Head to head
Retell AI vs Vapi
Both are developer-focused voice agent platforms. You connect a phone number, choose a language model and a voice, and define what the agent should do. Neither is a ready-made receptionist service; they are what such services are built on.
The practical difference for most buyers is pricing visibility. Retell AI shows a per-minute range that already includes its components. Vapi's per-minute figure covers its own hosting, with the other parts billed separately at the providers' rates.
Facts read from each vendor’s own site: Retell AI on 16 October 2026, Vapi on 16 October 2026.
Should I choose Retell AI or Vapi?
Retell AI and Vapi are both platforms for building AI voice agents that make and take phone calls. Retell AI publishes an all-in rate of $0.07 to $0.31 a minute, broken down by component. Vapi charges $0.05 a minute for hosting and passes model, voice and telephony costs through at cost, which gives developers more control but makes the total harder to see up front.
At a glance
Retell AI
Platform for building AI voice agents that answer and place phone calls, with chat and SMS agents too. Usage is billed per minute, split into voice infrastructure, LLM, voice and telephony components.
- Free plan
- Not verified
- Starts at
- From $0.07 per minute, all components
- Billing
- per minute + usage-based + per call + usage credits
Vapi
Developer platform and API for building voice agents that make and receive phone calls or run in web apps. Vapi charges a hosting fee per minute and passes through model, voice and transcription costs.
- Free plan
- Not verified
- Starts at
- $0.05 per minute hosting, plus model, voice and telephony
- Billing
- subscription + per minute + usage-based
Features
Confirmed on the vendor’s site Vendor says it is not offered Not verified (not the same as no)
| Feature | Retell AI | Vapi |
|---|---|---|
| Phone calls | Yes | Yes |
| Voice conversation | Yes | Yes |
| Developer API | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Yes | Yes |
| Books appointments | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple languages | Yes | Yes |
Plans and prices
Retell AI
Pay as you go
$0.07-$0.31 / min for AI Voice Agents · $0.002+/ msg for AI Chat Agents · First 20 concurrent calls free
No public price
Enterprise
Custom concurrency starting at 50+ calls
Contact sales
Usage charges
- Retell Voice Infra: $0.055 per minute
- Voice: Retell Platform Voices: $0.015 per minute
- Voice: ElevenLabs Flash: $0.04 per minute
- LLM: Claude 5.5 Sonnet: $0.064 per minute
- LLM: GPT 5.4 mini (standard): $0.024 per minute
- Speech-to-speech: GPT Realtime: $0.345 per minute
- Telephony (Twilio/Telnyx, listed countries): $0.015 per minute
- Retell phone number: $2 per number per month
- Extra concurrency (beyond 20): $8 per concurrent call per month
- Knowledge base usage: $0.005 per minute
- Extra knowledge base (beyond 10): $8 per knowledge base per month
- Batch call: $0.005 per dial
- Branded call: $0.10 per outbound call
- SMS: $0.01 per message
Vapi
No Success Package
Pre-paid, $0.05/min Vapi hosting · Models pass-through at cost · 4 concurrent calls · 1 phone number · 14 days data retention
Free
Core
Pre-paid, auto-renew · 10 concurrent calls · 5 phone numbers · 30 days retention · Email support
$29/month per account
Pro
10% of Vapi hosting fee · $999/mo minimum · 30 concurrent calls · 10 phone numbers · 180 days retention · 99% uptime SLA
$999/month per account
Premier
Custom concurrency and retention · 99.9% uptime SLA · SSO · Dedicated SIP
Contact sales
Usage charges
- Vapi hosting: $0.05 per minute
- HIPAA compliance add-on: $2,000 per month
- Additional concurrency: $10 per line per month
- Additional organization: $20 per organization per month
Which to choose
Editorial opinion, based on the facts above.
- Choose Retell AI if
- You want to see an all-in per-minute rate before you build, with each component listed.
- Choose Vapi if
- You want to pick your own model, voice and phone provider and pay their rates directly, and you are comfortable working out the total yourself.
Questions
Is Vapi cheaper than Retell AI?
Vapi's $0.05 a minute hosting fee is lower than Retell AI's lowest all-in rate of $0.07, but Vapi's figure excludes the model, voice and telephony. Once those are added the totals can be similar or higher. Compare with the model and voice you plan to use.
Do Retell AI and Vapi offer free credits?
Retell AI lists $10 of free credits for new accounts and Vapi lists $5 of free credits on its pay-as-you-go option.
Related comparisons
Sources and method
Both products were read on their vendors’ own websites. Features are marked confirmed only with a quote from an official page; anything we could not find is shown as not verified.
- Retell AI, checked 16 October 2026: pricing page, product page, docs
- Vapi, checked 16 October 2026: pricing page, product page, docs, docs
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