MainStreetAI

AI receptionists

Ruby

Situational

Live US receptionists with a public price list. The minutes round up, and overage is not on the marketing page.

From $250/mo · Crew score 7/10 · Updated Aug 25, 2026

Visit Ruby

Where it earns its keep

  • Public $250 / $395 / $720 / $1,725 list; 24/7 humans with no after-hours surcharge
  • Month-to-month, 21-day money-back, US-based floor, Clio native, HIPAA available
  • AI is a receptionist copilot, not a bot that greets your callers

Where it falls short

  • 50 minutes at $250; 60-second rounding including hold and wrap; starter overage $5.40/min is on the help center, not the pricing page
  • 3% credit-card surcharge; unused minutes do not roll; after 90 days you cannot freely downgrade
  • Not an AI receptionist and not missed-call text-back; no Jobber, Housecall Pro, or Dentrix page

What it actually does

Ruby answers the phone with a person. The 2026 homepage says people-powered, AI-enhanced. Call Nav, transcripts, sentiment, and a robocall filter sit behind the receptionist. Their own FAQ: they do not use AI to answer calls. That is the opposite of Goodcall, and of Smith.ai’s $150 AI plan.

Live buckets on ruby.com/plans-and-pricing, fetched August 25, 2026: $250 for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200, $1,725 for 500. Chat is a separate human widget from $143. It is not missed-call text-back. The owner gets a ping. Strategy is pick up so the call is not missed. It is not reviews or listings. Artibot is a free sibling chatbot they contrast with Ruby; do not buy this as a website bot. Clio is native. FieldPulse and JobNimbus have pages. Jobber, Housecall Pro, Dentrix, and Mindbody do not. Law is the home vertical. HVAC and plumbing have industry pages. Salons are a homepage noun.

Who should buy it

Buy it if you are a solo attorney or a low-volume office that refuses to let a model greet a caller, and you will size the minutes honestly. HIPAA dental overflow can work as answering, not as a Dentrix front desk. A one-truck high-ticket shop that lives under 100 minutes can make the math work. Pay ACH and skip the 3% card fee.

Do not buy it if you are a dispatch-heavy plumber or HVAC shop. Lawyerist 2026: not for high volume. Independent plumber and HVAC review bodies were empty. After-hours emergencies burn the same minutes as Tuesday morning. After 90 days, downgrades wait three billing cycles. Unused minutes do not roll. That is a seasonal HVAC trap.

The reason not to buy is the meter, which already went to court. McKenzie Law Firm v. Ruby, District of Oregon, settled 2021: about 18,000 clients, $8 million in vouchers, hold time and rounding. The Help Center now discloses it. The March 2026 terms still bill 60-second increments, hold, and wrap after hangup. The marketing page does not print overage. The help center does: $5.40 a minute on the 50-minute plan. Indexed complaints include an expected $660 that became $5,100, a 147-minute month with a $660 invoice including dead air, and a cancel that still billed 26 days and $1,100 (Trustpilot, October 2025). Cancel is email to billing@ruby.com or a phone call before the next invoice. You pay through period end. No pro-rata.

The verdict

Trustpilot is about 4.6 from roughly 830 (indexed 2026; live page blocked). G2 is about 3.7 to 3.8 from 11 or 12. Capterra 4.2 from 10. Software Advice 3.9 from 11, newest indexed review July 2026 and hostile. GetApp likelihood to recommend 0.70 out of 10. Reddit: none retrieved. BBB is not accredited; indexed reason is failure to respond to three complaints.

Official list August 25, 2026 starts at $250 a month for 50 minutes. First month is not the headline if you overflow. Directories still print $235 and $245. Stale.

Situational. If you need a human safety net and a published AI price, Smith.ai. If you wanted a $79 night bot, Goodcall. Pay Ruby only if a person has to answer and you can live with per-minute math in writing, including the overage the pricing page hides.