How We Compare · vs. DIY AI tools
The software is cheap.
Running it becomes your job.
Self-serve AI receptionist apps have real appeal: low monthly price, sign up today. The catch is in the word self-serve — you become the person who configures, tests, monitors, and tunes an AI phone system. That's a job, and it's now yours.
Monthly price
Who sets it up
Who tests it before it takes real calls
Who monitors and tunes it
When it mishandles a call
Direct messages and leads from Facebook or Instagram
Your time required
| DIY AI tools | Luna Front | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | Genuinely low — often under $100 | From $449/mo, $299 setup stated upfront |
| Who sets it up | You — prompts, greetings, booking logic, integrations | We do, around your services and rules |
| Who tests it before it takes real calls | You, if you think to | We do — every account is tested before going live |
| Who monitors and tunes it | You, on an ongoing basis | We do — it's managed, continuously |
| When it mishandles a call | You find out from an unhappy caller, then debug it | Escalation rules mean no call ends undefined; we adjust the config |
| Direct messages and leads from Facebook or Instagram | Not touched — it answers the phone, that's the product | DMs answered and lead forms captured, into the same intake and booking pipeline as a call, tagged by source (Growth and Pro) |
| Your time required | Hours to launch, ongoing attention forever | An onboarding conversation, then summaries |
The Honest Version
Where each one actually wins.
The hidden line item is your time
With a DIY tool, the subscription is the visible cost. The invisible one: evenings spent writing prompts, testing edge cases, listening to call recordings, and adjusting settings when the AI says something odd to a real customer. You didn't get out of front-desk work — you became the front desk's manager.
An AI on the phone is not a set-and-forget appliance
Callers ask unexpected things. Services change, hours change, booking rules have exceptions. Someone has to notice when the AI handles those badly and fix it. With self-serve software, that someone is you; with Luna Front, it's us — that's what fully managed means.
What you see instead
We configure Luna Front around your business, test it before it answers a single real call, and keep tuning it as your business changes. You see booked appointments and call summaries — not a dashboard of settings.
Questions
Asked before, answered here.
If it doesn't cover its plan fee in 30 days, you aren't charged it.
Month-to-month, no cancellation fee. The one-time $299 setup is not refundable, so it is the most you can be out. How the guarantee works →