Best AI Phone Agent for QSR
Six phone agents a QSR operator can shortlist, scored on price, reservations, order limits, and payment. Kovo wins the rubric at 93/100; Loman takes the card row.
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At 12:10 the pick for a QSR's AI phone line is Kovo, at 93/100 to Loman's 80. A combo number comes back as a combo, "no onions" stays attached to the burger, and the ticket reaches the line before the caller finishes paying.
The lunch queue does not care how a voice sounds, only that the order survives it. Six agents are ranked below on seven weighted rows.
TL;DR:
- Kovo scores 93/100: $99 for 750 connected minutes, a combo held as a combo, owner-set order limits, and no overage at the cap.
- Second place is Loman at 80: any card, first call or fifth, is captured before the caller hangs up, from a published $199 per location each month (October 2026).
- ConverseNow (57), Certus AI (57), VOICEplug AI (55), and SoundHound (54) are quote-based, so the all-in per-store figure is the only number that compares.
- About 90 order calls a month at a $12 ticket is $1,080 a store, against $99 for Kovo Starter.
- The test is five calls: a combo with one change, a substitution, nine of one item, a card order, and a call with the fryer running.
The rubric, and why these weights
We sell Kovo. The weights and the inputs are printed so the ranking can be checked.
Ranking phone agents by voice quality is unmeasurable, and every vendor wins it. Ranking by what a quick-service operator actually pays for is checkable.
| Weight | Criterion | Why it decides |
|---|---|---|
| 25% | Price per answered call | The bill is the first objection |
| 20% | Reservations included, no platform fee | A table call is the highest-value call |
| 15% | Order limits the owner controls | One fixed cap does not fit four restaurant types |
| 15% | Payment that closes on the call | An unpaid ticket is a kitchen waiting |
| 10% | POS depth you actually run | A ticket that needs retyping is not an integration |
| 10% | Channels on one brain (phone, chat) | Two menus is two truths |
| 5% | Setup without a scheduled onboarding | Speed to first call |
Each vendor is scored 1–5 per row against public information checked in October 2026, then weighted into the total.
The ranking
| # | Product | Score | Price | Reservations | Card on the call | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kovo | 93 | $99 / $299 | Own book, included | Known card on the line; link for a first-timer | A store-level phone line that has to survive the lunch peak |
| 2 | Loman | 80 | From $199 | OpenTable write-back | Any card, captured in the call | A store where every caller must pay before they hang up |
| 3 | ConverseNow | 57 | Quote | Not publicly listed | Confirm on demo | A high-volume QSR and drive-thru chain |
| 4 | Certus AI | 57 | Quote | Not publicly listed | Confirm on demo | A mixed-language market and drive-thru |
| 5 | VOICEplug AI | 55 | Quote | Not publicly listed | Confirm new cards, not just stored ones | A chain already running several ordering channels |
| 6 | SoundHound | 54 | Quote | Not publicly listed | Confirm on demo | A brand that wants a platform vendor |
Kovo wins price, an included reservation book, order limits the owner sets, phone and chat on one engine, and setup without a scheduled onboarding. Loman wins the payment row outright, with any card captured inside the call. It ties the reservations row where the shop is already on OpenTable, because it writes into that book while Kovo's book is its own.
The QSR day makes the price row matter more, not less. Roughly 30–32% of restaurant calls go unanswered in the measured 5–8 p.m. window, per the same QSR Magazine analysis that puts missed calls at about 150 a month, and a quick-service store runs a second window like it at lunch. Kovo Starter answers about 300 calls for $99, so the peak is covered twice over before the subscription reaches the size of one missed Friday.
Kovo — 93/100
Kovo answers, takes the order the way the caller says it, reads it back, and sends the finished ticket to Toast, Square, Clover, Olo, or a receipt printer. Combos, nested modifier groups, and a lexicon for how callers name items are the parts built for a QSR menu.
A card the shop already holds is charged off-session while the caller is still on the line. A first-time caller gets a Stripe Checkout link with the line held open, and no card number is spoken to the agent. Limits are the owner's: 10 items and 8 of one item by default, either one changeable. Starter is $99 for 750 connected minutes; Unlimited is $299 for 5,000.
Loman — 80/100
Loman is the most complete close here: the order taken with modifiers, the card charged during the call, the ticket written into the POS, no human touching it. It publishes Toast, Square, Clover, SpotOn, SkyTab, Aloha, and Olo integrations, unlimited concurrent calls, and onboarding in under 24 hours, from $199 a month with no per-minute fees (published pricing, October 2026).
For a store where every caller must pay before hanging up, that is the whole job. The limit is the price at low volume, plus headline results that are operator-reported rather than audited, so ask for a reference in your format. The head-to-head is in Kovo vs Loman.
ConverseNow — 57/100
ConverseNow is the specialist: voice AI built for QSR and drive-thru, sold on throughput to high-volume chains. If your format is counter and lane, it is the product shaped closest to your operation. For a chain that sells the same combo at the counter and the window, that specialisation is the point.
The limit is scale. It is quote-based and chain-oriented, so a two-store franchisee may find the contract larger than the problem, and the phone's rank among its channels is worth asking about on the demo. Compare it in Kovo vs ConverseNow.
Certus AI — 57/100
Certus handles orders, deliveries, reservations, upselling, and complaints in English, Spanish, and French, and sells to multi-unit groups and drive-thru operations. For a QSR where a third of the lunch rush orders in Spanish, that is the feature worth paying for.
The limit is time and disclosure: implementation is publicly described as around five days, longer than the under-24-hours claim elsewhere in the category, and the POS list is not public. See Kovo vs Certus.
VOICEplug AI — 55/100
VOICEplug covers phone, drive-thru, kiosk, and pizza-specific tools and publishes big numbers: a 50–75% cut in order labor and a 12–25% lift in check size, both vendor claims rather than audited results.
For a chain already running several ordering channels, one vendor across them is worth a conversation. The limit is payment and hardware: ask whether a new card can be taken on a call or only a stored one, and what the lane needs, before comparing its quote to anyone else's.
SoundHound — 54/100
SoundHound is a voice platform with restaurant ordering among its verticals, which is a different sale: brand recognition, underlying speech technology, and a vendor that will still be there in five years. It belongs on a shortlist when procurement wants a name with a balance sheet behind it.
The limit is packaging. Ask whether the restaurant product has a published scope and which POS systems it writes to, because a platform can do anything, and that is the risk in buying one for a phone line. See Kovo vs SoundHound.
What a QSR order has to survive
Run these five calls on a live line with each vendor, then open the POS.
- A combo number with one change. Did the combo stay attached, and did the price change by the right amount?
- A substitution on a sandwich. Did it land in the right modifier group or as free text?
- An order for 8 of one item, then 9. Kovo tickets the first and stops at the second on the shop's default limit, and every vendor should tell you where its line is before the Friday rush finds it.
- A card order. Did the ticket wait for payment, or print first?
- A call at 12:05 with noise behind it. Kitchen noise is the test nobody runs and every QSR has.
FAQ
What does an AI phone agent cost a QSR?
Kovo is $99 a month for 750 connected minutes, roughly 300 calls, or $299 for 5,000, with no overage because calls forward to your own phone at the cap. Loman publishes from $199 a month per location with no per-minute fees (published pricing, October 2026). ConverseNow, VOICEplug, Certus AI, and SoundHound are quote-based, so the number to ask for is the all-in monthly cost at your call volume, in writing.
Can an AI agent take a combo number without a human?
That is the test that matters at a QSR. A caller who says number 4, no pickles, and a large Coke is giving you three instructions in one breath, and the ticket has to arrive with the combo attached rather than three loose items. Run that call on a live line, then look at the POS ticket and the price the caller was quoted.
Is a phone agent worth it at a $12 ticket?
Do the multiplication on your own log. About 90 order calls a month at a $12 ticket is $1,080 a store, against $99 for Kovo Starter, so the case is volume and turnaround rather than ticket size. A QSR loses orders to the counter line during the rush, not to the size of the average check.
Does a QSR need a drive-thru product for the phone?
No, and that is the most common way to overbuy. Drive-thru vendors sell lane hardware and throughput, which is a different problem from a phone that rings 40 times during the lunch rush. Three of the products here sell both, so ask whether the phone is a first-class channel before you sign for a lane.
Where does each agent finish on the rubric?
Kovo is first at 93/100, Loman second at 80, then ConverseNow and Certus AI at 57, VOICEplug AI at 55, and SoundHound at 54. Kovo wins price, an included reservation book, owner-set order limits, phone and chat on one brain, and setup without a scheduled onboarding. Loman wins the payment row because a card can be captured inside the call, whichever card the caller has.
Final Thoughts
The best phone agent for a QSR is the one that holds a combo, a modifier, and a noisy caller, then puts the ticket where the line can build it. Voice quality is a tiebreaker; the ticket is the decision.
On the rubric above that is Kovo at 93/100, on $99 for 750 connected minutes, a reservation book included, limits you set, and a ticket written to the POS. Loman is the right answer when any card has to close inside the call, and the table says so. Take the five-call test on your own menu, in both peak windows, and look at the POS rather than the vendor's dashboard. Take a test call.