Six kinds of product get compared with CosVoice. Some are an assistant that can dial out. Some are a business line answered by AI. Some are tools for developers. Here is what each one does and what it costs, from their own pages, checked September 15, 2026.
| CosVoice Your assistant's own phone line | Catch Their assistant, makes calls for you | Pally Text-first assistant | AI receptionists Rosie, Goodcall, NextPhone, Smith.ai | Voice platforms Retell, Bland, Vapi, Synthflow | DIY agent phones Open-source and hobby tools for Claude or OpenClaw agents | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A phone number that belongs to your assistant | YesIn your area code, plus an email address | NoTheir assistant, no number of its own | PartlyOn the $100 tier | YesA business line | PartlyYou buy and wire the number | PartlyYou bring a Twilio number |
| Makes calls for you | YesRestaurants, vendors, appointments, callbacks | Yes | No | NoInbound only | YesIf you build it | PartlyBasic, if you build it |
| Answers when you can't | YesTakes real notes, not a message | NoYou cannot call Catch | PartlyTexts; calling is not shown | Yes | YesIf you build it | Partly |
| Replaces your voicemail (forward missed calls) | YesCarrier codes shown, filled in | No | No | PartlyFor a business line | No | No |
| Callbacks land on the same number | YesThe line that called is the line that answers | No | No | Partly | PartlyIf you build it | No |
| Written summary after every call, with transcript | YesEmailed, plus a morning brief | YesEmail recap | PartlyChat | YesLead notes | PartlyRaw transcripts via API | Partly |
| Wakes your assistant the moment something happens (no polling) | YesStarts your Bot on a text, an email, or a finished call | NoIt is the assistant | NoIt is the assistant | NoNotifies you, not your assistant | PartlyWebhooks to code you write | No |
| Email address it receives on and sends from | YesBoth ways, threaded replies | PartlyEmail in | No | No | No | No |
| Works with the assistant you already use | YesGrok Bot, OpenAI dots, Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor: one URL, OAuth | NoIt is the assistant | NoIt is the assistant | No | PartlyThrough code | PartlyOne client each, usually |
| Waits on hold, then rings you | Yes | No | No | No | PartlyIf you build it | No |
| Your instructions by text from your own phone | YesTexts from your mobile are instructions for your Bot | PartlyEmail in | Yes | No | No | No |
| Says it is an AI when asked; never pays | YesBoth, always | PartlyDiscloses; can be asked to pay | Partly | PartlyVaries by vendor | PartlyYour prompt decides | PartlyYour prompt decides |
| Content encrypted per line; staff see usage, not calls | Yes | PartlyNot published | PartlyNot published | PartlyVaries | PartlyVaries | NoUsually plaintext on your box |
| Set up without code | YesAbout a minute | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Price | $29 · $79 · $199 /mo, 100 · 300 · 1,000 min, $0.25/min after | $99/mo flat | Free · $25 · $100/mo (number on the $100 tier) | $49 to $300+/mo; Rosie $49 for 250 min, Goodcall $79, NextPhone $199Business phone lines answered by AI. | $0.05 to $0.22 per minute, plus your engineeringBuild-it-yourself tools for developers. | $5 to $30/mo, usually per-minute on topYou host and maintain them. |
Sources, all public: Catch pricing · Pally pricing · AI receptionist comparison (Goodcall, Rosie, Smith.ai) · NextPhone pricing · Retell, Bland, Synthflow per-minute rates. If a price or feature has changed, tell us and we will fix the table.
Each page puts the prices and limits from that company's own site beside ours, and says where they are the better choice.
Choosing between kinds rather than brands? AI receptionist vs virtual receptionist · AI receptionist for small business
A phone plan for an AI agent: one number, unlimited talk and text.
A phone API for developers building agents.
A phone API and hosted MCP server for developers building agents.
A telephony API and MCP server for agents you build.
It answers, makes calls for you, and reports back like a chief of staff. A number in your area code, a plan you pick, about a minute to set up.
An AI receptionist answers a business line and screens callers. CosVoice is your own assistant's phone. It takes instructions from you, makes calls for you, handles the callbacks, and reports back. One line per Bot, not a call center.
Yes. Any assistant that supports MCP connects with one paste: Grok Bot, OpenAI dots, Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and others. The steps for a dot are at cosvoice.com/integrations/openai-dots. Meta's Muse takes a different road, because it writes its own connector: you make an API key and Muse reads our published spec at cosvoice.com/openapi.json. The steps are at cosvoice.com/muse. Any of them can be woken by CosVoice if it has a webhook URL and a token. Developers also get a REST API and signed webhooks.
On a call, no. It never gives out a card number or agrees to a charge, so a booking or appointment is the most it commits you to. Your plan's minutes are the only thing the line itself spends, and app orders (dinner, groceries) go through only after you confirm.
Starter is $29 a month with 100 minutes of calls. Plus is $79 with 300 minutes. Pro is $199 with 1,000. Extra minutes are $0.25 each, rounded up per call. Every plan includes the number, the email address, and the assistant connection.
Free for 7 days with 10 minutes of calls. Then $29 a month unless you cancel.