Head-to-head

Vapi vs Retell AI

Updated 28 October 2026 · 5 min read

Short answer

Pick Vapi for the lowest platform fee when voice calls are all you need, or Retell AI for one all-in per-minute rate and more channels. Pick Vapi if you want a $0.05/min hosting fee with model costs passed through at cost, and voice calls are all you need. Pick Retell AI if you want a single published per-minute rate ($0.07-$0.31), per-second billing, and web chat, SMS, and in-app channels alongside phone.

Vapi charges $0.05/min hosting plus provider costs at cost; Retell AI bundles everything into $0.07-$0.31/min.
At 300 three-minute calls, Vapi's floor is $45 (roughly $73-$120 with listed provider ranges) vs Retell's $63-$279 all-in.
Retell AI covers phone, web chat, SMS, and in-app; The Vapi pages we read list voice calls only.
Both require developers. Neither is a ready-made receptionist.

Vapi and Retell AI, side by side

Published facts only. Where a vendor does not say, we print “Not stated”.

Vapi

Type: Voice agent platform
Bills by: Per minute
Entry price: $0 to start (usage-based)
300 calls a month: $45+
Free way to try: $5 free credits to get you started

Phone: listed
Web chat: not listed
Email: not listed
SMS: not listed
WhatsApp: not listed
Social DMs: not listed
In-app: not listed

Retell AI

Type: Voice agent platform
Bills by: Per minute
Entry price: $0.07-$0.31/minute
300 calls a month: $63–$279
Free way to try: $10 in free credits at signup with full platform access and no contract, plus 20 free concurrent calls

Phone: listed
Web chat: listed
Email: not listed
SMS: listed
WhatsApp: not listed
Social DMs: not listed
In-app: listed

Source: each vendor’s product and pricing pages, checked 28 October 2026. Bill estimate: 300 calls of 3 minutes on the cheapest published plan.

Vapi vs Retell AI at a glance

Both are developer platforms for building voice AI agents. Neither is a ready-made receptionist. Your engineers set them up, connect the models, and own the result.

The main differences:

Billing structure. Vapi charges $0.05/min for hosting and passes model, transcription, and voice costs through at cost with no markup. Retell AI bundles everything into one rate of $0.07-$0.31/min depending on the LLM, voice, and add-ons you pick.
Channels. The Vapi pages we read list voice calls only. Retell AI covers phone, web chat, SMS, and in-app.
Free tier. Vapi gives $5 in credits (Vapi pricing). Retell AI gives $10 in credits plus 20 free concurrent calls (Retell AI pricing).
Billing granularity. Retell AI bills per second with no rounding up, and stops the AI fee once a call transfers to a human. Vapi bills per minute.

Spec comparison

	Vapi	Retell AI
What it is	Developer platform for building, deploying, and monitoring voice AI agents	Platform for building and deploying AI voice agents that automate phone calls
Who sets it up	Developer	Developer
Billing unit	Per minute	Per minute, tracked per second
Entry price	$0 to start (usage-based)	$0.07-$0.31/minute
Per-unit price	$0.05/min Vapi hosting, plus provider costs at cost	$0.07-$0.31/min all-in depending on configuration
Free option	$5 free credits	$10 free credits, full platform access, 20 free concurrent calls
Channels	Phone	Phone, web chat, SMS, in-app
Handoff	Not published	AI briefs the human agent, confirms readiness, and the AI fee stops after transfer
Booking	Appointment scheduling listed as a homepage use case	Checks availability and books directly through the agent
Compliance	SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI (HIPAA handling is a $2,000 add-on)	HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, ISO 27001
Integrations listed	9 (Deepgram, OpenAI, ElevenLabs, Twilio, Vonage, Telnyx, Daily WebRTC, Slack, Discord)	10 (Make, Twilio, Vonage, Go High Level, n8n, Hubspot, SIP trunking, Telnyx, ElevenLabs, OpenAI)

Same 300 calls, two bills

Both vendors publish usable per-minute rates, so we can model the same workload on each. Assume 300 calls at 3 minutes average, so 900 minutes total.

Retell AI: 900 minutes at the published $0.07-$0.31/min range comes to $63-$279. The exact figure depends on the LLM, text-to-speech voice, and add-ons you select. Per-second billing means no rounding up per call.

Vapi: 900 minutes at the $0.05/min hosting fee comes to $45. That is a floor, not a total. Transcription, model, and voice costs stack on top. Vapi's pricing page lists provider ranges: Deepgram transcription $0.0095-$0.0099/min, OpenAI intelligence $0.0077-$0.0452/min, ElevenLabs voice $0.0146-$0.0238/min. Transport is free over Vapi Telephony, WebSockets, or Daily WebRTC; Twilio adds $0.008/min inbound or $0.014/min outbound.

Adding Vapi's listed provider ranges to the hosting fee gives a theoretical range of roughly $0.08-$0.13/min before telephony, or about $73-$120 for the same 900 minutes. Your actual Vapi bill depends on which providers you wire up.

	Vapi	Retell AI
300 calls x 3 min	$45 hosting floor (roughly $73-$120 with listed provider ranges)	$63-$279 all-in

The pattern: Vapi's floor is lower, but you assemble the stack yourself and the final rate depends on your provider choices. Retell AI's range is wider at the top end but is quoted as one number. Model your own volume with our AI call center savings calculator.

Where is Vapi stronger?

Cost transparency on components. Hosting is $0.05/min and model provider costs pass through at cost with no markup, per the pricing page. If you want to optimize each layer of the stack separately, that structure helps.
Scale claims. Vapi states 1 billion calls supported, 2.5M+ agents launched, and sub-500ms average latency.
Named customer results. Ring says 100% of inbound volume runs through Vapi with improved CSAT. Kavak cites 5X revenue growth and 250k monthly calls.
Compliance breadth. The site states SOC 2, HIPAA, and PCI. PCI is not on Retell AI's published list. Note that HIPAA handling is a $2,000 add-on, not included by default.
Free transport. Vapi Telephony/SIP, WebSockets, and Daily WebRTC carry no transport fee.

Where is Retell AI stronger?

Channels. Phone, web chat, SMS, and in-app. The Vapi pages we read list voice calls only. Chat agents start at $0.002 per message.
Billing mechanics. Per-second billing with no rounding up, failed calls are not charged, and the AI voice agent fee stops once a call transfers to a human. Vapi does not publish equivalent terms.
Published handoff behavior. Retell AI describes warm transfer in detail: the AI briefs the human agent, answers follow-up questions, and confirms readiness before connecting.
Free tier. $10 in credits with full platform access and 20 free concurrent calls, versus Vapi's $5.
Certifications included. HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and ISO 27001 are stated on the site. GDPR and ISO 27001 are not on Vapi's published list, and Retell does not list HIPAA as a paid add-on.
No annual contract. Pay-as-you-go with no minimum commitment.

Which should you pick?

Pick Vapi if:

You have developers who want to assemble and tune each layer of the voice stack.
You want model costs passed through at cost and a low $0.05/min hosting fee.
You need PCI compliance or free transport over Vapi's own telephony.
Phone is the only channel you need.

Watch out: the headline $0.05/min is not your real rate, the Pro package costs 10% of the hosting fee with a $999/month minimum, and HIPAA is a $2,000 add-on.

Pick Retell AI if:

You want one published per-minute rate instead of a component stack.
You need web chat, SMS, or in-app channels alongside phone.
You value per-second billing, no charge for failed calls, and AI fees that stop at human handoff.
You want HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and ISO 27001 without a published add-on fee.

Watch out: enterprise pricing requires contacting sales, billing continues during silence and hold time, and add-ons like branded call ID ($0.10 per outbound call) and extra concurrent calls ($8 per call per month) add up.

If neither fits because you want a finished product rather than a build project, see our AI receptionist and voice agent platform guides, or get matched with vendors that fit your volume.

Questions buyers ask

Is Vapi or Retell AI cheaper?

At 900 minutes, Vapi's hosting fee alone is $45, but model, transcription, and voice costs stack on top. Retell AI's all-in range for the same volume is $63-$279. Vapi's floor is lower; Retell's quote is simpler. Your Vapi total depends on which providers you configure.

Do Vapi and Retell AI require developers?

Yes. Both are developer platforms. Your team builds, deploys, and maintains the agents using their APIs. Neither sells a ready-made receptionist with a flat monthly price. If you want a managed product, look at AI receptionist services instead of voice agent platforms.

Which has a better free trial, Vapi or Retell AI?

Retell AI gives $10 in credits at signup with full platform access, no contract, and 20 free concurrent calls. Vapi gives $5 in free credits. Retell's offer is larger and includes concurrency; Vapi's is enough to test basic call flows before committing.

Does Retell AI charge for failed or transferred calls?

Failed calls are not charged. When a call transfers to a human, the AI voice agent fee stops and only the telephony fee continues. Billing does cover the full call duration while the AI is active, including silence and hold time, because the speech-to-text engine stays on.

Which compliance certifications do Vapi and Retell AI hold?

Vapi states SOC 2, HIPAA, and PCI, with HIPAA handling as a $2,000 add-on. Retell AI states HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and ISO 27001. Vapi adds PCI; Retell adds GDPR and ISO 27001. Confirm current scope with each vendor before signing.

Can Vapi or Retell AI handle web chat and SMS?

Retell AI supports phone, web chat, SMS, and in-app channels, with chat agents starting at $0.002 per message. The Vapi pages we read describe phone voice agents only; they list no SMS or chat product. If you need one platform across voice and text channels, Retell AI covers more ground.