Compare
Talos Connect vs. Weave, Podium, RingCentral and Smith.ai.
17 things offices ask about, side by side: phones, texting, the AI receptionist, scheduling, reviews, payments, HIPAA and price. Checked on each vendor's own website in October 2026.
How does Talos Connect compare with Weave, Podium, RingCentral and Smith.ai?
Talos Connect puts the phone system, business texting, an AI receptionist that books during the call in English, Spanish or Vietnamese, scheduling, reviews, forms, campaigns, fax, team chat and video meetings on one platform with published prices, and it signs a BAA. Weave is strongest on practice-management integrations, Podium on payments and reviews, RingCentral on enterprise phone features, and Smith.ai on live human receptionists. EHR integrations are on the Talos Connect roadmap.
- Key:
- Included
- Add-on or higher plan
- Partial
- On the roadmap
- Not offered
- Not published
| Feature | Talos ConnectAll-in-one platform | WeavePatient communication | PodiumMessaging, reviews and payments | RingCentralRingEX phones and AI Receptionist | Smith.aiAnswering service |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business phone systemCalling with desktop and mobile apps | Included. Unlimited US and Canada calling; keep your numbers | Included. VoIP phones in the Base Plan | Add-on or higher plan. Podium Phones; a paid add-on per third-party reports | Included. RingEX, unlimited US and Canada calling | Not offered. Answering service; forward or port your number |
| Two-way business textingFrom your business number | Add-on or higher plan. Standard seat and up, $10/mo per number plus $50 one-time registration | Included. Two-way texting in the Base Plan | Included. Shared inbox for texts, chat and calls | Add-on or higher plan. 25 to 200 texts per user included; shared inbox extra | Partial. Follow-up texts after calls; no shared inbox |
| AI receptionist, 24/7 | Add-on or higher plan. $149/mo with 500 minutes | Add-on or higher plan. Early-access add-on, priced by quote | Add-on or higher plan. AI Employee: Signature plan or add-on | Add-on or higher plan. AI Receptionist from $39/mo with 100 minutes | Included. Every AI plan, including a free plan |
| AI books appointments during the call | Add-on or higher plan. With the AI receptionist, in the Talos calendar | Partial. Live booking with a qualified dental PMS | Add-on or higher plan. With the AI Employee | Add-on or higher plan. Books into Google or Outlook calendars | Included. Into Calendly, Acuity, Square and others |
| AI receptionist languages | Included. English, Spanish and Vietnamese | On the roadmap. Multilingual listed as coming soon | Not published. Not published | Included. English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese | Included. English and Spanish |
| Online booking and reminders | Included. Booking page, Quick Fill, email reminders; reminder texts need texting | Add-on or higher plan. Coordinate bundle ($149/mo); reminders in every tier, online booking Elite and up | Partial. Reminders through integrations; no booking page found | Partial. No booking page found; reminders through an SMS add-on | Partial. Books into your existing scheduler |
| Review requests by text | Add-on or higher plan. Included; sending by text needs a Standard seat and a $10/mo number | Add-on or higher plan. Attract bundle ($149/mo), or included in Pro, Elite and Ultimate | Included. Automated review invites by text | Add-on or higher plan. Through an SMS add-on | Partial. Review request in follow-up messages |
| Payments by text | Partial. Payment links and plans by text; payouts to your own account not yet available | Included. Text to Pay in the Base Plan, plus terminals | Included. Text-to-pay, card readers, Tap to Pay | Add-on or higher plan. Payment requests through an SMS add-on | Partial. Live agents take card payments on calls |
| Digital intake forms | Included. Intake and consent forms; send by text (needs texting) or share the link | Add-on or higher plan. Coordinate bundle ($149/mo), or Elite tier and up | Partial. Intake forms documented for aesthetics only | Not published. No native forms found | Partial. Intake questions asked on the call |
| Text and email campaigns | Included. Email campaigns; text campaigns need texting | Add-on or higher plan. Attract bundle ($149/mo); email and bulk texts in every tier | Partial. Bulk text campaigns | Partial. Text campaigns as paid add-ons | Partial. Outbound call campaigns from $600/mo |
| Online fax | Add-on or higher plan. $9.95/mo per fax line | Included. Fax in every plan | Not published. Not listed | Add-on or higher plan. Advanced plan ($25/user annual, $35 monthly) and up | Not offered. Not offered |
| Call recording and AI call insights | Add-on or higher plan. Included in the Premium seat, or $5/user each for recording and AI insights | Add-on or higher plan. Recording included; AI Call Intelligence on the top tier | Add-on or higher plan. Recording and AI summaries with Podium Phones | Included. Recording and AI transcripts on all plans | Included. Recording, transcripts and summaries |
| Team chat and video meetings | Included. Team chat and video meetings with AI notes | Partial. Team chat; no video meetings found | Partial. Internal chat; no team video meetings found | Included. Team chat and video meetings on all plans | Not offered. No team chat or video meetings |
| Signs a HIPAA BAA | Included. BAA for healthcare clients | Included. Publishes a BAA | Included. BAA in its terms of service | Included. BAA for paying covered entities | Not offered. Says it is not HIPAA-compliant |
| EHR and practice-management integrations | On the roadmap. On the roadmap; open API and webhooks today | Included. 49 PMS and EHR integrations | Included. PMS and EHR marketplace integrations | Add-on or higher plan. Epic, athenahealth and more through a separate product | Partial. No EHR; agents can book into tools like Jane |
| Live human receptionists | Not offered. AI only; transfers to your staff | Not offered. Not offered | Not published. Not listed | Not offered. Not offered | Included. Live receptionists from $300/mo |
| Published pricing | Included. Seats $19.95 to $34.95 a user; AI receptionist $149 | Partial. Base Plan from $199/mo; tiers by quote | Not offered. Quote only | Included. RingEX from $20/user/mo, billed annually | Included. AI free, Pro from $150, Enterprise from $500/mo; live from $300/mo |
Competitor features and prices were checked on their public websites in October 2026. Sources are listed below; products change, so confirm anything that matters with each vendor.
Fair is fair
Where each one is strongest
Every tool here is good at something. If one of these strengths is the thing your office needs most, it may be the better fit.
Weave
Base Plan from $199 a month; bundles $149 a month each; AI receptionist and higher tiers by quote
- 49 practice-management and EHR integrations, included in the Base Plan
- With a qualified dental PMS, the AI receptionist books into the live schedule
- A full payments stack: terminals, Tap to Pay and text-to-pay
- A large installed base in dental, medical, optometry and veterinary
Podium
Quote only; third-party reports put the last public prices at $399 to $599 a month (2025)
- Payments beyond text-to-pay: card readers, Tap to Pay and recurring autopay
- Mature review management for Google and Facebook
- A large integration marketplace (180+ listed)
- Industry-specific AI Employee setups
RingCentral
RingEX from $20 a user a month billed annually; AI Receptionist from $39 a month with 100 minutes
- Enterprise scale: a 99.999% uptime SLA, single sign-on and Microsoft Teams calling
- Video meetings for up to 300 people on every plan
- An AI receptionist that works with any phone system and speaks six languages
- EHR integrations such as Epic and athenahealth through RingCentral for Healthcare
Smith.ai
AI plans: free (25 calls), Pro from $150 and Enterprise from $500 a month; live receptionists from $300 a month
- Live North America-based receptionists, 24/7
- A free AI plan and month-to-month, per-call pricing
- Works with the phone system you already have, through call forwarding
- Deep legal-industry integrations such as Clio and MyCase
Talos Connect
- The AI receptionist books, reschedules and cancels during the call, in English, Spanish or Vietnamese
- Phones, texting, scheduling, reviews, forms, campaigns, fax, team chat and video meetings on one bill
- Published list prices, with seats from $19.95 a user
- Signs a BAA for healthcare clients
- Editions beyond healthcare: restaurants, home services, law firms, salons and auto repair
Not yet: EHR and practice-management integrations (on the roadmap), or card payouts to your own account. No live human answering: the AI hands calls to your staff. Features that send texts need a Standard seat and a texting number ($10 a month).
Questions, answered
Frequently asked questions
Which is the best alternative to Weave, Podium or RingCentral?
It depends on what you need most. If you want phones, texting, an AI receptionist, scheduling, reviews, forms, campaigns and fax on one bill with published prices, Talos Connect covers all of it. If two-way sync with your practice-management system is essential today, Weave has the deepest integrations. Podium is strongest on payments and reviews, and RingCentral on enterprise phone features.
Does Talos Connect sign a HIPAA BAA?
Yes. Talos Connect signs a Business Associate Agreement with healthcare clients. Weave, Podium and RingCentral also offer BAAs. Smith.ai says it is not HIPAA-compliant and does not handle protected health information.
Does Talos Connect integrate with my EHR or practice-management system?
Not yet. EHR and practice-management integrations are on the roadmap; today Talos Connect offers an open API and signed webhooks. If a live PMS connection is essential now, Weave lists 49 PMS and EHR integrations, and RingCentral offers EHR integrations through a separate healthcare product.
How do the AI receptionists compare?
The Talos Connect AI receptionist is $149 a month with 500 minutes and $75 per extra 500, books, reschedules and cancels in the Talos calendar during the call, and speaks English, Spanish and Vietnamese. RingCentral's AI Receptionist starts at $39 a month with 100 minutes and $0.50 a minute after, books into Google or Outlook calendars and speaks six languages. Smith.ai has a free AI plan for 25 calls a month and live agents on paid plans. Weave's AI receptionist is an early-access add-on priced by quote, and Podium's AI Employee comes with its Signature plan or as an add-on.
Is Smith.ai a phone system?
No. Smith.ai is an answering service: you forward calls from your phone carrier or port your number to it. Talos Connect, Weave, RingCentral and Podium (with Podium Phones) provide the phone system itself.
Which of these publish their prices?
Talos Connect, RingCentral and Smith.ai publish list prices. Weave publishes its Base Plan and bundle prices, with higher tiers by quote. Podium is quote only.
How current is this comparison?
Every competitor cell was checked against the vendor's own website in October 2026 and re-checked by a second reviewer. Where a vendor publishes nothing we say so, and the few points that rest on third-party reports are labeled. Products change, so the sources are linked on this page; tell us if anything is out of date and we will correct it.
Methodology
How this comparison was built
- Competitor features and prices come from each vendor's own public website, checked on October 8, 2026, then re-checked by a second reviewer against the live pages.
- Included means part of a standard plan. Add-on means an extra fee or a higher plan. Partial means a limited version. Not published means we could not confirm it from public sources, so we did not guess.
- Third-party sources are used only where a vendor publishes nothing, and they are marked in the cell or the source list.
- Talos Connect features that send texts need a Standard seat and a texting number ($10 a month).
- Talos Connect is our product. Its column reflects the features and list prices in our store today.
- Products change. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
Talos Connect: 12 sources
- Business phone system: Phones and VoIP feature page
- Business phone system, Payments by text, Online fax, Team chat and video meetings, Published pricing: Cost savings page (porting is free)
- Two-way business texting: Business texting feature page
- AI receptionist, 24/7, AI books appointments during the call, AI receptionist languages, Live human receptionists: AI receptionist page
- Online booking and reminders: Scheduling and reminders feature page
- Review requests by text: Reviews feature page
- Payments by text: Payments feature page
- Digital intake forms, Text and email campaigns: Features page: digital forms with e-signature
- Call recording and AI call insights: Call Intelligence feature page
- Signs a HIPAA BAA, EHR and practice-management integrations: Medical offices page FAQ (BAA part of onboarding for healthcare clients)
- Signs a HIPAA BAA, Published pricing: Home page FAQ: Is Talos Connect HIPAA compliant?
- EHR and practice-management integrations: Weave alternative page: limitations
Weave: 23 sources
- Business phone system, Two-way business texting, AI receptionist, 24/7, Online booking and reminders, Review requests by text, Payments by text, Digital intake forms, Text and email campaigns, Online fax, Team chat and video meetings, EHR and practice-management integrations, Live human receptionists, Published pricing: Weave Plans (Base Plan contents)
- Business phone system, Online fax, Call recording and AI call insights: Weave Phones
- Business phone system: Weave Softphones
- Two-way business texting: Weave Texting
- Two-way business texting, AI receptionist, 24/7, AI books appointments during the call, AI receptionist languages, Live human receptionists: Weave AI Receptionist (one inbox)
- AI receptionist, 24/7: Weave press release, May 28 2026
- AI books appointments during the call, AI receptionist languages: Weave AI overview ('Book appointments with qualified PMS')
- Online booking and reminders, Review requests by text, Text and email campaigns, Online fax, Call recording and AI call insights, Published pricing: Weave Pricing (tier comparison)
- Online booking and reminders: Weave Scheduling
- Review requests by text: Weave review software
- Payments by text: Weave Text to Pay (fees FAQ)
- Payments by text: Weave Payments
- Digital intake forms: Weave Digital Forms
- Digital intake forms: Weave Digital Forms Terms (e-signature section)
- Digital intake forms: Weave press release on Digital Forms e-sign, Dec 20 2023
- Text and email campaigns: Weave Bulk Texting
- Call recording and AI call insights: Weave Call Intelligence
- Team chat and video meetings: Weave Team Chat
- Signs a HIPAA BAA: Weave Business Associate Agreement
- Signs a HIPAA BAA: Weave Security (HIPAA)
- EHR and practice-management integrations: Weave Integrations directory
- EHR and practice-management integrations: Weave athenaOne integration (authorized partner)
- Live human receptionists: Weave AI answering service article (updated Aug 27 2026)
Podium: 24 sources
- Business phone system, Two-way business texting, Online fax, Call recording and AI call insights: Podium Phones product page
- Business phone system, Online booking and reminders, Text and email campaigns, EHR and practice-management integrations, Published pricing: Podium for Aesthetics plans
- Business phone system, Call recording and AI call insights, Published pricing: Quo: Podium pricing (uses 2025 pricing) (third-party)
- Two-way business texting, Team chat and video meetings: Podium Inbox product page
- AI receptionist, 24/7, Online fax, Live human receptionists, Published pricing: Podium pricing page ("Add on AI Employee to any plan")
- AI receptionist, 24/7, AI books appointments during the call, Review requests by text, Call recording and AI call insights: Podium Help Center: AI Overview
- AI receptionist, 24/7, AI books appointments during the call, AI receptionist languages, Online booking and reminders, Live human receptionists: Podium AI Employee product page
- AI books appointments during the call, Digital intake forms, Signs a HIPAA BAA: Podium for Aesthetics
- AI books appointments during the call: Podium for Home Services
- AI receptionist languages: Agentaya Podium review (updated 2026-01-24) (third-party)
- AI receptionist languages: AInora Podium AI Employee review (updated 2026-06-06) (third-party)
- Online booking and reminders: Podium Marketplace: Calendly
- Online booking and reminders, EHR and practice-management integrations: Podium Marketplace: DrChrono
- Review requests by text: Podium Reviews product page
- Payments by text: Podium Payments product page
- Text and email campaigns: Podium Text Marketing product page
- Online fax: Podium Legal Center
- Team chat and video meetings: Podium Teamchat page
- Team chat and video meetings: Podium Videochat page
- Signs a HIPAA BAA: Podium Terms of Service (PDF, generated 2026-10-01), s.4.4
- Signs a HIPAA BAA: Podium Legal Center: BAA
- Signs a HIPAA BAA: Podium Business Associate Agreement
- EHR and practice-management integrations: Podium Marketplace: Eaglesoft
- Published pricing: PricingSaaS: Podium pricing-page history (third-party)
RingCentral: 13 sources
- Business phone system, Two-way business texting, Text and email campaigns, Online fax, Call recording and AI call insights, Team chat and video meetings, Live human receptionists, Published pricing: RingCentral plans and pricing
- Two-way business texting: RingCentral Customer Engagement Bundle
- AI receptionist, 24/7, AI books appointments during the call, AI receptionist languages, Published pricing: RingCentral AI Receptionist pricing
- AI receptionist, 24/7, AI books appointments during the call, AI receptionist languages, Online booking and reminders, Digital intake forms, Live human receptionists: RingCentral AI Receptionist
- AI books appointments during the call: RingCentral blog: AI Receptionist expands to texts, call queues, adds integrations (May 7, 2026)
- AI books appointments during the call, Digital intake forms, EHR and practice-management integrations: RingCentral press release: AIR Pro for Healthcare (Mar 10, 2026)
- AI books appointments during the call, EHR and practice-management integrations: RingCentral blog: Patient engagement software (updated May 28, 2026)
- Online booking and reminders, Review requests by text, Payments by text, Text and email campaigns: RingCentral Advanced SMS Inbox
- Payments by text: RingCentral business SMS
- Online fax: RingCentral internet fax
- Signs a HIPAA BAA: RingCentral and HIPAA (Mar 2026)
- EHR and practice-management integrations: RingCentral for Healthcare app listing
- EHR and practice-management integrations: RingCentral healthcare solutions
Smith.ai: 25 sources
- Business phone system: Smith.ai Help: Can I use my current business phone number with Smith.ai?
- Business phone system, Online booking and reminders, Online fax, Team chat and video meetings: Smith.ai: All features (Phone services)
- Business phone system, EHR and practice-management integrations: Smith.ai integrations (Phone Systems category)
- Two-way business texting: Smith.ai Help: Follow-up texts and emails to callers
- Two-way business texting, Digital intake forms: Smith.ai blog: AI Receptionist text follow-up
- Two-way business texting, AI receptionist languages, Online booking and reminders, Payments by text, Digital intake forms, Call recording and AI call insights, Live human receptionists, Published pricing: Smith.ai pricing (Text & email follow-up add-on)
- AI receptionist, 24/7: Smith.ai AI Receptionist
- AI receptionist, 24/7, AI books appointments during the call, Call recording and AI call insights, Published pricing: Smith.ai AI Receptionist pricing
- AI books appointments during the call, Signs a HIPAA BAA: Smith.ai: Medical & wellness page (reschedule or cancel)
- AI books appointments during the call: Smith.ai: Calendly integration
- AI books appointments during the call, EHR and practice-management integrations: Smith.ai: Jane integration (works with)
- AI receptionist languages: Smith.ai: Bilingual answering service
- AI receptionist languages, Live human receptionists: Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists
- Online booking and reminders: Smith.ai Help: Calendaring program integrations
- Review requests by text: Smith.ai: SMS & email follow-up
- Payments by text: Smith.ai: Payment collection
- Payments by text: Smith.ai Help: Payment software integrations
- Digital intake forms: Smith.ai Help: Sending retainer agreements during intake calls
- Text and email campaigns: Smith.ai Outreach Campaigns pricing
- Text and email campaigns: Smith.ai vs Upcall (outreach comparison)
- Online fax: Smith.ai vs. Answer Midwest comparison (updated 2024)
- Call recording and AI call insights: Smith.ai: Call intelligence and metadata
- Signs a HIPAA BAA: Smith.ai: Legal answering service (HIPAA FAQ)
- EHR and practice-management integrations: Smith.ai Help: How to connect Smith.ai to Jane
- Live human receptionists: Smith.ai Hybrid Human AI Receptionist
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