Ruby Receptionist Alternative: Same Quality, $49/mo Instead of $235

Let's be honest about Ruby.

Ruby is a good service. Their receptionists are polite, professional, and they answer the phone quickly. If you need a warm human voice handling your calls, Ruby delivers.

But there's a problem: Ruby takes messages. That's it.

A customer calls. Ruby's receptionist says "I'll pass on your message to [business name]." The customer waits. You get an email. You call back hours later. By then, 40% of callers have already called someone else.

You're paying $235/month (minimum) for premium message-taking.

What Ruby Actually Costs

Ruby's pricing looks simple until you read the fine print:

50 minutes. That's about 25 calls of 2 minutes each. If you're a busy tradie or service business getting 5-10 calls a day, you'll blow through 50 minutes in a week. Then you're paying $5.50 per minute on top.

A real-world Ruby bill for a busy small business: $400-600/month.

What You Get for $49/mo with Infercall

The fundamental difference: Ruby takes a message. Infercall handles the call.

"But I Want a Real Person"

Fair point. Some callers prefer talking to a human. Here's the honest truth:

Most callers can't tell the difference. Infercall's AI responds in under 600ms with natural speech patterns. We've had business owners tell us their customers complimented their "new receptionist."

But more importantly — would your customer rather:

A) Talk to a human who says "I'll take a message and have someone call you back"

B) Talk to an AI who says "I can book you in for tomorrow at 9am — does that work?"

Option B gets them what they want: a booking, a quote, an answer. Not a promise that someone might call back.

When Ruby Still Makes Sense

We're not going to pretend Infercall is right for everyone. Ruby is better if:

• You're a law firm handling sensitive intake calls that require empathy and nuance
• You need bilingual receptionists (Ruby offers Spanish)
• Your callers specifically expect a human and would be put off by AI
• You have complex call flows that change daily

For everyone else — especially service businesses, tradies, medical practices, and anyone who needs after-hours coverage — AI phone answering gives you more functionality for a fraction of the cost.

The Math

Plus, Infercall actually books the job. So you're not just saving money on the answering service — you're capturing revenue that Ruby would have let slip away.

How to Switch

1. Go to infercall.com
2. Paste your website URL — your AI learns your business in 60 seconds
3. Talk to it, test it, make sure you're happy
4. Forward your phone to your new Infercall number
5. Cancel Ruby

Total switching time: about 5 minutes. No contracts to break on our end.

Compare Infercall vs Ruby → — we put the full feature comparison side by side, with honest notes on where each service wins.

Try it free → — paste your website, talk to your AI in 60 seconds. No credit card.