Curious Thing vs Bland (Tried & Compared) – Who Wins?

Curious Thing - a quick overview

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Founded in Sydney, Australia in 2018 by Sam Zheng, Dr. Han Xu, and David Mckeague, Curious Thing is a pioneering AI company transforming how businesses communicate with customers through advanced voice AI agents. Their platform enables proactive customer care and engagement by making automated phone calls that ask open-ended questions, gather insights, and handle tasks like appointment reminders, lead qualification, payment follow-ups, and feedback collection.

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Curious Thing’s flagship product Lucy is the world’s first completely free AI phone agent designed to replace voicemail for individuals and businesses. With more than three million calls processed annually across sectors like healthcare and finance—and clients including Foodpanda, Medibank, Brighte, and government agencies—Curious Thing has earned accolades such as the 2024 Best in Tech “AI Gamechanger” award. The next section will compare Curious Thing’s features, pros/cons, pricing details, and user reviews alongside Bland and Ringly.io.

Curious Thing's Features

• Automated Call Handling: Curious Thing provides automated call handling, which can help businesses manage customer inquiries. However, the extent of customization and integration with other business tools is unclear compared to more comprehensive solutions like Ringly.io, which offers customizable AI voices and seamless integrations.
• Tiered Plans: Curious Thing's plans are feature-based, meaning users must upgrade for more robust features. This tiered approach can limit access to key functionalities unless you're willing to pay more, unlike some competitors that offer comprehensive features across all plans.
• Branding: The free plan includes Curious Thing branding, which may not be ideal for maintaining a professional business image. In contrast, solutions like Ringly.io allow for full customization to match your brand.
• Pricing Transparency: Pricing details for Curious Thing are not easily accessible, which can make it difficult for businesses to compare costs and plan budgets effectively. This lack of transparency is a significant drawback compared to more transparent competitors.

Curious Thing Pros and Cons

We studied dozens of reviews from real Curious Thing users from platforms like G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius. Then we identified commonalities and summarized the main pros and cons of Curious Thing based on real user feedback for you here:

Pros

• Easy to use – Users frequently mention that the platform is intuitive and straightforward to navigate, making onboarding relatively simple for teams.
• Effective at automating interviews – Many reviewers appreciate how Curious Thing streamlines repetitive interview processes, saving significant time for hiring managers.
• Good quality insights – The AI-driven analysis provides actionable feedback from candidate responses, which helps improve decision-making.
• Responsive support team – Several users highlight positive experiences with customer support when issues arise or questions need answering.
• Scalable solution – Organizations note that it’s easy to deploy across multiple roles or departments as hiring needs grow.

Cons

• Expensive pricing model – A recurring theme is that Curious Thing’s pricing is high compared to alternatives; startups in particular find it difficult to justify the cost without a more affordable monthly option.
• Limited trial period – Users feel one week isn’t enough time to fully evaluate whether the product fits their workflow before committing financially.
• API integration limitations – Some reviews point out gaps in available integrations with other HR tools or applicant tracking systems (ATS), which can slow down adoption or require manual workarounds.
• Occasional technical glitches – There are reports of minor bugs or system lags during peak usage times.
• Less customization than expected – A few customers wish there were more options for tailoring interview questions or analytics dashboards.

While these drawbacks are important considerations, solutions like Ringly.io may address some of these pain points—such as offering more flexible pricing models and broader integration capabilities—without sacrificing ease-of-use.

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Bland - a quick overview

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Founded in 2023 in San Francisco by Isaiah Granet and Sobhan Nejad, Bland AI is revolutionizing enterprise communications with its AI-powered voice agents. The platform automates customer support and sales calls at scale, handling millions of simultaneous conversations across multiple languages while integrating emotional intelligence for natural interactions. Trusted by companies like the Cleveland Cavaliers and Better.com, Bland AI’s technology reduces operational costs and enhances efficiency for businesses managing high call volumes.

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In the following section, we’ll explore Bland AI’s features, pros and cons, pricing, and user reviews compared to Curious Thing and Ringly.io. This breakdown will clarify how each solution stacks up in transforming customer communication workflows.

Bland's features

• Conversational AI for Phone Calls
  Bland provides an AI-powered phone agent that can handle both inbound and outbound calls, automating customer interactions such as answering questions, booking appointments, and collecting information. This is similar to Curious Thing’s conversational voice AI but Bland emphasizes seamless integration with business workflows. Unlike Ringly.io, which specializes in deep knowledge base integration for highly accurate responses using your own content, Bland’s focus is broader but may not deliver the same level of business-specific expertise out-of-the-box.
• CRM and Tool Integrations
  Bland connects with popular CRMs and productivity tools to log call data, update records automatically, and trigger follow-up actions based on conversations. This streamlines sales or support processes by reducing manual data entry. Curious Thing also offers CRM integrations; however, Ringly.io stands out by enabling custom actions during live calls—such as creating tickets or updating CRMs instantly—making it more dynamic for real-time operations.
• Automated Lead Qualification & Routing
  The platform uses AI to qualify leads during calls by asking relevant questions and routing high-potential prospects directly to human agents or specific departments. While Curious Thing supports intelligent call routing at scale (especially useful in recruitment), Bland’s approach is tailored toward sales teams needing fast lead triage. Ringly.io takes this further with smart call transfer logic that includes detailed context summaries so your team only handles complex cases.
• Personalized Voice Interactions
  Bland allows businesses to customize the voice persona of their phone agent—including tone and language—to match brand identity or customer preferences. Both Bland and Curious Thing offer multi-language support for global reach; however, Ringly.io adds another layer of personalization by sending SMS messages with personalized variables (like names or order details) mid-call—a feature that removes friction from purchase decisions.
• Call Summaries & Analytics
  After each interaction, Bland generates concise summaries of key points discussed on the call along with basic analytics like duration and outcome status. This helps teams review performance quickly without listening to entire recordings. While Curious Thing delivers robust analytics including caller mood detection at scale, Ringly.io provides advanced analysis such as mood tracking plus actionable insights into why calls succeed or fail—empowering continuous improvement across all touchpoints.
• Voicemail Automation & Follow-Up
  If a customer doesn’t answer a call, Bland’s AI leaves a pre-recorded voicemail message tailored to the campaign objective (e.g., appointment reminders). This matches features found in both competitors; however, Ringly.io distinguishes itself by leaving fully customized voicemails using personal details from your CRM—ensuring every message feels relevant rather than generic.
• 24/7 Availability & Scalability
  Bland operates around the clock without breaks or downtime—a standard expectation among modern voice AIs like those from Curious Thing as well. For businesses

Curious Thing Pros and Cons

• Easy to use – Users frequently mention that the platform is intuitive and straightforward to navigate, making onboarding relatively simple for teams.
• Effective at automating interviews – Many reviewers appreciate how Curious Thing streamlines repetitive interview processes, saving significant time for hiring managers.
• Good quality insights – The AI-driven analysis provides actionable feedback from candidate responses, which helps improve decision-making.
• Responsive support team – Several users highlight positive experiences with customer support when issues arise or questions need answering.
• Scalable solution – Organizations note that it’s easy to deploy across multiple roles or departments as hiring needs grow.

• Expensive pricing model – A recurring theme is that Curious Thing’s pricing is high compared to alternatives; startups in particular find it difficult to justify the cost without a more affordable monthly option.
• Limited trial period – Users feel one week isn’t enough time to fully evaluate whether the product fits their workflow before committing financially.
• API integration limitations – Some reviews point out gaps in available integrations with other HR tools or applicant tracking systems (ATS), which can slow down adoption or require manual workarounds.
• Occasional technical glitches – There are reports of minor bugs or system lags during peak usage times.
• Less customization than expected – A few customers wish there were more options for tailoring interview questions or analytics dashboards.

While these drawbacks are important considerations, solutions like Ringly.io may address some of these pain points—such as offering more flexible pricing models and broader integration capabilities—without sacrificing ease-of-use.

Pricing - Curious Thing vs Bland

Note: The pricing information below is accurate at the time of writing and may be subject to change. For the most up-to-date pricing, please visit each company's pricing page.

Curious Thing pricing

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Bland pricing

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Ringly.io pricing

Ringly.io delivers the perfect balance of affordability and features. Unlike competitors who force you into expensive tiers, Ringly.io includes all core features even in its free plan. The simple, transparent pricing scales based on your actual usage, with no surprise fees.

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Online customer reviews: Curious Thing vs Bland

Curious Thing

There are no online reviews available for Curious Thing on G2, Capterra, Product Hunt, Trustpilot, or other major review sites. This absence of public feedback means potential buyers should exercise caution and consider reaching out directly to the company for references or case studies before making a decision.

What users are saying about Curious Thing:

No online reviews available.
Potential customers should be careful when evaluating this product due to the lack of independent user feedback.

Bland

Bland is known for its human-like conversations for enterprises, with advanced features while staying user-friendly. Bland has a 3.0-star rating from 10 reviews on Product Hunt, which means that users are generally not very positive.

What users are saying about Bland:

"Extremely impressed"
— Casper Boutens
Extremely impressed by Bland; the team is improving their product every week... they offer great support and all by all great phone calls made by their AI...

"Doesn't work at all"
— Albert Salgueda
Doesn't work at all. I call and it doesn't speak, it gets interrupted... still not there...

If you’re considering either platform:
- For Curious Thing, proceed carefully due to no verified public reviews.
- For Bland, expect mixed experiences: some praise rapid improvement and support while others report reliability issues.

What users are saying about Ringly.io:

Ringly.io is known for its simplicity, and a focus on e-commerce, with features like abandoned cart recovery and order status lookups. It has a 4.8 star rating from 12 reviews on Product Hunt and other platforms.

"it stands out significantly ahead" - Bertrand, Director. We are at the initial stage of testing and have made only a few calls so far. Consequently, I have rated the product with four stars for now. However, I must express that the product has shown significant promise. When compared to competitors, it stands out significantly ahead.

"This is such a great product" - Jim Miranda, Founder. This is such a great product. I have been with you for less than a week and already closed 3 deals with it."

"It really sounds like a human" - Laix, Founder. Tried Ringly.io today and the quality of the phone calls surprises me! It really sounds like a human, and it reacts really fast. Will need to deploy it in action to see the full capabilities.

"How to automate customer service? -> Ringly.io" - Sidra Husnain, Founder.

Curious Thing vs Bland: Which is best for you?

Who Curious Thing is best for…

• Recruiters and HR teams – Curious Thing’s strongest features are in automating phone interviews and collecting candidate feedback, saving you hours in the hiring process.
• Larger businesses and organizations – If you handle a high volume of customer or candidate calls and need scalable phone automation (but don’t mind premium pricing), Curious Thing can handle your growth.
• Companies needing proactive customer outreach – Especially useful for appointment reminders, follow-ups, and feedback collection through automated calls.
• Tech-savvy teams – Because some integration options are limited and pricing is less transparent, Curious Thing fits groups comfortable working around technical limitations and wanting advanced features.

Who Bland is best for…

• Sales-focused teams – Bland’s AI can quickly qualify and route leads, making it a strong choice for busy sales teams that want to automate outbound calls and prospecting.
• Enterprises needing large call volume coverage – If you manage millions of support or sales calls, Bland’s platform scales easily and manages workflows across languages and departments.
• Businesses already using common CRMs – If your data lives inside popular CRMs or productivity tools, Bland can automate follow-ups and log call details right where you need them.
• Teams who value broad automation—but accept trade-offs – Bland offers wide-ranging features, but be aware user reviews are mixed, with some concerns over reliability and support.

Who Ringly.io is best for…

• Small, medium, and large businesses – Ringly.io’s flexible plans and simple pricing make it a great fit for any size business. You get all essential features no matter the plan, so you won’t pay extra for core tools.
• Teams wanting fast and easy automation – With Ringly.io, setup is quick and the interface is simple. There’s no steep learning curve, so you can get AI phone agents working for you right away.
• Businesses that value transparency and support – Ringly.io’s pricing is upfront, with no hidden fees. Plus, you get a generous money-back guarantee and high-rated customer support.
• Companies needing advanced integrations – Ringly.io works seamlessly with your existing CRMs, sends personalized SMS, and transfers complex calls to staff with full context, saving you time and hassle.

Why is Ringly.io the best overall choice?
If you want the benefits of advanced AI phone agents—but don’t want to deal with complicated setup, unclear pricing, or missing features—Ringly.io is your best bet. Its plans fit any business size, its features actually work out-of-the-box, and user reviews praise the support and call quality. That makes it the smartest, most practical choice for most businesses today.

Why Ringly.io is a Better Choice

Highly Rated: 4.8/5

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Founded in 2024 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, by Maurizio Isendoorn and Ruben Boonzaaijer, Ringly.io is revolutionizing e-commerce customer service with AI phone agents.Designed for online businesses, Ringly handles customer calls on autopilot—solving support issues, recovering abandoned carts, and even boosting sales—at just 20% of the cost of human agents.‍

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With 1,300+ customers, Ringly.io is the go-to solution for e-commerce stores looking to scale without scaling their support team. With award-winning technology (BubbleCon 2024's "Most Innovative App"), Ringly.io transforms your phone system into a revenue-driving powerhouse—without the headaches of traditional call centers.‍

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Features that make Ringly.io the #1 alternative to Curious Thing and Bland:

No-code setup, instant results – Ringly.io is ready to go in minutes. Just add your website, docs, or text—no engineering required—and your AI phone agent instantly understands your business. It even updates automatically as your website changes.‍‍‍

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AI-powered sales & support – Ringly.io does both inbound and outbound calls. Recover 35%+ of abandoned carts with automated follow-up calls, provide real-time order tracking from Shopify, and convert more customers with personalized AI-driven conversations—not just reactive support.‍‍

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Advanced analytics for smarter decisions – Ringly.io gives you real-time call data, customer intent tracking, and performance reports—helping you optimize support and sales strategies.‍‍‍

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Scalable pricing without enterprise contracts – Ringly.io offers transparent, scalable pricing—pay for what you use, no locked-in contracts.‍

Conclusion: Which AI phone agent is right for you?

Choosing the right AI phone agent can make a huge difference in how your business manages calls, automates support, and converts curious prospects into loyal customers. Each solution—Curious Thing, Bland, and Ringly.io—brings something unique to the table, and your best fit depends on your team's goals, size, and technical needs.

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• Curious Thing:
  • Best for HR, recruiters, or larger organizations automating phone interviews and candidate feedback
  • Strong at scalable, proactive outreach (like appointment reminders), but limited by pricing transparency, customization options, and lack of public user reviews
  • Ideal if you have technical know-how and are comfortable working around integration gaps
• Bland:
  • Great for high-volume sales teams and enterprises needing automated phone qualification, call summaries, and CRM integrations
  • Scales well for millions of calls; delivers broad automation, but online reviews are mixed, and reliability can be hit or miss
  • Best when you already use major CRMs and want to automate lead routing—even if you’re okay with occasional growing pains
• Ringly.io:
  • Perfect for any business (small, medium, or large) that wants truly easy setup, transparent pricing, and all essential features in every plan
  • Delivers advanced automation—recovering abandoned carts, processing orders, and integrating deeply with your knowledge base—out-of-the-box
  • Backed by glowing user reviews, generous money-back guarantee, and a rock-solid support team

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With Ringly.io, you get the best of all worlds without the drawbacks: full-featured automation, no confusing contracts or hidden fees, and a platform that evolves with your business. Whether you’re launching your first online shop or scaling enterprise operations, Ringly.io’s combination of ease, power, and customer satisfaction makes it the clear winner for most businesses looking to modernize their customer calls.

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The bottom line? If you want peace of mind, fast results, and phone agents that actually work for you—choose Ringly.io. No gimmicks, just great conversations and happier customers, every time.

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Want to compare other players in the market? Check out our other comparisons:

• Bland vs Retell
• Bland vs Vapi
• Bland vs Synthflow
• Bland vs Air AI
• Bland vs Elevenlabs Conversational AI
• Bland alternatives