Retell AI vs Vapi: pricing, compliance and fit compared
Short answer: Retell AI is the simpler buy: one bill, a published per-minute price for every LLM, 20 free concurrent calls and, per its docs, a BAA at no extra fee (confirm your plan). Vapi has the lower platform fee and more provider choice, but charges $10 per extra line and $2,000 a month for HIPAA. On our standard setup Retell costs $0.117 a minute and Vapi $0.082 to $0.129, as of 14 Nov 2026.
How do Retell AI and Vapi compare at a glance?
| As of 14 Nov 2026 | Retell AI | Vapi |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Pay-as-you-go, each component priced per minute | $0.05/min hosting, providers passed through "at cost" |
| All-in, our standard setup | $0.117/min | $0.082 to $0.129/min |
| Free to start | $10 credit | $5 credit |
| Phone line | $2/month per number + $0.015/min US | 1 free US number, inbound only (docs) |
| Concurrent calls included | 20 | 4 (10 on Core, 30 on Pro) |
| Extra concurrent line | $8/month | $10/month |
| Paid tiers | Enterprise (custom) | Core $29/month, Pro $999/month minimum, Premier custom |
| SOC 2 | Type 1 and Type 2 (docs) | Type II (docs) |
| HIPAA BAA | Self-signed, no additional fee, per docs (confirm plan) | $2,000/month add-on (pricing, docs) |
| Data retention | Kept forever by default, or 1 day to 2 years, set per agent (docs) | 14 days (30 on Core, 180 on Pro) |
| Native integrations | 18 marked "Retell Integration" (4 are SIP carriers), including HubSpot, Salesforce and Cal.com (Retell) | 6 prebuilt, including Google Calendar, Slack and GoHighLevel (docs) |
| Languages | 55 listed (docs) | Depends on providers (docs) |
Prices change often, so check both pricing pages before you commit.
How do Retell AI and Vapi charge per minute?
Retell itemizes everything on one page: Voice Infra at $0.055/min, an LLM from $0.0016/min (GPT 5 nano) to $0.64/min (GPT 6 Astra on its fast tier), a voice at $0.015/min (standard) or $0.04 to $0.10 (ElevenLabs), and US telephony at $0.015/min. Bring your own SIP trunk and Retell's telephony charge drops to $0. It bills to the second.
Vapi charges $0.05/min for hosting and passes providers through "at cost" with "no markup": Deepgram transcription at $0.0095 to $0.0099, OpenAI models at $0.0077 to $0.0452 and ElevenLabs voices at $0.0146 to $0.0238. Calls over Vapi's own telephony, SIP or WebRTC carry no transport fee, while Twilio charges $0.008/min inbound and $0.014 outbound.
On Kall's standard setup (a mid-priced OpenAI model, a standard voice, inbound calls to a US number), as of 14 Nov 2026: - Retell: $0.055 + $0.032 (GPT 6.1 Terra) + $0.015 + $0.015 = $0.117/min. - Vapi: $0.05 + $0.0077 to $0.0452 + $0.0146 to $0.0238 + $0.0095 to $0.0099 + $0 = $0.0818 to $0.1289/min.
Vapi's floor is lower and its ceiling higher. It doesn't list per-model LLM rates on its pricing page, so you only know where you land after you pick a model. The full method is in AI voice agent pricing per minute: the real all-in cost.
What's included, and what costs extra?
- Concurrency: at 30 calls at once, Retell charges $80/month for the 10 lines above its free 20 (10 × $8). Vapi's Core package plus 20 extra lines costs $229/month ($29 + 20 × $10); Pro includes 30 lines but has a $999/month minimum.
- Retell add-ons: knowledge base +$0.005/min, PII removal +$0.01/min, batch outbound calls +$0.005 per dial, branded caller ID +$0.10 per outbound call.
- Vapi extras: additional organizations cost $20/month each. Every plan includes unlimited agents, and Core adds zero data retention.
- Billing quirks: Retell bills silence and adds time when the average prompt tops 4,000 tokens. Vapi's pricing page doesn't state a billing increment.
Which is better for HIPAA and SOC 2?
Retell's compliance docs say it is "SOC 2 Type 1 & Type 2 certified" and "HIPAA and GDPR compliant", and that "a signed BAA is required before transmitting PHI." You self-sign the BAA online, and "there is no additional fee to sign these agreements." The docs don't name a plan, but Retell's pricing page has "HIPAA / BAA" and "Custom BAA" rows in a table comparing Pay-as-you-go with Enterprise, so confirm your plan before you send patient data.
Vapi's docs call it "a SOC 2 Type II-attested service organization" and say the attestation covers every customer. HIPAA is a paid add-on, listed at $2,000/month with a standard DPA and BAA, that you switch on in the dashboard. In HIPAA mode Vapi still stores recordings, transcripts and logs in "Vapi's private HIPAA-compliant storage" unless you set up your own, and HIPAA mode can't run alongside zero data retention.
For clinics and practices, see Best AI receptionists for dental and medical clinics.
What do Retell AI and Vapi integrate with?
- Retell native: GoHighLevel, HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Calendly, Cal.com, Zendesk, Google Workspace and Keragon for healthcare. Twilio, Vonage, Telnyx and Five9 connect over SIP, and Zapier, Make and n8n cover the rest. A custom LLM connects over WebSocket.
- Vapi prebuilt: Make, n8n, Google Calendar, Google Sheets, Slack and GoHighLevel. Anything else goes through its API Request, MCP or Function tools.
Retell has more ready-made CRM links. Vapi expects you to wire up more yourself.
Is Retell AI or Vapi easier without code?
Neither is a pure no-code tool. Retell's docs describe 2 agent types (a third, multi-prompt, is deprecated): a single prompt, which it recommends "for your first version", and a conversation flow that splits the call into nodes, each with its own instructions and rules for moving on (Retell docs).
Vapi retired Workflows, its "visual graph of nodes and edges", on 18 Aug 2026, and existing workflows stopped running the next day (Vapi docs). It now points new builds to Assistants or Squads. Its Composer, "currently in Alpha", builds an agent from a plain-language chat (Vapi docs). If nobody on your team codes, see Best AI receptionists for small businesses.
Which supports more languages?
Retell's docs list 55 languages in both its text-to-speech and speech-recognition tables, from Afrikaans to Welsh. A multilingual agent works only if one voice provider and one speech-recognition provider cover every language you pick.
Vapi gives no single count because it depends on the providers you choose: Google speech-to-text covers "125+" languages, Gladia "110+" and Azure "100+", while voices range from ElevenLabs "30+" to Azure "140+". Automatic language detection works with its Deepgram, Google, Gladia and AssemblyAI transcribers.
How we picked what to compare
- Pricing and plan terms from each official pricing page, re-checked on 14 Nov 2026.
- Compliance, integrations, builders and languages from each vendor's own docs.
- One standard setup for the per-minute math, with no estimates for unpublished parts.
- Research only: we haven't test-called either platform yet. Method: How Kall tests and ranks AI voice agents.
Pick Retell AI if… / pick Vapi if…
Pick Retell AI if: - You want one bill and a published per-minute price for every model. - You need a BAA without a $2,000/month add-on (confirm your plan with Retell). - You'll run more than 4 calls at once early on. - You want native HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho or Cal.com links.
Pick Vapi if: - You want to choose every provider and pay each one at cost. - You run small, cheap models: Vapi's floor is $0.082/min, against $0.087 for Retell with its cheapest model (GPT 5 nano) on the same setup. - You only need inbound US calls to start, on a free number. - Your team codes and wants Squads for multi-assistant calls.
Comparing more developer tools? See Best voice AI platforms for developers or Best Vapi alternatives.
Sources
- Pricing, Retell AI, 14 Nov 2026
- Compliance, Retell AI docs, 14 Nov 2026
- Integrations, Retell AI, 14 Nov 2026
- Choose an agent type, Retell AI docs, 14 Nov 2026
- Language support, Retell AI docs, 14 Nov 2026
- Data retention, Retell AI docs, 14 Nov 2026
- Pricing, Vapi, 14 Nov 2026
- Creating free phone numbers, Vapi docs, 14 Nov 2026
- SOC 2 Type II compliance, Vapi docs, 14 Nov 2026
- HIPAA compliance, Vapi docs, 14 Nov 2026
- Integrations, Vapi docs, 14 Nov 2026
- Workflows migration guide, Vapi docs, 14 Nov 2026
- Composer, Vapi docs, 14 Nov 2026
- Multilingual support, Vapi docs, 14 Nov 2026
FAQ
Is Retell AI cheaper than Vapi?
It depends on the model you run. On our standard setup Retell costs $0.117 a minute including US telephony, while Vapi's published ranges give $0.082 to $0.129, as of 14 Nov 2026. Vapi's floor is lower and its ceiling higher.
Do Retell AI and Vapi sign a BAA for HIPAA?
Both do. Retell's docs say you self-sign its BAA with no additional fee, but its pricing page also lists HIPAA/BAA in a plan table, so confirm your plan. Vapi sells HIPAA as a $2,000-a-month add-on that includes a BAA, as of 14 Nov 2026.
Are Retell AI and Vapi SOC 2 compliant?
Retell's docs say it holds SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2. Vapi's docs say it is SOC 2 Type II attested and that the attestation covers all customers.
Which gives more free credit, Retell AI or Vapi?
Retell gives $10 in free credits and 20 free concurrent calls. Vapi gives $5 in free credits, 4 concurrent calls and 1 free US number for inbound calls, as of 14 Nov 2026.
Can I build a Retell or Vapi agent without code?
Partly. Retell lets you build a single-prompt agent or a node-based conversation flow. Vapi retired its visual Workflows on 18 Aug 2026 and now offers its dashboard, a chat-based builder called Composer (in alpha) and Squads.
Related
- AI voice agent pricing per minute: the real all-in costWhat AI voice agents and receptionists really cost per minute once platform, LLM, voice, transcription and phone line are added. 15 platforms.
- Best AI receptionists for dental and medical clinicsWhich dental and medical AI receptionists sign a HIPAA BAA, on which plan and at what cost, and which connect to Dentrix, Open Dental or Epic.
- Best AI receptionists for small businesses8 AI receptionists for small businesses compared on price, free trial, booking, integrations, call transfer and languages, as of 14 Nov 2026.
- Best voice AI platforms for developersVapi, Retell, LiveKit, Pipecat, ElevenLabs, OpenAI Realtime, Twilio and Bland compared on open source, pricing, telephony, models and self-hosting.
Ranks are never for sale. This page has no affiliate links and no paid placements. Prices change often: check the vendor's pricing page before you buy.