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Best AI receptionist and answering service for law firms: prices, Clio integrations, ethics (2026)

Updated 2026-10-15 · By the AI Agents for Firms team · We don't sell any of the tools listed and no vendor paid to be included. Every listing was checked against its official site. We have not tested these products hands-on. Methodology

Every top-ranking page for this search is written or sponsored by a receptionist vendor. This one isn't. It compares ten options, separates law-firm-specific tools from general small-business answering services, lists the prices vendors publish, shows which name Clio and other practice software, and explains what the ABA's ethics guidance means for putting AI on your phones.

In this guide

Three kinds of "AI receptionist"
Comparison table (10 tools)
Published prices side by side
Ethics and compliance
A safe setup checklist
FAQ

Three kinds of "AI receptionist"

Law-firm intake platforms. Intaker is built for law firms and focuses on converting inquiries through AI chat, texting and automation. Lawmatics is a law-firm CRM and intake system with automation, where an AI front end feeds a legal-specific pipeline. Marlie AI is a general AI answering service with a dedicated law-firm offering: it says it handles legal intake, screens for conflicts, books consultations and syncs with Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther and Lawmatics.
Hybrid AI + human services. Smith.ai combines AI agents with live North America-based receptionists and names Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther, Smokeball and Filevine. Ruby is a live virtual receptionist and chat service for small businesses including law firms that names Clio, MyCase and Filevine.
General AI answering services. Goodcall, My AI Front Desk, Rosie and Aria Voice are AI-only phone answering services for small businesses with published self-serve prices. CloudTalk is a call-center phone system with add-on AI voice agents, aimed at sales and support teams. These aren't law-specific, so legal intake questions, conflict rules and practice-software sync are up to you to configure.

Comparison table

Prices are copied as each vendor states them, with links. Integrations are the systems each vendor names on its official site. "Best for" reflects the vendor's own stated audience. We haven't placed test calls with these products.

Tool	Job	Price (as stated)	Integrations mentioned on official site	Best for
Smith.ai Smith.ai offers the best AI agents and live North America-based receptionists to capture and convert more leads. Call answering, intake, and scheduling for small businesses since 2015. Setup in minutes.	Client intake & receptionist	AI + human receptionists: 30 calls $300/mo ($11.50 per extra call); 90 calls $810/mo ($10.50 per extra call). (checked on official site, Oct 15, 2026) [source]	Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther, Smokeball, Filevine, Gmail, Salesforce, HubSpot [source]	Firms that want AI plus live North America-based receptionists for calls and lead intake. [source]
Intaker Intaker helps law firms convert more leads with AI-powered chat, texting, and automation, so every inquiry gets answered in seconds, across every channel.	Client intake & receptionist	Not published on the official site (contact vendor)	Not stated on the pages we checked	Law firms converting website leads via AI chat, texting and automation. [source]
Lawmatics Try the #1 legal software today! With Lawmatics you can increase your legal practice efficiency and revenue. Learn more about our law firm software!	Client intake & receptionist	Not published on the official site (contact vendor) [source]	QuickBooks, Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther, Smokeball, Filevine, Outlook, Gmail, Zoom, Google Ads, Meta Ads, Microsoft Teams [source][source]	Law firms (client intake, CRM and marketing automation) [source]
Ruby 15,000+ small businesses trust the virtual receptionists at Ruby to create meaningful connections over the phone and through live chat, 24/7.	Client intake & receptionist	Receptionist (calls): 50 min $250/mo, 100 min $395/mo, 200 min $720/mo, 500 min $1,725/mo; chat from $143/mo (10 chats); bundles from $115 for 10 chats. (checked on official site, Oct 16, 2026) [source]	Clio, MyCase, Filevine, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, Zapier [source][source]	Small businesses, including law firms (live virtual receptionists and chat) [source]
Goodcall Goodcall offers an AI answering service built on voice AI. Gabi builds and runs your virtual receptionist for businesses from small shops to large enterprises, including contact centers.	Client intake & receptionist	Starter $79/mo, Growth $129/mo, higher tier $299/mo; free trial. (checked on official site, Oct 15, 2026) [source]	Zapier [source]	Small businesses (AI answering service) [source]
My AI Front Desk Frontdesk is the agentic AI customer platform that answers calls, texts and chats, books appointments and updates your CRM around the clock. Start free.	Client intake & receptionist	Business-in-a-Box $99/mo or $79/mo billed annually. (checked on official site, Oct 15, 2026) [source]	Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zapier, Shopify, Stripe, Outlook [source][source]	Small and medium businesses (AI receptionist) [source]
Rosie Never miss another call with our AI-powered call answering service. 10x better than voicemail. 10x cheaper than a traditional phone answering service.	Client intake & receptionist	Professional $49/mo, Scale $149/mo, Growth $299/mo; texting add-on $50/mo; free trial. (checked on official site, Oct 15, 2026) [source]	Zapier [source]	Solo owners and small local businesses [source]
Marlie AI 24/7 AI phone receptionist. Its law-firm page says it handles legal intake, screens leads, detects conflicts and books consultations.	Client intake & receptionist	Basic $49/mo (250 min, then $0.35/min), Standard $99/mo (500 min), Pro $199/mo (1,000 min, then $0.30/min), Premium $399/mo (2,000 min, then $0.25/min). (checked on official site, Oct 15, 2026) [source]	Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther, Lawmatics, Calendly, Google Calendar, Outlook [source][source]	Small businesses; has a dedicated law-firm offering for solo and small firms on Clio [source]
Aria Voice AI phone receptionist that answers routine questions, captures new inquiries, takes messages and transfers to staff. It's AI only; there are no human receptionists.	Client intake & receptionist	Starter $99/mo ($990/yr, 1 AI agent), Standard $290/mo ($2,900/yr, 3 agents), Premium $490/mo ($4,900/yr, 10 agents); free trial. (checked on official site, Oct 15, 2026) [source]	Not stated on the pages we checked	Service businesses, including law firms [source]
CloudTalk Cloud phone system (numbers in 160+ countries, routing, dialers) with add-on AI voice agents that answer or make calls when the team can't.	Client intake & receptionist	€19-€49 per user/month billed annually; AI Voice Agents billed separately per minute; 14-day trial. (checked on official site, Oct 15, 2026) [source]	Zapier, Make [source]	Sales and support teams who live on the phone (general, not law-specific) [source]

Published prices side by side

Rosie: Professional $49/month, Scale $149/month, Growth $299/month. Free trial.
Goodcall: Starter $79/month, Growth $129/month, higher tier $299/month. Free trial.
My AI Front Desk: $99/month, or $79/month billed annually.
Ruby: chat plans from $115/month for 10 chats. Call plans are listed separately on its pricing page.
Smith.ai: 30 calls for $300/month ($11.50 per extra call). 90 calls for $810/month ($10.50 per extra call).
Marlie AI: $49/month (250 min, then $0.35/min) up to $399/month (2,000 min).
Aria Voice: $99/month (1 AI agent), $290/month (3), $490/month (10).
CloudTalk: €19-€49 per user/month billed annually, with AI voice agents billed per minute on top.
Intaker and Lawmatics: no public prices.

Per-call plans (Smith.ai) and flat monthly plans (Rosie, Goodcall, My AI Front Desk) behave differently as call volume grows. Estimate your monthly new-matter calls before comparing.

Ethics and compliance

ABA Formal Opinion 512 (July 29, 2024). Lawyers using generative AI tools must consider their duties of competence, confidentiality, client communication, supervision, candor and reasonable fees. The ABA's own summary notes that the opinion recommends informed client consent before putting client confidences into GAI tools, and says boilerplate consent in engagement letters isn't adequate. For a receptionist, that means knowing what the vendor stores, who can access recordings and transcripts, and whether data trains models.
Supervision. Treat the AI like a non-lawyer assistant. It must not give legal advice, promise outcomes or accept representation. Review its scripts and a sample of calls regularly.
Outbound AI calls. If the tool also makes outbound calls (for example, follow-ups), the FCC's February 2024 ruling (FCC-24-17) treats AI-generated voices as "artificial" voices under the TCPA, which generally requires prior express consent. Inbound answering is a different situation.
State rules vary. Check your state bar's guidance on AI and on intake. Nothing here is legal advice.

A safe setup checklist

Write the intake script: practice areas you take, what you decline, and the questions to ask.
Tell callers they're speaking with an AI or virtual assistant.
Collect the minimum needed for a conflict check. The lawyer runs the conflict check, not the AI.
Route emergencies and existing clients to a human or a priority line.
Sync new leads to your practice software (Clio, MyCase and others), and confirm the integration in a live test.
Review recordings and transcripts weekly for the first month.

Browse more: AI receptionist and intake for law firms · Best AI agents for law firms.

Frequently asked questions

Which AI answering service is best for a small law firm?

It depends on whether you want AI only or AI plus humans, and which practice software you use. Smith.ai combines AI agents with live North America-based receptionists and names Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther, Smokeball and Filevine on its site (from $300/month for 30 calls). Intaker is built for law firms and focuses on AI chat, texting and automation for website leads (no public price). For low-cost AI-only call answering, general small-business services like Rosie (from $49/month), Goodcall (from $79/month) and My AI Front Desk ($99/month, or $79 billed annually) publish prices but aren't law-specific.

Do AI receptionists integrate with Clio?

Some say so on their official sites. Smith.ai, Ruby, Lawmatics and Marlie AI name Clio, and Smith.ai and Lawmatics also name MyCase, PracticePanther, Smokeball and Filevine. Goodcall and Rosie name Zapier, which can connect to many tools. Confirm the specific integration (new lead, matter or calendar event) with the vendor before buying.

Can an AI receptionist handle legal intake ethically?

It can handle the administrative part of intake if the lawyer supervises it. ABA Formal Opinion 512 (July 29, 2024) says lawyers using generative AI must consider their duties of competence, confidentiality, client communication, supervision and reasonable fees. It notes that boilerplate consent in engagement letters isn't enough when client confidences are put into AI tools. Configure the receptionist so it doesn't give legal advice, run conflict checks, or accept representation. Check your state bar's own guidance too. This is not legal advice.

How much does an AI receptionist for a law firm cost?

Published prices on official sites (Oct 15, 2026): Rosie $49-$299/month; Marlie AI $49-$399/month (minutes included, then per minute); Aria Voice $99-$490/month; Goodcall $79-$299/month; My AI Front Desk $99/month ($79 billed annually); Smith.ai $300/month for 30 calls ($11.50 per extra call) or $810/month for 90 calls; Ruby chat plans from $115/month. Intaker and Lawmatics don't publish prices.

Is an AI receptionist better than a live receptionist service?

They solve different problems. AI answers every call instantly, around the clock, at a lower published price per month. Human receptionists handle emotional or complex callers better. Hybrid services such as Smith.ai and Ruby offer both. A common setup is AI for after-hours and overflow calls, with humans or staff for warm transfers during business hours.

Can an AI receptionist book consultations?

Most of the tools listed say they can book appointments or send booking links. My AI Front Desk says it "books appointments and updates your CRM". Check that bookings land in the calendar your firm actually uses, and that the receptionist collects only the information you need before a conflict check.