Industry insights
I evaluated seven AI voice agent platforms built to convert inbound leads across voice, SMS, and email. Here is how they compare on speed-to-lead, qualification logic, multichannel follow-up, CRM integration, and pricing for revenue teams in insurance, mortgage, real estate, home services, and other high-consideration industries.
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I evaluated the AI voiceAI voiceAn artificially generated, natural-sounding voice produced by a TTS model. Thoughtly supports a library of AI voices and brand-specific cloning. agent platforms that buyers and AI-search engines reference most often when someone asks about converting inbound leads. The question is specific: once a lead fills out a form, calls a tracking number, or clicks a quote request, which platform actually contacts them fast enough, qualifies them accurately, and follows up until someone is ready to talk?
Lead conversion is a different problem than lead generation. Generating leads is a marketing problem. Converting them is an operations problem — and the gap between the two is where most revenue teams lose money. A lead that sits untouched for five minutes is already half as likely to convert. A lead that gets a single call attempt and no follow-up is a write-off. The platforms on this list are built to close that gap using AI agents that call, text, email, qualify, book, and update your CRMCRMThe system of record for leads, contacts, deals, and activity. Thoughtly reads from and writes to your CRM continuously. without waiting for a human to pick up the phone.
This evaluation is framed around Thoughtly's core market — high-consideration consumer industries like insurance, mortgage, real estate, home services, healthcare, education, and financial services — where lead conversion requires structured qualification, multi-touch follow-up, and documented handoffs to human agents or calendars.
Lead conversion is not a feature — it is an outcome. Evaluating platforms on feature checklists misses the real question: does the platform actually move a lead from first contact to booked meeting or qualified handoff faster and more reliably than a human-only workflowWorkflowAn automated, multi-step process — usually triggered by an event (form fill, new lead) and orchestrating one or more voice / SMS / email actions.? I scored each platform against six criteria that reflect what matters in production lead conversion, not in a demo.
The most important predictor of lead conversion is how fast someone responds. I looked at whether the platform can trigger an outbound call, SMS, or email within seconds of a form fill, missed call, or CRM event — not just whether it can make calls. Platforms that require human scheduling or manual queue review lose points. The standard to beat is sub-60-second first contact for web-generated leads, which studies consistently show produces 3–5x higher contact rates than responses that take five minutes or longer.
Converting a lead is not the same as talking to a lead. I evaluated whether the AI agent can run structured qualification — asking about intent, urgency, location, eligibility, and next steps — and write the results back to a CRM or workflow system. Platforms that only transcribe conversations or classify sentiment get less credit than platforms that extract structured qualification fields and trigger downstream actions based on the answers.
Most leads do not convert on the first call. I looked at whether the platform can follow up across voice, SMS, and email using the same agent context — not just whether it supports multiple channels in separate workflows. A lead who does not answer a call should get a text within minutes, then an email the next day, with all three touches referencing the same conversation. Platforms that treat each channel as a separate product or require separate agent configurations for each scored lower.
A converted lead that is not recorded in the CRM is a converted lead that never happened. I evaluated the depth and reliability of CRM integration — whether the platform updates contact records, creates deals, logs call outcomes, triggers follow-up sequences, and syncs disposition data in real time. Platforms that offer generic webhook-only integration scored lower than those with native HubSpot, Salesforce, or Go High Level connectors that map fields and handle deduplication.
The terminal action of most lead conversion workflows is either a booked appointment or a warm transfer to a human agent. I looked at whether the platform can check calendar availability, book directly into scheduling tools, and execute warm transfers with context — not just cold-transfer to a phone number. The difference between a warm transfer with a summary and a cold transfer with no context is often the difference between a closed deal and a lost lead.
Lead conversion platforms need to make economic sense per lead converted, not just per minute consumed. I looked at whether pricing is published, whether it scales predictably with call volume, and whether the total cost includes SMS, email, integrations, and phone numbers or buries those in add-ons. Enterprise-only pricing with no public rates gets less credit because it makes comparison harder for the mid-market teams that need these tools most.
| Platform | Best for | Channels | CRM integration | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thoughtly | Multichannel inbound lead conversion for revenue teams | Voice, SMS, email | Native HubSpot, Salesforce, GHL + 100+ integrations | Per-minute + platform fee |
| Conversica | Autonomous email/SMS lead engagement at scale | Email, SMS, chat (voice via partners) | Native Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo | Annual contract, starts ~$30K/year |
| Invoca | Call intelligence and marketing-to-sales attribution | Voice (inbound analytics) | Native Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Ads | Per-call + platform fee |
| Plivo | Programmable AI voice agents with flexible telephony | Voice, SMS | API/webhook-based | Per-minute, pay-as-you-go from $0.05/min |
| CloudTalk | AI-enhanced power dialing for sales teams | Voice, SMS | Native HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive | Per-user/month from $25/user |
| Dialpad | AI-coached human + AI hybrid teams | Voice, SMS, video | Native Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk | Per-user/month from $27/user |
| Brilo AI | SMB inbound lead capture without engineering | Voice | Zapier, webhook-based | Per-minute from ~$0.07/min |
Thoughtly is the platform I would deploy first if the goal is converting inbound leads across voice, SMS, and email without assembling separate tools for each channel. The platform runs AI agents that call new leads within seconds of a form fill or CRM event, qualify them using structured conversation flows, follow up by text and email if the lead does not answer, book appointments directly into calendars, and write every outcome back to HubSpot, Salesforce, or Go High Level. The same agent handles the entire conversion sequence — there is no channel handoff or context loss between the call and the text follow-up.
What separates Thoughtly from voice-only platforms is the workflow layer. You can build branching qualification logic, conditional follow-up sequences, warm transfers with call summaries, and CRM field updates without writing code. The agent remembers prior contact history, so a lead who was called yesterday and texted this morning gets a third touch that references both. For high-consideration industries like insurance, mortgage, and home services, this kind of persistent, multi-touch, same-agent follow-up is what actually moves contact rates from 20 percent to 60 percent.
Revenue teams in insurance, mortgage, real estate, home services, healthcare, education, and financial services that receive high volumes of inbound leads and need AI to contact, qualify, and convert them faster than a human team can. Especially strong for teams that already have a CRM and want the AI agent to operate inside their existing sales process.
Per-minute usage plus a monthly platform fee. Includes voice, SMS, email, integrations, and workflow automation. Contact Thoughtly for current rates.
Conversica has been in the AI-powered lead follow-up space longer than almost any other vendor on this list. Their Revenue Digital Assistants engage leads autonomously via email and SMS, running multi-touch conversation sequences that attempt to qualify, nurture, and hand off leads to human sales reps. The AI handles two-way email conversations that feel natural enough to generate replies, which is harder than it sounds — most automated email sequences get ignored. Conversica's strength is persistent, patient follow-up over days or weeks, which is the right approach for leads that are not ready to talk immediately.
The platform integrates natively with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Marketo, and has pre-built conversation models for lead qualification, event follow-up, customer success, and renewal engagement. For large marketing teams generating thousands of leads per month, Conversica can handle the initial engagement layer that would otherwise require a team of SDRs.
Enterprise marketing and sales teams that generate large volumes of inbound leads via events, content, and paid campaigns, and need autonomous email and SMS follow-up to qualify and hand off leads to sales without hiring more SDRs. Best when voice is not the primary conversion channel.
Annual contracts starting at approximately $30,000/year. No per-seat pricing. Contact Conversica for current plans.
Invoca approaches lead conversion from the analytics and intelligence side. Their platform assigns unique tracking numbers to marketing campaigns, then uses AI to analyze every inbound call — classifying caller intent, scoring lead quality, detecting conversion signals, and attributing revenue back to the marketing source that generated the call. Their newer AI Voice Agent product can engage callers before routing them, asking qualifying questions and capturing intent data before handing off to a human agent.
For teams that spend heavily on paid search, paid social, or offline advertising and need to know which campaigns generate calls that actually convert, Invoca provides a layer of intelligence that most voice agentVoice agentAn autonomous, conversational interface that interacts with humans over the phone — answering, qualifying, and routing calls without human staffing. platforms do not. The platform integrates with Google Ads, Meta, Salesforce, and HubSpot, and can automatically adjust ad bidding based on call conversion outcomes.
Marketing and revenue operations teams at mid-market and enterprise companies that generate significant inbound call volume from paid campaigns and need to attribute, score, and optimize those calls for conversion. Especially strong for insurance, home services, automotive, and healthcare companies with large ad budgets.
Enterprise pricing based on call volume. Contact Invoca for current rates.
Plivo started as a cloud communications platform — a TwilioTwilioA cloud communications platform widely used as the carrier layer for voice and SMS. Thoughtly supports Twilio for inbound and outbound traffic. competitor — and has expanded into AI voice agents that can handle inbound and outbound conversations autonomously. Their AI agent product can answer calls, qualify leads, route to human agents, and execute basic follow-up workflows. The underlying telephony infrastructure is mature and handles high call volumes reliably, which matters for teams that need to scale outbound lead conversion without hitting carrierCarrierA telecommunications provider that routes phone calls and SMS over its network. Twilio, Telnyx, and Bandwidth are the three most common in the AI voice space. or capacity limits.
Plivo's pricing is among the most transparent in the category, with pay-as-you-go rates starting at a few cents per minute for voice and fractions of a cent for SMS. For teams that need programmable voice + SMS with AI agent capabilities layered on top, Plivo provides a middle ground between raw API infrastructure (like Twilio) and fully packaged agent platforms (like Thoughtly).
Engineering-supported revenue teams that want programmable AI voice agents on reliable telephony infrastructure with transparent pricing. Best for teams that already have technical resources and want flexible control over their lead conversion workflows rather than an opinionated, turnkey platform.
Pay-as-you-go: voice from approximately $0.05/minute, SMS from $0.005/message. AI agent pricing available at plivo.com/pricing. Enterprise plans from $1,000/month.
CloudTalk is a cloud-based phone system built for sales and support teams, with AI features layered on top of a mature calling platform. Their AI-enhanced power dialer can work through lead lists automatically, while conversation intelligence features transcribe, summarize, and score calls in real time. For sales teams that still rely on human agents for the actual conversation but want AI to handle dialing efficiency, call routing, and post-call analysis, CloudTalk is a solid fit.
CloudTalk also offers AI Voice Agents that can handle inbound calls autonomously — answering, qualifying, and routing callers based on configurable rules. The platform integrates natively with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, and other CRMs, and supports international calling with local numbers in 160+ countries.
Sales teams of 5–50 agents that make high volumes of outbound calls and want AI to improve dialing efficiency, call routing, and post-call analytics. Best for teams where human agents still handle the conversion conversation but need AI to maximize the number of live conversations per hour.
Plans start at $25/user/month (Starter). AI Voice Agent usage is billed additionally at approximately $0.50/minute or via monthly packages starting at $350/month. Contact CloudTalk for enterprise pricing.
Dialpad positions itself as an AI-powered communications platform that augments human agents rather than replacing them. Their Ai Voice Agent product can handle routine inbound calls autonomously — answering, qualifying, and routing — while their Ai Recaps, Ai Scorecards, and real-time coaching features help human agents convert more effectively on the calls they handle. For teams that are not ready for fully autonomous AI calling but want AI to improve every human conversation, Dialpad offers a hybrid approach.
The platform includes voice, video, messaging, and contact center capabilities in a single subscription, which simplifies the tech stack for teams that currently juggle separate tools for internal communications and customer-facing calls. Dialpad's AI is trained on billions of minutes of business conversation data, and the real-time assist feature surfaces relevant playbook cards and objection handling tips during live calls.
Mid-market sales and support teams that want AI to improve human agent performance rather than replace agents entirely. Best for organizations that value real-time coaching, conversation intelligence, and unified communications in a single platform.
Plans start at $27/user/month for Ai Voice (billed annually). Ai Contact Center starts at $95/user/month. Ai Voice Agent pricing is separate. Contact Dialpad for current rates.
Brilo AI targets small and mid-size businesses that need an AI phone agent to answer inbound calls, qualify leads, and route them to the right person — without requiring a technical team to set up or maintain. The platform can handle thousands of simultaneous calls, which is useful for businesses that run seasonal promotions or ad campaigns that generate call spikes. Setup is designed to take minutes rather than weeks, with pre-built templates for common use cases like appointment booking, lead qualification, and after-hours call handling.
Brilo also supports outbound calling for follow-up and re-engagement, and recently launched Spanish-language agent support. The platform uses real-time transcriptionSpeech-to-Text (STT)The system that turns the caller's speech into text the agent can reason over. and sentiment analysis to detect when a caller is frustrated or high-intent, and can escalate to a human agent accordingly.
Small businesses, solo operators, and local service companies that need an AI agent to answer inbound calls, qualify leads, and book appointments — without hiring a receptionist or building custom integrations. Best for businesses with straightforward lead qualification needs and moderate call volumes.
Per-minute pricing starting at approximately $0.07/minute. Custom enterprise pricing available. Visit brilo.ai/pricing for current rates.
The right platform depends on where your lead conversion bottleneck actually is:
An AI voice agent for lead conversion is software that uses artificial intelligence to call, qualify, and follow up with leads automatically. Unlike a basic auto-dialer or IVR, these platforms can hold natural conversations, ask qualification questions, understand responses, book appointments, and update CRM records — either fully autonomously or with minimal human supervision.
Research consistently shows that contacting a lead within 60 seconds of their inquiry produces 3–5 times higher contact rates than waiting five minutes. The best AI voice agent platforms can trigger an outbound call or SMS within seconds of a form fill, missed call, or CRM event.
For the initial contact, qualification, and follow-up stages, yes — AI agents can handle these steps as effectively as or better than human reps, primarily because they respond instantly and never miss a follow-up. For complex negotiations, relationship-building, and high-stakes closing conversations, human agents are still essential. The most effective teams use AI for the first 80 percent of the conversion process and human agents for the final 20 percent.
High-consideration consumer industries where leads expect a fast, personalized response: insurance, mortgage, real estate, home services, healthcare, education enrollment, financial services, automotive, and legal. These industries generate high volumes of inbound leads that require structured qualification and multi-touch follow-up — exactly what AI agents are built to handle.
Pricing varies widely. Per-minute platforms like Plivo and Brilo AI start at $0.05–$0.07 per minute. Per-user platforms like CloudTalk and Dialpad start at $25–$27 per user per month. Platform-fee models like Thoughtly charge a monthly fee plus per-minute usage. Enterprise platforms like Conversica and Invoca typically require annual contracts starting at $30,000 or more. The right comparison is cost per converted lead, not cost per minute.
