Phena vs Cyberstaff: two UK AI receptionists, compared honestly
Phena and Cyberstaff are close competitors: both are UK AI receptionists that read your website, answer calls day and night, and send you transcripts. The practical differences are value and control. Phena includes more call minutes at each tier (900 vs 600 on the top plan, for a pound less), runs a 14-day free trial to their 7, books appointments into your diary in real time rather than raising requests to approve later (you can still require approval for the cases you choose), and its agent is built to state only facts you have configured.
Where Cyberstaff wins
- Polished website-import onboarding with a Google Business Profile fallback
- Customer memory that recognises repeat callers by number
- A website SMS widget that turns visitors into text conversations
- Simple pricing: every feature on every tier, differing only by minutes
Where Phena wins
- More minutes per pound at every tier: 100 vs 100 at £29/£30, 400 vs 300 at £79/£75, 900 vs 600 at £119/£120
- A 14-day free trial against their 7 days, both without a card
- Real-time booking: the caller hangs up with a confirmed slot, not a request awaiting review. Add approval rules only where you want them (large parties, urgent cases)
- Custom intake questions per industry: vehicle reg for garages, party size and allergies for restaurants, new or existing patient for dentists
- Voice cloning on Professional and above, so the agent can sound like you
- UK trade knowledge packs (Gas Safe, NICEIC, MOT, CP12) built into the industry templates
Phena vs Cyberstaff, feature by feature
| Feature |  hena | Cyberstaff |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | £29/mo | £30/mo |
| Included minutes at entry | 100 | 100 |
| Mid tier | £79 for 400 mins | £75 for 300 mins |
| Top self-serve tier | £119 for 900 mins | £120 for 600 mins |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | 7 days, no card |
| Sets up from your website | ||
| Books in real time on the call | Booking requests for review | |
| Approval rules for edge cases | Review is the default flow | |
| Custom intake questions per industry | ||
| Call transcripts and recordings | ||
| Lead scoring and call reasons | ||
| Post-call SMS follow-up | ||
| Voice cloning (sound like you) | Professional and above | |
| Keep your existing number |
People weighing up Phena vs Cyberstaff usually ask
The day-to-day difference is booking. Cyberstaff’s default flow collects the details and raises a booking request you approve later, which means the caller hangs up without a confirmed time. Phena checks your real availability during the call and confirms the slot before the caller hangs up. If you want a human check for certain cases, say parties over eight or urgent jobs, you set an approval rule for exactly those and everything else books itself.
They are nearly identical on headline price and different on what you get. At the top self-serve tier, Phena includes 900 minutes for £119 where Cyberstaff includes 600 for £120, and Phena’s mid tier includes 400 minutes for £79 to their 300 for £75. Cyberstaff bills overage per minute (£0.20 to £0.30); Phena warns you near your limit and never bills extra without asking. Figures from both public pricing pages, last checked July 2026.
Both read your site and set up services, prices and FAQs, and both offer a route if you have no website (Phena also searches your Google Business Profile). The difference is what happens with that data on calls: Phena’s agent is constrained to state only facts from your approved setup, and anything it cannot ground gets handed to you rather than answered on the fly.
Both use modern generative voices and sound natural. Phena additionally offers voice cloning on Professional and above, so the agent can answer in a voice trained on yours, which no Cyberstaff tier lists. For accents, Phena uses UK-tuned speech recognition and speaks with a British voice by default.
This is where the products differ most. Phena lets you define the questions your trade needs answered before a booking: vehicle registration and make for a garage, party size, occasion and allergies for a restaurant, new or existing patient for a dentist. Answers are collected on the call, shown on the booking, and can trigger your approval for the cases you choose. Cyberstaff’s booking flow does not list configurable intake questions.
Yes, and you should. Both have card-free trials (Phena 14 days, Cyberstaff 7). Set both up from your website, ring each one and ask the questions your customers actually ask, try to book something awkward, and keep whichever handled it better. Phena’s demo line is also open before you sign up for anything.
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No credit card. Switch from Cyberstaff the moment Phena answers your first call.
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