KKea AI

Kea says its voice AI has brought in more than $2 million in phone order revenue for restaurants since January 2025, across 846,157 AI-handled calls. The agent answers every call, takes the order and payment, and sends the ticket straight to the POS and kitchen display, so staff never pick up the phone during a rush.

Kea is a strong fit for pizza and fast casual groups that rely on phone orders, scoring 8.2/10 on our scale. Pricing is the main thing to ask about: Kea charges one flat fee with unlimited calls and shares it by quote rather than publishing it. Its best-known customer, Via 313, says its 28 locations take $22,000 to $26,000 a week in phone orders. We have not used Kea ourselves; this review is based on Kea’s website, its product announcements and funding coverage.

Running Totals and a Funding Record Back to 2019

Kea publishes running totals on its homepage and has a funding record that goes back to 2019. Together they show a company that has spent years on one narrow job: restaurant phone orders.

The headline revenue figure is worth reading carefully. Spread across 846,157 calls, it works out to about $2.42 per call, but the call count includes non-order calls such as hours questions and spam, so per-order value is higher. The 625,172 minutes saved equal roughly 10,420 hours of staff time on the phone.

Via 313’s numbers are the strongest single data point: $22,000 to $26,000 a week in phone orders across 28 locations is about $786 to $929 per location per week. That gives a multi-unit operator a realistic sense of how much phone revenue an always-answered line can carry, though it describes total phone orders, not only orders Kea recovered.

A Phone and Text Ordering Line for Restaurants

Kea runs as the restaurant’s phone and text ordering line. The case for it rests on how much revenue still arrives by phone: when Kea raised its seed round in 2019, it said phone orders made up 40% of all revenue at many franchises. Every unanswered call during a rush is an order that may go to a competitor or a delivery app that takes a commission. Kea’s answer is a line that never rings out and never puts a caller on hold, however many people call at once. Based on Kea’s published product pages, here is what happens on a typical call.

Taking an Order

• Answer: Kea picks up every call, 24 hours a day, including several at once during a rush.
• Order: the caller orders in conversation. The Judge agent checks each item and modifier against the live menu.
• Pay: Kea takes payment through Kea Pay, Apple Pay or Google Pay, with PCI-compliant card saving for returning guests, and can set up delivery.
• Send: the order drops into the POS and kitchen display like any other ticket. If the kitchen is backed up, Kea throttles orders by quoting longer times.
• Report: The Data Guru sends a daily text summary, and the Kea AI Portal shows call reporting and trends.

Beyond Orders

Kea also answers common questions through dynamic FAQs maintained by The Food Critic agent, handles reservation and waitlist requests, screens spam calls and follows holiday hours. An AI Menu Analyzer reviews the menu, and the Thanx Loyalty integration ties orders to loyalty programs. Fast Casual reported in 2024 that a live representative can step in when needed to help an order go through.

Text AI

Text AI, launched in November 2025, lets guests text the same local number they call. They can order, ask menu questions and pay by text, and the agent remembers names and favorite orders. Kea says it accepts emoji orders and that restaurants turn it on with a single setting.

A 15-Minute POS Menu Connection After the Demo

• Book a demo and quote: Kea sells through its sales team.
• Connect the POS: Kea says the menu connects in under 15 minutes on supported systems such as Toast, Square, Clover and Olo.
• Forward calls: point the restaurant’s phone line to Kea. Kea says activation takes 30 minutes or less, and that chains with 50 or more locations can be set up in a day.
• Tune answers: review FAQ answers, holiday hours and throttling rules in the Kea AI Portal.

Food, Complaints and Accurate POS Menus Stay With Staff

Staff still prepare and hand off the food, handle complaints and unusual requests, and keep menu items and prices accurate in the POS so the agent sells what the kitchen can make. Someone should read the daily summary and call reports to spot missed questions.

One Quoted Plan With No Public Price List

Kea does not publish a price list. The table summarizes what its site says about the commercial model.

Kea’s flat-fee model differs from rivals that meter minutes or charge per order. A restaurant with heavy weekend call volume pays the same as one with a quiet line, which makes costs predictable once the quote is set.

Rival Prices and Kea’s Own Value Figures for a Pizza Shop

Because Kea quotes its price, these scenarios focus on what rivals charge and on Kea’s own published value figures. The arithmetic uses only those published numbers.

• One pizza shop: Kea’s stated average of $677 a month in recovered missed-order revenue adds up to $8,124 a year. Loman AI lists $199 a month, or $2,388 a year, and Yelp Host $249 a month, or $2,988 a year. A Kea quote near those levels would sit well below Kea’s stated recovery average, if a shop matched it.
• A nine-location group: Rachel’s Kitchen runs nine locations on Kea. At the vendor’s $677 average, nine stores would recover about $6,093 a month. Ask for a per-location quote and a group discount.
• A 28-location chain: Via 313’s CEO says the chain takes $22,000 to $26,000 a week in phone orders, or about $1.14 million to $1.35 million a year. At that volume, order accuracy and uptime matter more than the fee.

Other costs to ask about: payment processing fees on Kea Pay, any POS integration fees charged by the POS provider, and contract length and renewal terms, none of which appear on Kea’s site.

Kea AI Compared With Loman AI, ConverseNow, SoundHound and Yelp Host

Restaurant voice agents split between ordering specialists built for chains and lighter answering services for independents. Kea sits between them: it is built for ordering but courts small groups too.

Kea’s distinguishing points are text ordering on the same number and a flat fee with unlimited calls. Loman and Yelp Host are easier to price up front, while ConverseNow and SoundHound also cover drive-thru lanes for large chains. See more options in our guide to AI agents for restaurants and voice AI agents.

Pizza Brands and Fast Casual Chains Taking Phone Orders

• Pizza and fast casual brands: most of Kea’s named customers, from Via 313 to &pizza, take a large share of orders by phone.
• Multi-location groups: Kea says chains of 50 or more locations can be set up in a day, and groups such as Rachel’s Kitchen and Jimanos run on it.
• Restaurants on Toast, Square, Clover or Olo: orders land in the POS and kitchen display without double entry.
• Operators with unpredictable call spikes: a flat fee with unlimited calls means a busy Friday costs the same as a slow Tuesday.
• Brands whose regulars prefer texting: Text AI takes orders and payments by SMS and remembers favorites.
• Owners who want a daily pulse: The Data Guru texts a summary each day, and the portal tracks call trends, which helps an owner who is not on site every shift see what customers ask for.

Fine Dining Venues and Buyers Wanting a Price First

• Buyers who want a price before a call: Kea quotes every deal, while rivals such as Loman AI publish theirs.
• Fine dining and event venues: reservation and private-event calls are better served by agents built around booking systems.
• Chains that need drive-thru automation: Kea’s product is built for phone and text ordering, while ConverseNow and SoundHound also cover drive-thru lanes.
• Restaurants on unsupported POS systems: confirm your POS is among Kea’s direct integrations before signing.
• Teams with strict vendor security reviews: Kea’s site names no SOC 2 or ISO certification.

Flat Fees, Renewal Terms and 99.3% Accuracy Claims

• Quote-only pricing: get the flat fee, contract length and renewal terms in writing, and ask whether Text AI costs extra.
• Self-reported metrics: the 99.3% accuracy, $677 monthly savings and revenue totals are Kea’s own figures; publishing the methods would help buyers.
• Menu hygiene: the agent sells what the POS menu says, so out-of-stock items and price changes need updating there first.
• Payment fees: ask how Kea Pay processing is priced and how refunds on phone orders are handled.
• Security documentation: PCI-compliant card saving is mentioned, but request any audit reports before connecting payment and customer data.

Text AI Brings Ordering to SMS in November 2025

• On November 12, 2025, Kea launched Text AI for restaurants, bringing ordering, menu questions and payments to SMS on the same local number guests call. The company said fewer than 1% of guests at beta partners opted out, and named Rachel’s Kitchen among them.

Pizza Shops Losing Calls Mid-Service Have a Proven Option

For pizza and fast casual operators that lose orders when the phone rings during service, Kea is a credible choice with a long track record. It scores 8.2/10 on our scale: strong on autonomy, setup and POS integration, with room to grow on published pricing and security documentation. The product does the full job of a phone order, from conversation to payment to kitchen ticket, and adds text ordering on the same number.

Ask for a quote, compare it against Loman AI’s $199 and Yelp Host’s $249 monthly prices, and request a trial period on one location with call reports. If recovered phone revenue at your busiest store beats the fee by a clear margin, roll it out across the group.

POS Support, Text Orders and Kea’s Accuracy

How Much Does Kea AI Cost?

Kea does not publish a price. It says restaurants pay one flat price with unlimited calls and no per-order costs or hidden fees, and quotes are given after a demo request.

Which POS Systems Does Kea Work With?

Kea lists more than 11 direct POS integrations and names Toast, Square, Clover and Olo. It also partners with CBS NorthStar, which offers Kea as an add-on to its restaurant customers.

Can Kea Take Orders by Text Message?

Yes. Text AI, launched in November 2025, lets guests order, ask menu questions and pay by text on the same local number they call. It remembers returning guests’ names and favorite orders.

How Accurate Is Kea’s Phone Ordering?

Kea claims 99.3% order accuracy, checked by an agent it calls The Judge. This is a company figure, so ask for call recordings and reports from your own trial.

How Is Kea Different From Loman AI?

Loman AI publishes a $199 monthly price per location, while Kea quotes a flat fee with unlimited calls. Kea adds SMS ordering on the same number and payments through Kea Pay, Apple Pay and Google Pay.