This comparison is published by Nolan. Vendor pricing and capabilities were checked on October 9, 2026. Calculations are illustrative; quote-only prices and unverified capabilities are identified.
How do call, minute and customer prices compare?
Use the same workload before comparing a price per door with a price per call. The following scenario assumes 100 answered calls lasting four minutes each, 80 distinct callers, and 20 appointments. Taxes and optional services are excluded unless stated.
| Product and plan | Scenario calculation | Monthly subtotal |
|---|---|---|
| Smith.ai human Basic | $810 for 90 calls + 10 × $10.50 overage + 20 × $1.50 booking | $945 |
| PATLive 300 minutes | $479 + 100 extra minutes × $1.89 | $668 |
| Goodcall Starter | 80 distinct customers within its 100-customer allowance | $79 |
| Ruby 500 minutes | 400 minutes within the 500-minute plan | $1,725 |
This is a cost scenario, not a claim of equal booking capability or service quality. Smith.ai human follow-up by text/email costs another $0.50 per applicable call; 100 such follow-ups add $50. Its AI offering is separately priced: free for 25 calls with $3 extra calls, or Pro from $150 for 75 calls with a listed $2.50 extra-call rate at that tier. Confirm which product you are being quoted.
Goodcall bills distinct customers, not every repeat call: Starter $79/100, Growth $129/500 and Scale $299/2,000, with respective extra-customer rates of $0.79, $0.26 and $0.15. For 120 distinct customers, Starter is $94.80. Its limits on tools, team members and retained history can matter even when minutes are unlimited.
Can these services nurture and book, or only take messages?
| Service | Documented conversation and booking scope | What requires a separate decision |
|---|---|---|
| Smith.ai human | Qualification; paid appointment scheduling and text/email follow-up | Which add-ons apply to each call; listing updates and repeat follow-up cadence |
| PATLive | Human calls, scheduling and separate outbound calling and live-chat services | Separate channel plans; ongoing listing instructions and escalation |
| Goodcall | AI phone service with connected tools | Demonstrate live inventory, calendar actions and any non-phone conversation |
| Ruby | Human answering, scheduling, outbound help and optional live chat | Chat package and the exact leasing workflow |
| My AI Front Desk | AI voice, SMS, web chat, CRM and sequence automation | Channel allowances, credit consumption and listing-data maintenance |
PATLive’s outbound example is $309/month for 50 outreaches, while its 50-chat plan is $279/month. Adding both to the $668 inbound scenario makes $1,256/month before excess outbound/chat use. These services should not be described as phone-only simply because the inbound plan is the first price shown.
My AI Front Desk lists $99/month, or $79/month billed annually, with 200 voice minutes, 400 SMS and 100 chat conversations. The page distinguishes 500 email drafts from autonomous inbox handling and caps outbound calls at 20/day. An included 1,000-credit overage pool and automatic paid reloads complicate the headline allowance; request a worked invoice for your channel mix.
When is each model a better fit?
A human service suits a team that values a person on the line and can keep the service supplied with unit details. A generic AI front desk can be economical for modest phone volume, provided its tools complete the required booking. Nolan covers the complete leasing conversation, from the first question through qualification and follow-up to a booked showing, not only the missed call. Test every product against the same inquiry and judge completed work, not the category name.
What does Nolan cost?
Nolan publishes one price list, with no setup fee. It has three packages, each with doors included. Its plans, the voice minutes they pool and the rate after them are in the table above and on the pricing page. Texts, email and chat are not metered. Texting on a US number starts once carriers approve its registration, and the registration fees are on the same page.
What does Nolan do in the conversation?
Nolan, the AI leasing agent, answers calls, texts, website chat and listing-site emails, day and night. It finds the right unit among your listings: it asks for the move-in month, budget and bedrooms in one question, offers the nearest unit when nothing fits, and texts or emails the units that fit. It asks your approved questions, sends your screening provider’s link at the right step, and books the showing into your Google Calendar with reminders.
When you turn them on, follow-ups go by text or email to renters who didn’t book, after about one, three and seven days. A booking, an opt-out or your team stops them. Your team sees every conversation in one inbox, can take any of them over, and can have calls transferred live. Nolan connects to HubSpot and LeadSimple, and sends leads to any other system by webhook, API or CSV.
What should you test in a demo?
Run the same renter through each product: a question about one of your listings, a request for a cheaper unit, a reply after a day of silence, a new showing time and a request for a person. Check that a booking or an opt-out stops the follow-ups. To try Nolan, call its demo line with a real listing question and take it through the same steps.
How should you read this comparison?
Descriptions come from each company’s public pages and Nolan’s product inventory. They are not a performance benchmark, and a capability we could not confirm is not described as absent. Product names belong to their owners; Nolan is not affiliated with any of them.