pro plan once overage applies
Outbound campaignsIncluded on the same per minute plans as inboundSold as a separate outreach service
Pre-call compliance screeningLitigant list and state rule checks before the dialNot stated in their published plans
Whitelisted local numbersMore than 200 owned lines with local presenceNot stated in their published plans
ContractMonthly plan sized with an account managerMonth to month, no long-term contract

STOP PAYING BY THE CALL

Bigly Sales handles inbound answering and outbound campaigns on one platform, priced so the cost of each conversation falls as your volume rises. Bring your own call mix and we will size it honestly during a free setup session.

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Bigly Sales vs Smith.ai questions answered

What buyers ask when comparing Bigly Sales and Smith.ai.

What is the main difference between Bigly Sales and Smith.ai?
Smith.ai is a human answering service billed per call, with an AI-first option, sized for businesses taking tens to a few hundred calls a month. Bigly Sales is a managed AI calling operation billed by the minute in volume plans from $99 a month, built to scale into the thousands. The pricing model is the real difference, because one gets cheaper per conversation as you grow and the other does not.
Is Smith.ai cheaper at low call volume?
Not anymore. Smith.ai starts at $300 a month for 30 calls, while Bigly Sales starts at $99 a month for 500 minutes. The real difference is who answers: Smith.ai puts a human receptionist on each call, and Bigly runs an AI agent that also works your outbound campaigns.
At what volume does Bigly cost less?
From the first plan. Our $99 Scout plan covers 500 minutes, against $300 for 30 calls on their entry plan. Further up, their Pro plan covers three hundred calls for $2,100 and charges $8.50 for each call beyond that, while our $2,999 Hunter plan includes 25,000 minutes, which absorbs several thousand calls at no extra cost. The gap widens as volume grows.
Does Bigly use humans or AI to answer calls?
AI voice agents answer, qualify and book, then transfer live to your team when a human is needed or when the caller asks for one. We do not staff receptionists. If you want every call answered by a person, that is a reason to choose a human service rather than any AI platform including ours.
Can Bigly make outbound calls as well as answer them?
Yes, and this is where the two offerings stop overlapping. Outbound qualification, aged lead reactivation, speed to lead callbacks and follow-up campaigns run on the same platform and the same lead record as inbound. Outbound runs on the same per minute plans as inbound, starting at $99 a month.
How does compliance compare?
Bigly runs consent validation, suppression, known litigant screening and state calling window checks before a call is placed, and stores the record behind each decision. Smith.ai does not describe pre-call screening of this kind in its published plans. Either way the legal obligation stays with you as the seller, and no vendor removes that.
Will Bigly connect to our CRM?
Yes. The platform integrates with mainstream CRMs, calendars and lead capture tools, and your account manager will confirm the specific connectors for your stack during setup. Call outcomes, transcripts, recordings and dispositions write back in real time, so your team works from the records it already uses rather than logging into a separate dashboard to find out what happened on a call.
Is there a minimum volume to work with Bigly?
No. Plans start at $99 a month for 500 minutes, covering outbound and inbound, so even a single line taking a few calls a week can start small and move up a plan as volume grows.
Do we have to replace our current answering service on day one?
No. Most teams start with after hours, overflow, or one campaign, keep their existing provider running alongside, and expand once they have seen the outcomes on their own calls. Nothing has to switch over before you are satisfied with what the agent is doing.
How should we choose between the two?
Count your inbound calls for one month. Below roughly four hundred, and if a human voice matters more than cost per conversation, choose a human answering service. Above that, or if you also need outbound campaigns and pre-call compliance screening, a managed AI operation is the cheaper and more capable purchase.

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