Honest comparison · Last verified July 5, 2026

    Wavez vs Smith.ai

    AI-assisted human receptionists for general SMBs. Here's how it stacks up against the AI receptionist built for US dental clinics.

    The short version

    Smith.ai is a well-known virtual receptionist service that blends human agents with AI. It serves a wide range of small businesses — law firms, agencies, contractors. Wavez is purpose-built for one industry: US dental clinics. Every script, integration, and booking flow is tuned to how dental front desks actually work.

    Feature-by-feature comparison

    Feature
    Wavez
    Smith.ai
    Winner
    Industry focus
    Dental clinics only
    General SMB (law, trades, agencies)
    Available 24/7
    Yes, always-on AI
    Limited after-hours coverage
    Books into dental PMS
    Native — Dentrix, Open Dental, Eaglesoft style flows
    Generic calendar tools
    Per-call pricing model
    Flat monthly — predictable
    Per-minute / per-call — variable
    Pickup speed
    1 ring, every time
    Depends on agent availability
    Human warm-transfer
    Yes, to your team during hours
    Yes (their own team)
    Setup time
    48 hours
    1–2 weeks
    Brand recognition
    New, dental-focused
    Established, broad

    Pricing snapshot

    Wavez

    Flat monthly plan — less than one part-time receptionist. 14-day free trial.

    Smith.ai

    Plans start ~$293/mo for 30 calls; per-call/minute overage charges apply.

    Sourced fact: Smith.ai — Public plan tiers with monthly prices published on their pricing page.

    Verify on Smith.ai's site: https://smith.ai/pricing · Last verified July 1, 2026

    Pricing reflects publicly available information at time of writing. Always check the vendor for current rates.

    When dental clinics pick Wavez

    • Built only for dental — every prompt knows the difference between a cleaning, a crown, and an emergency.
    • Flat monthly billing — no per-minute surprises during a busy week.
    • AI answers in one ring; no waiting for a human agent to come on the line.
    • Live in 48 hours instead of waiting for human-agent onboarding.
    • Handles insurance pre-qualification and new-patient intake natively.

    When Smith.ai is the better pick

    • You run a non-dental small business (law firm, trades, agency).
    • You require a human-only experience for every call.
    • Your call volume is extremely low and you only want to pay per-call.

    FAQs

    See Wavez in action for your clinic

    15 minutes. We'll show you exactly how Wavez handles the calls Smith.ai can't — or charges per minute for.