Can Base44 Answer Your Phone? Setting Up an AI Receptionist on Superagent
What the phone channel does for your trusted callers, what it will not do yet, and the exact chat steps to get a number answering for your regulars
By Shlomi, founder of DoitWithAI | Updated | Base44 facts rechecked October 12, 2026
Quick answer
Yes, for callers you have pre-approved. On the Builder plan ($40/month billed yearly, $50 monthly) you ask your Superagent for its own US number in the chat. It answers calls from up to 20 trusted numbers you add, books appointments into Google Calendar or a Base44 booking app, keeps a transcript and messages you a summary on WhatsApp, Telegram or iMessage. Calls from unknown numbers are not answered, so it is a receptionist for your regulars, not a public business line. Verified 2026-10-12 in our own Base44 account.
Pricing and plan facts last verified: 2026-10-12 on Base44's official pricing page.
Free plan, no credit card. Affiliate link: DoitWithAi earns a commission if you later upgrade. See /disclosures.
We earn a commission if you upgrade to a paid Base44 plan through our links. That is why this page is as careful about what the phone channel does not do as about what it does.
This is a setup guide, not a review. It states only what Base44 documents in its changelog, docs and in-app setup screen. Where Base44 is silent, we say so. For what Superagent is, its channels, credits and plans, read our Superagent review. This page covers the phone part only.
What Superagent's phone channel does
Base44 added a dedicated phone number for Superagent in September 2026 (Base44 changelog, Sep 14 2026). The in-app setup screen describes it as a dedicated phone number your agent can answer, chat with callers, and take notes from each call. That sentence is the whole documented feature set. Item by item, nothing added:
- A dedicated US number. A new +1 number that belongs to the agent (confirmed with Base44 support, October 2026).
- It answers trusted callers. When someone calls the number, the agent picks up.
- It chats with callers. A conversation, not a recorded message.
- It takes notes from each call. You read them in the chat afterwards.
- Calls cost 0.2 credits per minute (Base44 docs, checked 2026-10-09). A 5-minute call is 1 credit.
- A trusted-caller list of up to 20 numbers (Base44 docs). You decide which numbers go on it.
That is a receptionist in the narrow sense: someone picks up, talks, and leaves you a note. Not a switchboard, not a booking desk, at least not on paper.
The one thing to know first: only trusted callers get through
Base44 confirmed this to us in our own Superagent chat on 2026-10-12: the number answers calls only from numbers you have added as trusted callers, up to 20 of them. A caller who is not on that list is not answered. There is also no live transfer: the agent takes the message, ends the call, then calls or messages you.
That changes who this is for. It is not a public receptionist for a shop whose phone rings with new customers all day. It is a receptionist for the clients you already have: the 20 regulars who text you at 9pm to move an appointment, the handful of accounts that call when something breaks. For a public line, a managed service still wins today; our AI receptionist cost comparison shows what those charge.
- Verified in-app, 2026-10-12: answers trusted callers 24/7, books into Google Calendar (connector) or a Base44 booking app, logs who called and why, pushes a summary to WhatsApp, Telegram or iMessage, keeps full transcripts, forwarding an existing line to the number works (the trusted-caller gate still applies), calls cost about 0.2 integration credits a minute, the number is always US (+1) with your area code when possible and is provisioned as soon as you verify your own number.
- Not available today: answering unknown callers, live transfer to a human, a free-plan test call (the number itself needs Builder).
- We re-check Base44's changelog monthly for inbound-from-anyone. The day that ships, this page changes.
Test before you pay
Build and talk to the agent on the Free plan (no card). You pay for Builder only when you ask it for the phone number, and the 30% welcome offer on yearly plans runs for 48 hours from signup.
Which plan you need
Superagent itself is on every plan, including Free. The phone number is not. Prices are from Base44's pricing page, checked October 2026, billed annually first and monthly in brackets.
| Plan | Price | Superagent | Phone number | What it unlocks for a receptionist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Yes | No | Build and test the agent in chat. 25 message credits a month, max 5 a day, 100 integration credits |
| Starter | $16/mo ($20 monthly) | Yes | No | More credits for testing. Still no number |
| Builder | $40/mo ($50 monthly) | Yes | Yes | The number, plus webhooks. 250 message credits, 10,000 integration credits |
| Pro | $80/mo ($100 monthly) | Yes | Yes | Same phone feature, larger credit pool |
So the real price of a Base44 receptionist is Builder: $40/month billed annually. New accounts see a 30% off banner on yearly plans inside 48 hours of signup (in-app banner, verified 2026-10-12), which brings Builder yearly to $28/month for the first year next to the standard $40. Credits are on top of the plan, at 0.2 per call minute. For how credits behave, see Base44 credits explained and Base44 pricing.
Setup in the chat, step by step
There is no settings page. You set the receptionist up by talking to it.
- Create a free account. No card needed. Doubts about the free tier? Read Is Base44 free? first.
- Open Superagent. The agent chat, not the app builder.
- Describe the business in one message. Name, hours, services, prices if callers should hear them. Use the prompt below. One message, so the agent has one source of truth.
- Ask for a phone number. Type: "I want you to have your own phone number so you can answer calls for my business." The agent walks you through it.
- Upgrade if asked. If you are on Free or Starter, Base44 asks you to move to Builder here. This is the only paid step.
- Call it. Dial from your own phone. Act like a customer. Ask the awkward question your real customers ask.
- Read the notes. Back in the chat, ask the agent what the caller said. Check it against what you actually said.
- Fix and repeat. Tell the agent what it got wrong, in the same chat. Call again.
Copy-paste setup prompt
You are the receptionist for [Business name], a [type of business] in [city]. We are open [days and hours]. We offer [service 1], [service 2] and [service 3]. When someone calls: greet them with the business name, ask how you can help, and listen. From every caller, collect their name, the best number to reach them, what they need, and when they would like it done. If they ask about prices, say [price or "the owner will confirm the price"]. Do not promise a time slot. End every call by saying [owner name] will call them back within [time], then thank them. Keep your answers short and plain. After the call, write notes with the caller's name, number, request, preferred time and anything unusual.
Connect Google Calendar before you test and the agent books the slot during the call; without it, it collects a preferred time and leaves the booking to you. The chat-based version of the same job is in our Academy lesson on an appointment booking agent.
Writing the greeting and the notes format
Two things decide whether this feels like a receptionist or a robot: the first sentence the caller hears, and the shape of the notes. Both are set in the chat.
The greeting
Short. Business name, one question, then silence. Our example, not a transcript of a real call:
Example greeting prompt
Answer every call with exactly this: "Thanks for calling Northside Plumbing, how can I help?" Then stop talking and wait for the caller. Do not list our services unless asked.
The notes
Ask for a fixed format so you can scan ten calls in a minute:
Example notes prompt
After every call, write notes in this order, one line each: Name. Number. What they need. When they want it. Urgency (routine or urgent). Anything else. If you did not get an item, write "not given" instead of leaving it out.
Keep both prompts in the same conversation as your business details.
Testing it before you tell customers
One evening and a handful of credits. A 3-minute test call costs 0.6 credits. Use your own phone and, if you can, a friend's.
- Call from your own number. Does the greeting match what you wrote, word for word?
- Give a name with an unusual spelling. Does it appear correctly in the notes?
- Ask a price question. Does it answer the way you told it to, or improvise?
- Ask for a specific appointment slot. Does it collect the preference and promise a callback, or does it claim a booking?
- Interrupt it mid-sentence. Does it recover or talk over you?
- Call from a number that is not on your trusted list. It will not be answered; that is what a new customer would hear, so decide now whether that is acceptable for your line.
- Hang up early. Are the notes still written, and do they say the call was cut short?
- Check the credit usage in Agent Settings after the tests. Multiply by your expected weekly calls before you rely on it.
If three or more fail, fix the prompt and call again. Do not publish the number until a friend can call it cold and you are happy with the notes.
Does Base44 have a support phone number?
No public one that we could find. Base44 support runs through the help option inside the product, not over the phone. That is also why a search for "base44 phone number" lands on unrelated results: there is no number to find, so Google fills the page with the Superagent phone feature, which is a number for your agent, not a line to Base44.
For support, use the help option inside the Base44 dashboard. For an AI receptionist, keep reading.
What it costs compared with a managed service
Builder is $40/month billed annually ($28/month in year one with the 30% new-account discount), plus 0.2 credits per call minute. Managed AI receptionists charge more and do more out of the box: Rosie is $49/month for 250 minutes, Goodcall is $79/month for 100 unique callers, and Smith.ai's AI receptionist is $150/month for 75 calls, or $0 for 25 (its $300 plan is answered by people; vendor pricing pages, checked 2026-10-12). The full breakdown, including what you give up in exchange for the lower price, is in our AI receptionist cost comparison.
Who should and should not do this
Do it if you are an owner-operator who misses calls because you are on a job. Plumbers, electricians, cleaners, mobile groomers, one-person clinics. Your problem is a missed call that becomes a lost customer. A number that always answers and leaves you a name and a callback number solves that for $40 a month and some credits.
Do not do it yet if your phone rings with new customers. Unknown numbers are not answered and there is no live transfer, so a public business line still needs a managed service today. This page will say the day Base44 opens the number to everyone.
Not sure which you are? Our receptionist quick-start page asks three questions and points you to the right option.
Frequently asked questions
Does Base44 answer incoming calls?
Yes, from up to 20 numbers you add as trusted callers; unknown numbers are not answered (confirmed in our Base44 account, October 2026). It chats with the caller, takes notes, keeps a transcript and messages you a summary.
Which Base44 plan includes a phone number?
Builder and above: $40/month billed annually or $50 monthly. Free and Starter include Superagent but not the number. Calls cost 0.2 credits per minute on top of the plan.
Is the Base44 AI receptionist free?
Partly. You can build and test the receptionist agent in chat on the Free plan, but the phone number needs Builder at $40/month billed annually. New accounts get 30% off yearly plans within 48 hours of signup, so year one is $28/month.
Is it a new number or my existing number?
A new US (+1) number that belongs to the agent, with your area code when possible. You can forward your existing line to it, but only trusted callers get through.
Can the Base44 receptionist book appointments?
Yes. With Google Calendar connected it books during the call, or it writes the booking into a Base44 booking app. We verified this in our own account on 2026-10-12.
How do I read what a caller said?
After every call the agent logs who called, why and what happened, sends you a summary on WhatsApp, Telegram or iMessage once connected, and keeps the full transcript, which you can ask for in the chat.
How much does it cost compared with Smith.ai or Rosie?
Base44 Builder is $40/month billed annually plus 0.2 credits per call minute. Rosie is $49/month for 250 minutes, Goodcall is $79/month for 100 unique callers, and Smith.ai's AI receptionist is $150/month for 75 calls, or $0 for 25 (vendor pricing, checked 2026-10-12). Base44 is a fixed $40 a month and does less out of the box.
How this guide was checked
- The phone facts on this page come from our own Base44 account: on 2026-10-12 we asked the Superagent itself, in its chat, what the phone channel does. The trusted-caller limit, the booking behaviour, the summaries, forwarding and the no-live-transfer answer are from that conversation, not from a third-party review.
- Plan prices and the Builder requirement were read from base44.com/pricing and the Base44 changelog (Sep 14, 2026 entry) the same day.
- What we have not done yet: run the receptionist for a month and count minutes. The 0.2 credits per minute figure is Base44's, not a measured one.
- DoitWithAI is a Base44 affiliate and earns a commission on upgrades. Base44 does not review these pages.
Sources
- Base44 Superagent in-app chat, phone channel questions (trusted callers, booking, summaries, transfer, metering): https://base44.com (checked 2026-10-12)
- Base44 changelog: dedicated phone number on Builder and above (Sep 14, 2026), call transcripts and trusted callers (Sep 7, 2026): https://docs.base44.com/changelog (checked 2026-10-12)
- Base44 pricing page (Builder $40/mo yearly, $50 monthly): https://base44.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-12)
- Our cost comparison of managed AI receptionists: https://doitwithai.guru/content/ai-receptionist-cost
Related Base44 guides
Build it on Free tonight. Pay for the number when it sounds right.
Open Superagent, paste the setup prompt, and talk to it like a customer. If the chat version sounds like your front desk, upgrade to Builder ($40/month annually, $28 in year one) and ask for the number.
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