Smith.ai review: AI and live receptionists for law firms
What Smith.ai costs, how it connects to Clio, and what happens to your callers' information. Every fact is sourced and dated.
Last checked
What it does: Smith.ai answers your firm's phone calls with an AI receptionist, live human agents, or both. It can screen new leads, ask intake questions, book consults, and send call details to your case software (Smith.ai home page, checked Oct 19, 2026).
Who it fits: Solo and small firms that get a steady flow of new client calls and want someone to pick up after hours. Smith.ai's home page is written for law firms and offers consult booking, payment collection, and conflict checks on calls (Smith.ai home page, checked Oct 19, 2026).
Price
Smith.ai has two kinds of plans, and they are priced per call, not per minute.
AI receptionist (AI pricing, checked Oct 19, 2026):
| Plan | Monthly price | Calls included | Per call rate shown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 25 | $3.00 per call |
| Pro | from $150 | 75 | $2.00 per call (higher tiers $270 and $500) |
| Enterprise | from $500 | 300 | $1.67 per call |
Live human receptionists (receptionist pricing, checked Oct 19, 2026):
| Plan | Monthly price | Calls included | Extra calls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $300 | 30 | $11.50 per call |
| Basic | $810 | 90 | $10.50 per call |
| Pro | $2,100 | 300 | $8.50 per call |
Add ons that matter to lawyers (human plans, per call): call recording and transcripts $0.25, conflict checks $0.50, booking appointments $1.50, taking payments $1.00, a second CRM connection $0.50. The first CRM connection is free (receptionist pricing, checked Oct 19, 2026). On AI plans, a hand off to a live agent costs $3 extra per call (Smith.ai home page, checked Oct 19, 2026).
Where your client data goes
Data Trail card
| Question | What Smith.ai says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Where is caller data stored? | "Call data is encrypted and stored within the dashboard." The country where call data sits is not published. The privacy policy says the website is hosted on Amazon's cloud. | Home page FAQ, Privacy, checked Oct 19, 2026 |
| Is it used to train AI? | Not published. The terms say Smith.ai may use your information to provide the service, spot spam callers, and for "improving our Services." Ask whether that includes training AI. | Terms, checked Oct 19, 2026 |
| Who owns the data? | The terms say: "All Subscriber Information is jointly owned by Smith and you." They add that Smith keeps joint ownership "solely so that it has the right to store the information" and use it to provide the service. | Terms, checked Oct 19, 2026 |
| How long is it kept? | Call recordings are deleted after three months. The recording page says recordings and transcripts stay in the dashboard for 90 days. Other call data: not published. | Home page FAQ, Recording page, checked Oct 19, 2026 |
| Can I have it deleted? | Smith.ai says it will respond to a written delete request within 3 business days. Deleting may require closing your account and can take up to 30 days. | Terms, checked Oct 19, 2026 |
| Who else touches it? | Staff and contractors who answer calls, who must sign a nondisclosure agreement. A full list of outside companies (subprocessors) is not published. | Terms, Privacy, checked Oct 19, 2026 |
| Encryption | Encrypted in transit (SSL) and when stored. | Terms, checked Oct 19, 2026 |
| SOC 2 or other audit | Not published on Smith.ai's site. Ask vendor for a current report. | Checked smith.ai pages listed above, Oct 19, 2026 |
| Export and leave | Not published. Ask how you get recordings and call logs out before they are deleted. | Checked Oct 19, 2026 |
| BAA (for health information) | Not published. Ask vendor. | Checked Oct 19, 2026 |
Integrations
Smith.ai names Clio, Filevine, Lawmatics, MyCase, PracticePanther, Smokeball, Litify, and Rocket Matter, and says it connects to thousands of other tools. Its AI pricing page lists native Clio and Zapier connections (Smith.ai home page, AI pricing, checked Oct 19, 2026). It says live agents can check callers against your existing contacts and matters for conflicts (Smith.ai home page, checked Oct 19, 2026).
Setup effort and hidden costs
- No setup fees on human plans (receptionist pricing, checked Oct 19, 2026).
- Smith.ai says most law firms are up and running in a few days (Smith.ai home page, checked Oct 19, 2026).
- Per call add ons stack up. A booked consult with recording on a human plan adds $1.75 to that call before any other add on (receptionist pricing, checked Oct 19, 2026).
Contract traps
- Month to month, no long contract. If you cancel, you pay through the end of the current monthly cycle (receptionist pricing FAQ, checked Oct 19, 2026).
- The terms say Smith.ai does not refund or prorate unused parts of a subscription (Terms, checked Oct 19, 2026).
- A plan change must be made at least 30 days before the end of the cycle (Terms, checked Oct 19, 2026).
- There is a 30 day money back guarantee on new plans, up to $1,000, which does not cover overage calls (receptionist pricing FAQ, checked Oct 19, 2026).
- Liability cap: Smith.ai's total liability is limited to what you paid it in the 24 months before a claim (Terms, checked Oct 19, 2026).
- Disputes can be sent to binding arbitration under California law, at Smith.ai's choice (Terms, checked Oct 19, 2026).
Questions to ask Smith.ai
- Does "improving our Services" include training any AI model on my callers' words?
- Can you change "jointly owned" to "owned by the firm" in my contract?
- Where, by country, are recordings and transcripts stored?
- Can I get a copy of your current SOC 2 report or other security audit?
- Which outside companies (including AI providers) process my callers' audio or text?
- How do I export recordings before the three month delete?
Strengths
- Clear, published per call prices, including a free AI tier to test with (AI pricing, checked Oct 19, 2026).
- Built for law firm intake, with conflict checks, payments, and Spanish service as options (receptionist pricing, checked Oct 19, 2026).
- Names many legal case tools it connects to (Smith.ai home page, checked Oct 19, 2026).
- The terms speak directly to lawyers' duties under Model Rule 5.3 (Terms, checked Oct 19, 2026).
Limits
- No public security audit report or BAA information on its site (checked Oct 19, 2026).
- "Jointly owned" data and "improving our Services" wording are broader than some other vendors' terms (Terms, checked Oct 19, 2026).
- Short recording life (about 90 days) means you must save important calls yourself (Recording page, checked Oct 19, 2026).
Our take
This is our opinion, based on the sourced facts above. Smith.ai is one of the easiest receptionist services to price out, and its legal features are real. The part we would push on is the paperwork. Before you send client calls through it, get written answers on AI training, data ownership, and a security audit. The short recording life is good for privacy, but only if you have a habit of saving what matters into your case file.
Last checked: Oct 19, 2026. Published by the team behind The Small Firm Stack, who also build phone and intake systems for law firms. See our About page for the full disclosure. We never list, rank, or review ourselves. No vendor paid for this page and it has no affiliate links. Not legal advice. Vendors can send corrections through our About page.
Compared side by side
Sources
Vendor pages and public records this page is based on.