Kwickly Answers vs. 8x8: AI Phone Answering for Local Businesses
Kwickly Answers is an AI front desk for the calls you forward, from $129.99 a month for 350 minutes, while 8x8 is a business communications platform whose pricing page (read 2 Oct 2026) shows no prices, just Request a Quote buttons. 8x8's AI Studio lets an 8x8 customer build voice and digital AI agents by describing them, and its page says usage is paid for once an agent is in production, with no rate printed. Kwickly Answers puts a booking page, calendar, confirmation and reminder emails and a customer list in one plan, and books directly when you choose that setting. With no 8x8 price to read, no sum is made below.
What 8x8 does, and what Kwickly Answers adds
8x8's pricing page (read 2 Oct 2026) groups its offer into Contact Center, CX Beyond the Contact Center (8x8 Engage), Communications APIs, Unified Communications (8x8 Work) and 8x8 for Microsoft Teams, and each carries a Request a Quote button. Its Unified Communications page, 8x8 Work, lists calls, meetings and messaging in one app, with an auto attendant, ring groups and call queues, business SMS and MMS, cloud fax and native phone service in more than 50 countries.
Its AI Studio page describes building custom voice and digital agents by describing what you need to a builder, with hand-offs to people defined by you. The page says AI Studio is available at no cost to any 8x8 customer, and that once an agent is in production customers pay for what they use, not a flat fee or per-seat license.
Kwickly Answers is the front desk with no platform attached. Send a line to your Kwickly Answers number and the assistant takes the forwarded calls, with Spanish answered at no extra charge. The plan also holds the booking page, calendar, emailed confirmations and next-day reminders and customer list, and the assistant either books directly or takes a message, which is the default.
Comparing another phone platform? See Kwickly Answers vs. Zoom Phone.
How do the plans compare?
8x8's pricing page (read 2 Oct 2026) shows no dollar amount and a Request a Quote button for each product, while Kwickly Answers Starter (Essential level) is $129.99 a month for 350 minutes.
| What is compared | Kwickly Answers | 8x8 |
|---|---|---|
| What you are buying | An AI assistant for forwarded calls, packaged with a booking page, calendar and customer list; direct booking is something you switch on | 8x8 Work for calls, meetings and messaging, with contact center products and an AI Studio for building AI agents on the same platform Source: 8x8.com/products/unified-communications, 8x8.com/products/ai-studio, read October 2, 2026 |
| Price you can see | Starter $129.99/mo for 350 minutes; Growth $259.99 for 1,000 (Essential level), then $0.50 a minute by the second | The pricing page lists five product groups, each with a Request a Quote button. The page shows no dollar amount, plan size or rate. Source: 8x8.com/products/plans-and-pricing, read October 2, 2026 |
| How the AI is billed | By minutes of AI call time, counted by the second, inside a plan; past the plan, $0.50 a minute | AI Studio is available at no cost to any 8x8 customer; once an agent is in production, customers pay for what they use, not a flat fee or per-seat license. No rate is printed. Source: 8x8.com/products/ai-studio, read October 2, 2026 |
| Setting up the assistant | Self-setup in the portal has no setup fee. Prefer help? Done-for-you is $299.99 once. | The page says the builder lets any team create and deploy agents without developers or Professional Services, and that Professional Services is available for a fully managed path. Source: 8x8.com/products/ai-studio, read October 2, 2026 |
| Phone system | Not a phone system: your calls are forwarded to your Kwickly Answers number and your own line stays | 8x8 Work lists desktop, web, mobile and desk phones, an auto attendant, ring groups and call queues, business SMS and MMS and cloud fax. Source: 8x8.com/products/unified-communications, read October 2, 2026 |
| Booking and calendar | Each phone plan includes a booking page and a calendar. Google Calendar, or a private iCal link read on a best-effort basis (repeating events are skipped), supplies your busy times. | The AI Studio page (read 2 Oct 2026) names no appointment booking or calendar. Its listed uses are customer support and routing, sales qualification, IT helpdesk and connected workflows. Source: 8x8.com/products/ai-studio, read October 2, 2026 |
| When a call needs a person | The owner sets what the assistant does, booking directly or leaving a message (the default), and urgent calls are flagged to you by email. | You define when agents hand off to people, and the page says full context is kept at every transfer. Source: 8x8.com/products/ai-studio, read October 2, 2026 |
| Channels | A phone assistant on every phone plan. A website chat add-on is $19.99/mo on a plan that has a web page. | The page lists voice, digital, SMS and WhatsApp channels as built into the platform. Source: 8x8.com/products/ai-studio, read October 2, 2026 |
See Kwickly Answers' full published pricing. Prices change, so confirm 8x8's current price on its own site before you decide.
Is Kwickly Answers an 8x8 alternative?
Yes, for a business that wants an AI assistant to take its calls and, with direct booking on, fill its calendar. 8x8 is a communications and contact center platform that includes an AI agent builder; Kwickly Answers is the assistant with a booking page, calendar and customer list, from $129.99 a month for 350 minutes. It leaves 8x8's phone system, meetings and contact center alone and works on the calls you send it.
What does 8x8 cost, and what does Kwickly Answers print?
8x8's pricing page (read 2 Oct 2026) shows no price, so no total can be made from it, while Kwickly Answers prints a monthly price for each block of minutes. The 8x8 facts below were read on 2 Oct 2026.
8x8: its pricing page lists Contact Center, CX Beyond the Contact Center, Communications APIs, Unified Communications and 8x8 for Microsoft Teams, each with a Request a Quote button and no dollar amount. Its AI Studio page says AI Studio is available at no cost to any 8x8 customer and that usage is paid for once an agent is in production, and shows no rate. To compare, ask 8x8 for a quote that names your plan and your AI usage.
Kwickly Answers: Starter at the Essential level is $129.99 for 350 minutes and Growth is $259.99 for 1,000, then $0.50 a minute, counted by the second. Set 8x8's quote beside the plan that covers your minutes, and include whatever its platform plan costs, since AI Studio is offered to 8x8 customers.
Do I need to leave 8x8 to use Kwickly Answers?
Not when your lines can forward calls. Aim forwarding at your Kwickly Answers number; the portal lists steps for the large carriers and a general set for any other provider. Ask 8x8 whether your lines can forward, and ask your phone company whether forwarded minutes cost extra. 8x8 carries on with everything else, and the forwarded calls reach the assistant, which can book into the plan's calendar if you have turned direct booking on.
Does Kwickly Answers work if I just need calls answered and booked?
Yes, a business that wants calls answered and appointments booked can stop there: Starter costs $129.99 a month for 350 minutes and arrives with a booking page, calendar and customer list. Nothing else is bought, you fill in a portal form rather than building an agent, and extra minutes are $0.50 each, timed to the second.
Which 8x8 features are built, planned or not part of Kwickly Answers today?
- Built, not switched on yet: a warm transfer that briefs the person a call is passed to; reminder texts to your customers outside the $39.99 Website & booking plan; and WhatsApp messages answered in one inbox, where 8x8's pages list hand-offs to people with full context, business SMS and MMS, and a WhatsApp channel.
- Not part of Kwickly Answers today: a business phone system with an auto attendant, ring groups, call queues, cloud fax and meetings, which 8x8 Work lists.
- What Kwickly Answers does today: Starter is $129.99 a month for 350 minutes, with a booking page, calendar, emailed confirmations and day-before reminders, and a customer list in the plan, and the assistant books directly or takes a message, as you choose. Website & booking ($39.99 a month) includes 250 reminder texts a month, from the shared Kwickly Answers number, to customers who said yes.
Source: 8x8.com/products/unified-communications, 8x8.com/products/ai-studio, read October 2, 2026
Unhappy with 8x8? What switching to Kwickly Answers looks like
Switching from 8x8 to Kwickly Answers means, for the answering job, forwarding calls from the line your callers already dial to your Kwickly Answers number, if that line can forward calls. The portal lists steps for the large carriers and a general set for any other provider, and forwarded minutes can cost extra with your phone company, so ask them.
8x8's pricing page (read 2 Oct 2026) shows a Request a Quote button for each product and no dollar amount. Its AI Studio page says usage is paid for once an agent is in production, not as a flat fee or per-seat license. Source: 8x8.com/products/plans-and-pricing, 8x8.com/products/ai-studio, read October 2, 2026
Plans renew automatically each month until you cancel, and you can cancel at any time. Your service continues until the end of the period you have already paid for. Kwickly Answers Starter is $129.99 a month for 350 minutes at the Essential level, with no setup fee when you set it up yourself.
Why choose Kwickly Answers instead of 8x8?
- The phone plan prices are printed on the pricing page before you talk to anyone: $129.99 for 350 minutes on Starter, $259.99 for 1,000 on Growth (Essential level), and $0.50 a minute past that, timed to the second.
- A booking page, calendar, emailed confirmations and reminders and a customer list ship inside each phone plan, so with direct booking on, a booked job lands in a calendar you have already paid for.
- Setup happens in your portal at no charge, or you can have it done with you for $299.99 once, and you fill in a portal form rather than building an agent.
- What the assistant takes on is your choice, from direct booking down to a message, and calls you define as urgent are flagged by email.
- Spanish-speaking callers are answered at no added cost on a phone plan, fifteen more languages are a flat $19.99 a month, and the assistant is built for trades and local services.
Questions people ask
Is Kwickly Answers an 8x8 alternative?
Yes, as an AI assistant for your calls that can book once you switch on direct booking. Plans begin at $129.99 a month for 350 minutes and come with a booking page, calendar and customer list. It leaves 8x8's phone system and contact center in place.
Does Kwickly Answers work if I just need calls answered and booked?
Yes, answering and booking are all it needs to do. Starter is $129.99 a month for 350 minutes, takes the calls you forward and brings a booking page, calendar and customer list with it, with no platform to buy, and a portal form to fill in rather than an agent to build.
Can Kwickly Answers replace 8x8?
It can take over the AI answering work: picking up calls and, with direct booking on, booking the appointment. It is a front desk, not a communications platform, so meetings, messaging and any contact center stay as they are.
8x8 or Kwickly Answers for a local service business?
For answering calls and booking work, either could be used. 8x8's pricing page (read 2 Oct 2026) shows no price, so a quote has to come from 8x8, while Kwickly Answers Starter is $129.99 a month for 350 minutes. Lay your own minutes and that quote next to each other.
Compare other tools
More comparisons in Business phone and in AI receptionist and answering service:
- Kwickly Answers vs. Aircall
- Kwickly Answers vs. CloudTalk
- Kwickly Answers vs. Dialpad
- Kwickly Answers vs. GoTo Connect
- Kwickly Answers vs. Goodcall
- Kwickly Answers vs. Ruby
See every comparison in Business phone, or browse them all on the Kwickly Answers compare page.
Sources and last verified date
Last verified: 2026-10-02. Every fact about 8x8 on this page was read from its own pages, listed here with the date each was read.
- 8x8.com/products/plans-and-pricing, read October 2, 2026
- 8x8.com/products/unified-communications, read October 2, 2026
- 8x8.com/products/ai-studio, read October 2, 2026
8x8 is a trademark of its owner. Kwickly Answers isn't affiliated with or endorsed by 8x8. 8x8's figures are from its public pages on October 2, 2026.
See it for yourself
Call the live demo line, (949) 704-8377, or see how Kwickly Answers works step by step.
Read frequently asked questions or see pricing.