BookedBack vs Smith.ai: which fits a personal injury firm?

Smith.ai bills for every call it answers, whether or not the caller ever becomes a client. BookedBack bills for a booked appointment. That one difference decides it. A firm that wants a receptionist for all incoming calls fits Smith.ai. A PI firm that wants its own leads qualified and booked, with the cost tied to the result, fits BookedBack.

What is Smith.ai?

Smith.ai is a hybrid answering and intake service for law firms. It combines AI with about 500 North America-based live agents, and a firm picks an AI-first, hybrid, or human-first plan. A call can be answered, booked, or transferred. Booking and live transfer are per-call add-ons.

The company has run for 11 years. It says it has answered more than 25 million calls and serves more than 4,000 law firms, and about 80% of its customers are law firms. Smith.ai serves broad consumer law, not personal injury alone. It runs Google search ads on intake keywords such as virtual receptionist and legal answering service. Smith.ai says its service saves firms an average of $42,000 a year against an in-house receptionist.

Smith.ai bills per call. Smith.ai shows four review badges on its site: G2 4.9, Clutch 4.8, Capterra 4.8, and Trustpilot 4.3. It integrates with Clio, Filevine, Lawmatics, MyCase, PracticePanther, Smokeball, Litify, and Rocket Matter. G2 and Capterra reviews mention add-on billing surprises, and some long-time customers report a quality decline since 2023.

See what your lead list is worth →

What is BookedBack?

BookedBack is an AI intake platform built in San Diego for personal injury firms. It answers, qualifies, and books every lead in under 60 seconds, on AI voice, iMessage and email, the tools a firm already has. It is done for you: there is nothing for the firm's team to configure or run.

The firm pays a software usage fee per booked appointment, on its own leads. Solo starts at $0 a month with a fee per appointment. Growth raises the monthly lead limit on the firm's own leads and lowers the per-appointment fee. Scale lowers the fee again and adds custom integrations and priority support. The first booked appointment is free on every plan. Full pricing is on /pricing.

What is the real difference? Per call versus per booked appointment

Smith.ai answers a call, whether it turns into a client or not, and it charges for that call. A month of calls that never turn into a client still runs up the bill.

BookedBack answers a personal injury lead, qualifies it, and works to get it booked. The fee is tied to a booked appointment, not to how many times the phone rings.

A firm that wants a receptionist for every kind of call fits Smith.ai's broad, per-call model. A PI firm that wants its own leads answered, qualified, and booked, with the bill tied to a result, fits BookedBack's per-appointment model.

How does pricing compare?

Smith.ai bills per call. The first 25 calls a month are free forever. After that, AI-first calls run $1.60 each, hybrid calls $2.50, and human-first calls $7. Monthly plans run $300 for 30 calls, $810 for 90, and $2,100 for 300, with overage at $8.50 to $11.50 a call. Add-ons such as appointment booking, recording, Spanish, and live transfer are billed per call on top. Smith.ai offers a 30-day money-back guarantee up to $1,000, month to month, with 10% off if billed annually.

BookedBack charges a software usage fee per booked appointment on the firm's own leads. Solo runs $300 per appointment at $0 a month, for up to 100 leads a month. Growth runs $150 per appointment at $2,000 a month, for up to 300 leads, and adds iMessage, reminders, and past-client outreach. Scale runs $50 per appointment at $5,000 a month and adds custom integrations and priority support. Custom pricing is available above that. The first booked appointment is free on every plan. Full pricing is on /pricing.

A live agent in the mix, or AI on its own?

Smith.ai's model is hybrid. It runs AI alongside about 500 North America-based live agents, and a firm picks an AI-first, hybrid, or human-first plan. Live transfer is a $3.00 per-call add-on. Some firms want their clients to hear a human voice, and that hybrid model covers it.

BookedBack runs on AI alone, across voice, iMessage and email. There is no live-agent tier to pick and no per-call fee for a transfer. Every lead gets the same qualifying flow, and the firm's team has nothing to configure or run.

When Smith.ai is the better choice

Smith.ai fits a firm that handles more than personal injury. A general consumer-law practice fits this well. It might take calls about family law, estate planning, and small business disputes, alongside a handful of PI cases. That kind of firm wants one phone line answered by AI or a live person, not a tool built around a single practice area. The free tier and the 30-day money-back guarantee make it an easy first step for a firm that has never used an answering service.

It also fits a firm that wants a live agent in the loop, not AI on its own, especially one whose clients expect a person on the phone. If the firm already runs Clio, Filevine, or PracticePanther and wants a service built to plug into that setup, Smith.ai's integration list works in its favor.

When BookedBack is the better choice

BookedBack fits a personal injury firm that wants its own leads answered, qualified, and booked. The price is tied to a booked appointment, not to every call the phone receives. It runs on AI voice, iMessage and email, the only vendor in this comparison that lists iMessage, and every lead gets the same under-60-second response.

The firm pays a software usage fee only on its own leads, and the first booked appointment is free. There is no add-on menu to read before the bill arrives, no live-agent tier to choose, and nothing for the team to configure. See the plans on /pricing or get a demo.

Common questions