AI agents for small business
AI agents for business act on their own: they answer calls, hold phone conversations and settle support questions, then pass a person anything they can't handle.
First picks: Zoom Virtual Agent Receptionist for answering calls ($25 a month, billed annually), ElevenAgents from ElevenLabs for voice agents ($6 a month) and Chatling for customer support ($21 a month, billed annually).
What is an AI agent?
Software that works toward a goal by itself. It takes a request, decides the steps, uses the tools you connect, such as a phone line, calendar, help desk or accounting system, and acts. Then it hands off to a person when it should. A chatbot answers questions; an agent also does the task, such as booking the appointment.
What are examples and use cases of AI agents for business?
Small businesses use AI agents to answer calls, hold phone conversations, settle support questions and help with back-office work. Examples, by the job they do:
- Answering calls: Dialpad AI Agents and Goodcall
- Voice agents: Aircall's AI Voice Agents and Amazon Connect Customer from Amazon Web Services
- Customer support: Botpress and Chatbase
- Bookkeeping: Basis and Docyt
- Accounting software: Accounting Seed AI and FloQast AI Agents
- Invoice processing: BILL AI and Nanonets
- Tax preparation: Avalara Agentic Tax and Compliance and Instead
- Estimating: Mirage Metrics
- Field service: Fieldproxy and GorillaDesk AI Agents
- AI agent builders: assistents.ai Agent Builder and Coworker
For chat and email support, see AI agents for customer service.
What should you check before you use an AI agent?
- What it may do without asking you first, such as booking, refunding or paying.
- How it hands over to a person, and who gets the details.
- What it can see in the systems you connect, and what the vendor says about security, in its own words.
- How it is billed: per minute, per conversation and per seat add up differently.
Which AI agents can a small business use for answering calls?
Start with Zoom Virtual Agent Receptionist, from $25 per month, billed annually: the lowest flat monthly price of the 6 AI agents for answering calls compared. Suits a small office that books in Google Calendar, Outlook or Calendly and wants a low entry price: it starts at $25 a month, billed annually, for 100 minutes. Zoom offers a BAA to anyone subject to HIPAA. The catch: 100 minutes goes quickly on a busy line, the free trial length isn't stated, and the Zoom Phone bundle is priced from $0.25 a minute. RingCentral AI Receptionist's Standalone plan starts at $49 per month with 100 minutes and a 14-day free trial.
| Tool | Price as stated | Free plan or trial | Compliance it states | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom Virtual Agent ReceptionistZoom · Vendor site | From $25 per month, billed annually | Free trial | Signs a HIPAA BAA | Oct 17, 2026 |
| GoodcallGoodcall · Vendor site | From $79 per month | Not stated | Signs a HIPAA BAA, SOC 2 (type not stated) | Oct 17, 2026 |
| Ringly.ioRingly · Vendor site | From $99 per month | Not stated | Not stated | Oct 17, 2026 |
| SonaQuo · Vendor site | From $15 per user per month, billed annually | Free trial (7 days) | Signs a HIPAA BAA | Oct 17, 2026 |
Which AI voice agent platforms can a small business use?
ElevenAgents from ElevenLabs is the one to try first, from $6 per month: no flat plan among the 17 AI agents for voice agents costs less. If you want to try a voice agent before spending anything, the free plan includes 15 minutes of calls, and Starter is $6 per month after that. The catch: plans are billed by call minutes, so cost grows with volume, and the HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II and BAA terms sit under the enterprise offer. Retell AI is pay as you go, at $0.07-$0.31 a minute for AI voice agents.
| Tool | Price as stated | Free plan or trial | Compliance it states | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ElevenAgentsElevenLabs · Vendor site | From $6 per month | Free plan | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, Signs a HIPAA BAA | Oct 17, 2026 |
| DaptaDapta · Vendor site | From $99 per month | Not stated | Not stated | Oct 17, 2026 |
| Aircall's AI Voice AgentsAircall · Vendor site | From $100 per month | Not stated | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, Signs a HIPAA BAA | Oct 17, 2026 |
| Brilo AIBrilo AI · Vendor site | From $149 per month | Free plan | Not stated | Oct 17, 2026 |
Which AI agents can a small business use for customer support?
Try Chatling first, from $21 per month, billed annually: the cheapest flat plan of the 19 AI agents for customer support listed. Suits a small shop or service business that wants to start free and keep costs low later: the free plan gives 200 AI credits, and Starter is $21 a month billed $250 annually. The catch: usage runs on AI credits, with 1,750 on Starter, and no trial of paid plans is stated. Lyro AI Agent from Tidio also has a free plan, and paid use starts at $32.50 a month from 50 Lyro AI conversations.
| Tool | Price as stated | Free plan or trial | Compliance it states | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatlingChatling · Vendor site | From $21 per month, billed annually | Free plan | GDPR | Oct 17, 2026 |
| ChatbaseChatbase · Vendor site | From $32 per month, billed annually | Free trial (7 days) | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, Mentions HIPAA | Oct 17, 2026 |
| Lyro AI AgentTidio · Vendor site | From $32.50 per month | Free plan, Free trial (7 days) | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, Mentions HIPAA | Oct 17, 2026 |
| HugoCrisp · Vendor site | From $45 per month | Free trial (14 days) | Not stated | Oct 17, 2026 |
What are the best AI agents for a small business?
Plainscout starts each job with the tool that has the lowest flat monthly price in its list: Zoom Virtual Agent Receptionist for answering calls ($25 a month, billed annually), ElevenAgents from ElevenLabs for voice agents ($6 a month) and Chatling for customer support ($21 a month, billed annually). No vendor pays for a place, and the right one still depends on your job.
How were these tools picked?
In each job, the pick is the AI agent with the lowest flat monthly price in that job's full list (a free plan, or a tool made mainly for the job, when none states one). Its table adds the next 3 in the list's order: tools mainly for this job first, then those with a stated starting price (lowest monthly price first), then the most recently checked. No vendor pays for a place. How we order tools.