Retell AI starts at $0.07–$0.31 per minute for AI voice agents on pay-as-you-go, with $10 in free credits, 20 free concurrent calls, $2/month phone numbers, ~600ms latency, and HIPAA, SOC 2 Type I & II, GDPR, and ISO 27001 compliance on every plan. Vapi is a developer-first alternative at a reported $0.05/min platform rate (roughly $0.25–$0.33/min all-in once LLM, speech, and telephony costs are added), with 60 free minutes and SOC 2, HIPAA, and PCI (Enterprise) compliance. If you want a done-for-you agent rather than a DIY toolkit, Agents by AIQ builds and operates AI receptionists and voice agents for small businesses.
Bottom line: For most small businesses, Retell AI is the stronger pick: it pairs transparent pay-as-you-go pricing from $0.07/min with no-code workflows, knowledge base, branded calls, and full compliance on every plan. Vapi wins only if you have engineering resources and want to assemble a fully custom voice pipeline.
TL;DR
- Retell AI charges $0.07–$0.31 per minute for AI voice agents on pay-as-you-go, with $10 in free credits and 20 free concurrent calls.
- Retell phone numbers cost $2/month (toll numbers $5/month), and its all-in per-minute cost runs roughly $0.08–$0.15/min.
- Vapi's platform rate starts around $0.05/min, but all-in costs are reported at roughly $0.25–$0.33/min once LLM, speech, and telephony components are added.
- Vapi offers 60 free minutes to start; Retell offers $10 in free credits.
- Retell includes HIPAA, SOC 2 Type I & II, GDPR, and ISO 27001 on every plan; Vapi lists SOC 2, HIPAA, and PCI (Enterprise).
- Retell cites ~600ms latency with >99.9% uptime; Vapi's tested latency range is 500–900ms.
- Retell suits no-code and mixed teams; Vapi is aimed at developers building custom voice pipelines.
Head-to-head
| Dimension | Retell AI | Vapi |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $0.07–$0.31/min pay-as-you-go; ~$0.08–$0.15/min all-in; $2/month numberswinner | ~$0.05/min platform; ~$0.25–$0.33/min all-in |
| Ease of use | No-code drag-and-drop builder plus API; agent live in under an hourwinner | Developer-first toolkit; requires coding |
| Features | Knowledge base, branded calls, warm transfer, IVR/DTMF, batch calls, post-call analytics, 55 languageswinner | Composable custom pipelines; fewer turnkey features |
| Support | Community and email support on pay-as-you-go | Developer-oriented support |
| Compliance | HIPAA (self-serve BAA), SOC 2 Type I & II, GDPR, ISO 27001 on every plan; automatic PII redactionwinner | SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI (Enterprise tier) |
| Latency & reliability | ~600ms latency; >99.9% uptime to datewinner | 500–900ms latency range |
| Setup | Working inbound agent on a Twilio SIP trunk in under an hourwinner | Custom build required; timeline depends on engineering capacity |
| Free tier | $10 free credits + 20 free concurrent calls | 60 free minutes |
Scores
Retell AI
retellai.com ↗Retell AI is a voice AI agent platform for automating inbound and outbound phone calls at production scale. It combines your choice of LLM (OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini) with voice engines such as ElevenLabs, OpenAI, and Cartesia, and runs on a proprietary turn-taking model that handles interruptions and barge-in mid-sentence. Retell cites roughly 600ms end-to-end latency — the threshold where callers typically stop noticing they are talking to AI — and reports uptime above 99.9%. Teams can build via a drag-and-drop workflow builder or a full API, with conditional branching, warm transfer logic, fallback nodes for unrecognized intents, native SIP trunking, and bring-your-own telephony. Post-call tooling includes structured transcripts, sentiment scoring, custom extracted fields, and resolution tracking, plus batch calling for outbound campaigns. Compliance is included on every plan: HIPAA with self-serve BAA, SOC 2 Type I and II, GDPR, and ISO 27001, along with automatic PII redaction for names, addresses, DOBs, passwords, and PINs. It supports 55 languages and is used in healthcare, financial services, logistics, and contact centers running thousands of calls a day.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Pay as you go (AI Voice Agents) | $0.07/mo | $0.07–$0.31/min; $10 free credits; 20 free concurrent calls; full platform access; $2/month phone numbers; $5/month toll numbers |
| Phone number | $2/mo | Local number $2/month; toll $5/month; verified number $10/month + $10 one-time setup |
| Enterprise | — | Customized pricing for high-volume users; rates potentially as low as $0.05/min |
Pros
- Transparent pay-as-you-go pricing from $0.07/min with no platform fees and $10 in free credits
- ~600ms latency with turn-taking that handles interruptions without breaking conversation flow
- No-code builder and full API in one platform, so non-developers and engineers can both ship
- Enterprise compliance (HIPAA, SOC 2 Type I & II, GDPR, ISO 27001) included on every plan, not gated behind tiers
- Deep post-call analysis with sentiment scoring, extracted fields, and resolution tracking
- $2/month phone numbers and >99.9% uptime to date
Cons
- Per-minute rates vary widely by voice engine and LLM choice ($0.07–$0.31/min), so budgeting requires component-level math
- Advanced add-ons carry separate fees: branded calls $0.10 per outbound call, extra knowledge base slots $8/month each, extra concurrency $8/month per slot
- Support on the entry plan is community and email only
- Verified phone numbers cost $10/month plus a $10 one-time setup fee
Vapi
Vapi is a developer-first voice AI platform aimed at teams building custom voice pipelines. Rather than a turnkey product, it provides the infrastructure layer — speech recognition, LLM inference, text-to-speech, and telephony — that developers compose into their own inbound and outbound calling agents. Its platform rate starts around $0.05 per minute, which makes the headline number the lowest among commonly compared providers, but because Vapi's model stacks component costs (LLM tokens, speech, telephony) on top of the platform fee, its all-in cost is reported at roughly $0.25–$0.33 per minute. Tested latency falls in a 500–900ms range. Vapi offers 60 free minutes to start and lists SOC 2, HIPAA, and PCI compliance, with PCI available at the Enterprise tier. It is ranked among the top voice AI platforms for 2026 specifically for developers building custom voice pipelines — the right choice when you want maximum control over models, prompts, and call flow architecture, and the wrong choice when you need a no-code, ready-to-run phone agent for a small business.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Platform usage | $0.05/mo | $0.05/min platform rate; ~$0.25–$0.33/min all-in; 60 free minutes; SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI (Enterprise) |
Pros
- Low headline platform rate at around $0.05/min
- 60 free minutes to test before committing
- Maximum flexibility for developers assembling custom voice pipelines
- SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance available, with PCI at Enterprise tier
- Positioned as a cost-effective choice for teams that don't need extensive turnkey features
Cons
- All-in cost (~$0.25–$0.33/min) is higher than the headline rate once component fees stack
- Developer-heavy: requires engineering resources to build and maintain agents
- Latency range (500–900ms) is wider and less consistent than Retell's ~600ms
- Fewer turnkey production features for non-technical teams
- PCI compliance is gated behind the Enterprise tier
Pricing compared
Ease of use and time to launch
Compliance and reliability
Which should you pick?
FAQs
How much does Retell AI cost per minute?
Retell AI's pay-as-you-go plan charges $0.07–$0.31 per minute for AI voice agents, depending on the voice engine and LLM you choose, with AI chat agents starting at $0.002 per message. New accounts get $10 in free credits and 20 free concurrent calls. Independent testing puts the typical all-in cost around $0.08–$0.15 per minute, and enterprise pricing for high-volume users can drop to as low as $0.05 per minute. Phone numbers add $2/month.
Is Vapi cheaper than Retell AI?
Vapi's headline platform rate starts around $0.05 per minute, which is lower than Retell's $0.07 entry rate. However, Vapi's model stacks component costs (LLM, speech, telephony) on top of the platform fee, and reported all-in figures run roughly $0.25–$0.33 per minute — higher than Retell's tested all-in range of about $0.08–$0.15 per minute. At production volume, Retell's published rate card is generally the cheaper all-in option.
Which platform is easier for a non-technical small business owner?
Retell AI. It offers a drag-and-drop builder alongside its API, and a working inbound support agent can go live on a Twilio SIP trunk in under an hour. Vapi is explicitly a developer-first platform for building custom voice pipelines, so it assumes coding capability. If nobody on your team writes code, Retell — or a done-for-you service like Agents by AIQ, which builds and operates the agent for you — is the more realistic path.
Do Retell AI and Vapi meet healthcare compliance requirements?
Both support HIPAA. Retell AI includes HIPAA with a self-serve BAA, SOC 2 Type I and II, GDPR, and ISO 27001 on every plan, plus automatic PII redaction for names, addresses, DOBs, passwords, and PINs. Vapi lists SOC 2, HIPAA, and PCI compliance, with PCI available at the Enterprise tier. For regulated deployments, verify the specific BAA and data-handling configuration with each vendor before going live.
Can I try these platforms before paying?
Yes. Retell AI gives new accounts $10 in free credits with full platform access and no commitments, plus 20 free concurrent calls. Vapi offers 60 free minutes to start. Both let you build and test an agent before spending money, so you can evaluate voice quality and latency on your own call flows first.
Sources
- AI Phone Agent Pricing | Retell AI
- Retell AI vs Bland AI: Pricing, Features & Value Compared
- 8 Best Voice AI Platforms for 2026 (Tested and Ranked)
- How Much Should You Spend on AI Voice Agents?
- AI Voice Agent Pricing in 2026: What It Actually Costs
- Top 7 Voice AI Agents Fully Compliant with Global AI Regulations (2026 Guide)
- AI Voice Agent Platform for Phone Call Automation | Retell AI
- AI Customer Experience: Strategy, Use Cases & Benefits 2026
- Retell Market Competitor Overview