Talk24 vs Smith.ai: Which Is Better for Law Firm Intake?

Choosing between Talk24 and Smith.ai? Both help law firms capture leads, but they take fundamentally different approaches. This comparison breaks down the real differences so you can make the right choice for your practice.

The Core Difference

Smith.ai is a virtual receptionist service that combines human operators with AI assistance. Real people answer your calls and respond to chats, with AI helping them work faster.

Talk24 is AI-first intake software built specifically for law firms. AI handles the entire initial conversation—qualifying cases, gathering information, and scoring leads—without human involvement until you choose to engage.

Neither approach is universally better. The right choice depends on your practice, volume, and priorities.

Quick Comparison

Feature	Talk24	Smith.ai
Primary Model	AI-powered intake	Human + AI hybrid
24/7 Availability	Yes, fully automated	Yes, with staffing costs
Website Chat	Native, always-on	Available as add-on
Phone Answering	No (chat/text focused)	Yes, core offering
Case Qualification	AI-scored in real-time	Human judgment
Multilingual	English, Spanish, Chinese	English, Spanish (premium)
Starting Price	$179/month	~$285/month + per-call fees
Per-Lead Costs	Included in plan	Per-minute/per-chat billing
Best For	High-volume web leads	Phone-first practices

Pricing Breakdown

Smith.ai Pricing

Smith.ai uses a per-call and per-chat model with monthly minimums:

• Starter: ~$285/month for 30 calls
• Basic: ~$765/month for 90 calls
• Pro: ~$1,950/month for 300 calls
• Additional calls: $9-12 each
• Live chat: Additional monthly fee + per-chat charges

For a firm receiving 100 calls and 50 chats monthly, expect $800-1,200/month.

Talk24 Pricing

Talk24 uses flat monthly pricing:

• Talk24: $179/month for 100 qualified intakes
• Enterprise: Custom pricing for higher volume

No per-conversation charges. No surprise bills. Predictable costs regardless of volume spikes.

Real Cost Comparison

Let's say you get 150 website visitors who engage with chat and 50 phone inquiries monthly:

Smith.ai: ~$600-900 (calls) + ~$300-400 (chat add-on) = $900-1,300/month

Talk24: $179/month for chat intake + your existing phone setup = $179/month (plus whatever you're already paying for phones)

If your leads primarily come through your website, Talk24 costs 70-85% less.

When Smith.ai Makes More Sense

Phone-Heavy Practices

If most of your leads come through phone calls—not website traffic—Smith.ai's core strength is phone answering. They're excellent at it. Talk24 focuses on chat and text, not phone answering.

Premium Client Experience

Some practice areas (estate planning, high-net-worth clients) benefit from a human voice on every call. If white-glove service is your brand, human receptionists reinforce that positioning.

Existing Call Volume

If you're already drowning in phone calls and need immediate relief, Smith.ai plugs into that workflow directly. They answer phones. That's their bread and butter.

Simple Message Taking

If you just need messages taken—name, number, brief reason for calling—and don't need sophisticated case qualification, a virtual receptionist handles that well.

When Talk24 Makes More Sense

Website-Driven Leads

If your leads come through your website—and increasingly, they do—Talk24 captures conversations that Smith.ai's phone service misses entirely. Half of potential clients would rather type than talk, especially after hours.

Case Qualification Needs

Talk24 doesn't just capture contact info. It asks your intake questions, assesses case viability, and scores leads on value and urgency. By the time your team sees a lead, you know if it's worth a callback.

Smith.ai takes messages. Talk24 qualifies cases.

After-Hours Volume

AI doesn't sleep, take breaks, or cost more at 3 AM. For firms in practice areas with after-hours inquiries (personal injury, criminal defense, immigration), Talk24 captures leads when staffing human operators would be prohibitively expensive.

Multilingual Clients

Talk24 handles English, Spanish, and Chinese natively—the same AI, not a translation layer. For immigration firms or practices serving Spanish-speaking communities, this is seamless. Smith.ai offers Spanish as a premium add-on with variable quality.

Predictable Budgeting

No per-call or per-chat fees means no surprise bills when you run ads or get press coverage. Your March invoice looks like your February invoice, regardless of volume fluctuations.

Feature Deep Dive

Lead Qualification

Smith.ai: Human operators follow scripts you provide. Quality depends on training and individual performance. Good operators ask follow-up questions; less experienced ones stick rigidly to scripts.

Talk24: AI qualification is consistent every time. It asks the same questions, captures the same information, and applies your criteria uniformly. No variance between operators or shifts.

Website Chat

Smith.ai: Live chat is available as an add-on, staffed by human operators during business hours (extended hours available at premium). After-hours defaults to contact forms or limited AI.

Talk24: Chat is native and always-on. Same AI, same quality, whether someone engages at 2 PM or 2 AM. No "please leave a message" at midnight.

Integration

Smith.ai: Integrates with major CRMs and practice management systems. Good ecosystem support for legal software.

Talk24: Integrates with Clio, PracticePanther, Lawmatics, and other legal practice management systems. API available for custom integrations.

Both handle integrations reasonably well for law firms.

Reporting and Analytics

Smith.ai: Call logs, chat transcripts, and basic reporting on volume and outcomes.

Talk24: Full conversation transcripts, lead scoring, qualification analytics, and conversion tracking. See which questions prospects struggle with, where they drop off, and which sources produce the best leads.

The Hybrid Approach

Some firms use both:

• Talk24 for website chat and after-hours text coverage
• Smith.ai (or similar) for business-hours phone answering

This captures leads across all channels without paying premium rates for after-hours human staffing. Website visitors chat with AI; phone callers talk to humans.

It's more complex to manage, but covers all bases.

Common Concerns

"Will AI feel impersonal?"

Modern AI chat feels natural—often more natural than rushed human operators juggling multiple calls. Clients get immediate responses, thoughtful follow-up questions, and complete attention to their situation.

"What about complex situations?"

Talk24 is designed to capture information and qualify leads, not provide legal advice or handle edge cases. When conversations require human judgment, the AI collects contact info and flags for attorney follow-up. Smith.ai operators do the same—they're not attorneys either.

"Can I try both?"

Yes. Talk24 offers a 14-day free trial. Smith.ai typically offers short trials as well. Run them simultaneously if you want direct comparison with your actual lead flow.

Making the Decision

Choose Smith.ai if:

• Most leads come through phone calls
• You need human phone answering as your primary service
• Premium/white-glove positioning matters for your practice
• You're comfortable with per-call/per-chat pricing

Choose Talk24 if:

• Website traffic is a significant lead source
• You need sophisticated case qualification
• After-hours coverage matters without premium staffing costs
• Predictable monthly pricing fits your budget better
• Multilingual support (especially Spanish) is important

The Bottom Line

Smith.ai is a good virtual receptionist service. If you need humans answering phones, they do it well.

Talk24 is purpose-built AI intake for law firms. If you need to capture, qualify, and score website leads around the clock, that's what we do.

Different tools for different problems. The question is which problem you're actually trying to solve.