Head to head
Upfirst vs Rosie.
Upfirst and Rosie are two of the cheapest self-serve AI receptionists, and both offer a free trial. Upfirst counts calls and doesn’t count calls under 15 seconds or spam. Rosie counts minutes. On a short service call the two come out close; the details that separate them are which tier unlocks booking and what happens past the bundle.
Written by Right On Call, which competes with both. Their details checked September 26, 2026; sources are listed below.
Pick Upfirst if
- You want the lowest price per call.
- Short calls and spam shouldn’t use up your bundle.
- You want booking without moving to a top tier.
Pick Rosie if
- Your calls are short and a minute bundle covers more of them.
- You want live transfer and the higher tier fits your budget.
Side by side
The two of them, with Right On Call in the last column so you can see where a receptionist built for trades differs from both.
| Topic | Upfirst | Rosie | Right On Call |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is metered | Calls; under 15 seconds and spam not counted | Minutes, in bundles | Connected talk time, to the second |
| Entry price | About US$24.95 a month for 30 calls | About US$49 a month for 250 minutes | $199 CAD a month for 200 answered minutes, then $0.70 CAD a minute |
| Going over | About US$0.70 to $1.50 a call, by tier | Reviews disagree: per-minute charge or a move up a tier | Billed to the second. Going over never moves you to a bigger plan |
| Booking | Calendar integrations or a scheduling link by text, per reviews | Calendar booking on the US$149 tier and up, per reviews | Live Cal.com or Calendly availability. It cannot offer a time the calendar didn’t return |
| Human handoff | Transfer to staff you set up | Live transfer on higher tiers | Texts your on-call number with name, number, and reason, every time. Live transfer to one number is on request, off by default, for safety emergencies and callers who ask for a person |
| Who builds the call flow | You, from your business details | You, from a business description and FAQs | We write the script, triage, and call flow for your shop, test it on your number, and tune it after launch |
| Field-service tool | A Zapier pairing for Jobber; no native integration found | Check current integrations list | Jobber connect in the plan: the call creates the client and the job. Housecall Pro and ServiceTitan on request |
| Currency | US dollars | US dollars | Canadian dollars |
What Upfirst costs
Published in US dollars and billed per call: about $24.95 a month for 30 calls ($1.50 each past that), $59.95 for 90 calls ($1.00), $159.95 for 300 calls ($0.75), and $299 for 600 calls ($0.70), roughly 20% less billed annually, with a custom tier above that. Calls under 15 seconds and spam aren’t counted. There is a 14-day free trial, and reviews note one agent per account and that annual prepayments are non-refundable.
What Rosie costs
Published in US dollars as minute bundles: about $49 a month for 250 minutes, $149 for 1,000, and $299 for 2,000, with a free trial and no setup fee. Independent reviews report that booking, live transfer, and mid-call texting sit on the $149 tier and up, and they disagree on whether going over is a per-minute charge or a move to the next tier. Ask before you sign.
Where Right On Call fits
Both are cheaper than Right On Call, and we would say so to anyone choosing on price per call. What they leave to you is the part that decides whether a trade call turns into a job: recognising the emergency, checking the address is one you serve, asking the right follow-up for the job type, and putting the visit on your board.
Right On Call is that part, built for your trade by a person and tuned after launch, with the client and job written into Jobber or a slot booked on your live calendar.
Choose Right On Call if
- A missed after-hours call is a lost job for you, not a lost message.
- You run Jobber or a shared calendar.
- You would rather pay once for a build than tune prompts yourself.
Where all three sit
You build it → built for you
Built for the calls you miss, not to replace the people who answer
Right On Call can answer every call if you want it to. That isn’t what it is built for. It is built so that a call you would have missed, on a roof, in a crawlspace, at lunch, after 5, on a Saturday, gets picked up and ends as a booked job instead of a voicemail nobody returns.
Why Right On Call →Upfirst vs Rosie: questions
Which is cheaper, Upfirst or Rosie?
At entry level they are close on a three-minute call: about 30 calls for US$24.95 at Upfirst against about 83 three-minute calls in Rosie’s US$49 bundle. Upfirst’s per-call rate drops on higher tiers and short calls don’t count. Rosie’s booking and transfer sit on the US$149 tier, per reviews, so compare the tier you would actually need.
Sources
- CloudTalk: Upfirst pricing 2026
- Capterra: Upfirst
- Zapier: Upfirst integrations
- Rosie pricing page
- OnCrew: Rosie AI pricing 2026
- CloudTalk: Rosie pricing guide
Upfirst and Rosie details come from their published pages and independent reviews as of September 26, 2026. Plans change; check theirs before you decide. If something here is out of date, email hello@rightoncall.com and we will correct it. Product names are trademarks of their owners. Right On Call isn't affiliated with or endorsed by either.