This article is part of our AI Front Desk hub. Want help applying it? Talk to eSEOspace.
For a small business, Retell is a sensible first look, with an itemized rate card and a self-signed BAA at no added fee. Vapi suits teams that want model-level control, and Bland suits teams that prefer one bundled per-minute rate. All three are developer platforms, so someone technical has to build and maintain the agent.
This comparison was checked against each vendor's documentation on 9 November 2026. We did not test these products, and every price can change. It is part of our AI Front Desk guide.
Key Takeaways
- Retell lists $0.07 to $0.31 per minute for voice agents, and includes 20 concurrent calls at no charge.
- Vapi charges $0.05 per minute for hosting and passes model costs through at cost.
- Bland's per-minute rate includes the model, transcription and voice, but telephony is billed separately.
- All three document warm transfers to a person, and each has its own setup limits.
- BAA terms differ widely: free self-signing at Retell, a $2,000 monthly add-on at Vapi, and Enterprise only in Bland's comparison table.
Comparison at a glance
Published terms as of 9 November 2026:
| Retell | Vapi | Bland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting rate | $0.07 to $0.31 per minute | $0.05 per minute hosting, plus providers | $0.14 per minute on Start |
| Monthly plans | Pay as you go; Enterprise custom | Free to start; Core $29; Pro $999 minimum; Premier custom | Start $0; Build $299; Enterprise custom |
| Concurrent calls | 20 free, then $8 per call per month | 4, 10 or 30 by plan; extra $10 per line per month | 10 on Start; 50 on Build; daily caps of 100 and 2,000 calls |
| Telephony | $0.015 per minute for listed countries | Carrier fees charged by the provider | Billed separately |
| BAA | Self-signed, no additional fee | $2,000 monthly HIPAA add-on | Included on Enterprise only, per its table |
How the pricing works
Retell itemizes each piece. Voice infrastructure is $0.055 per minute, and models vary, for example GPT 5.4 mini at $0.024 per minute.
Voices from Retell, Minimax, Fish, Cartesia, OpenAI and Inworld are $0.015 per minute. ElevenLabs ranges from $0.04 to $0.10.
Retell's add-ons cost extra. Examples include knowledge base at $0.005 per minute and PII removal at $0.01 per minute. Retell also bills the whole call, including silence and hold.
Vapi charges $0.05 per minute for hosting. Its pricing page says models are passed through at cost with no markup. Vapi's calculator showed an estimated $82 to $129 a month for 1,000 minutes, including $50 of hosting.
We could not tell from the page whether that estimate includes carrier fees. Vapi's page gives $0.014 per minute as an example for Twilio outbound.
Bland bundles more into the rate. Its page lists the language model, speech-to-text and text-to-speech as included in the per-minute price. Start is $0.14 per minute with no platform fee, and Build is $0.12 per minute plus $299 a month.
Telephony is billed separately, on your own carrier or on Bland's at pass-through cost.
A worked example at 1,000 minutes
This is our own arithmetic from the published rates, not a vendor quote. It excludes add-ons.
| Platform | Calculation | Estimated monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Retell | $0.055 infrastructure + $0.015 telephony + $0.015 voice + $0.024 GPT 5.4 mini = $0.109 per minute | About $109 |
| Vapi | Vapi's own calculator range | $82 to $129 |
| Bland Start | 1,000 × $0.14 | $140, plus telephony |
| Bland Build | 1,000 × $0.12 + $299 | $419, plus telephony |
Bland's Build plan only beats Start at about 14,950 minutes a month, by our arithmetic. Build also raises the concurrency limit and the daily cap, so volume isn't the only reason to choose it.
Your own mix will change these figures, especially your voice and model choice. See our AI receptionist pricing guide for packaged alternatives.
Transfers to a person
A voice agent needs a reliable way to pass a caller to your staff. The three platforms approach this differently.
Retell documents three transfer modes: cold, warm and agentic warm. Retell says: "Transfer Call works on phone calls only, not web calls."
Vapi's Transfer Call tool defaults to a blind transfer. Vapi says the destination "doesn't receive the transcript, variables, or assistant context." Its warm transfer modes that add a message or summary are Twilio only.
Vapi also offers assistant-based warm transfer, where a transfer assistant calls the destination first. It needs a Twilio number, a Vapi number or your own SIP trunk. Voicemail isn't detected automatically, so you have to prompt for it.
Bland's warm transfer places a second call to brief the human agent. It is off by default. You set a timeout from 30 to 3,600 seconds and decide what happens if no one answers.
What you pay after a transfer also varies:
| Platform | After the transfer |
|---|---|
| Retell | The AI agent fee stops; telephony continues for the rest of the call |
| Bland | $0.05 per transfer minute on Start; $0.04 on Build |
Check Vapi's current terms for how a transferred call is billed.
For a framework on when to transfer, read when an AI should hand off to a person.
Health care and BAAs
If calls involve patient information, check the business associate agreement first. These are vendors' published positions, not findings about any product.
- Retell. Its compliance docs say a BAA is available for self-signing. They add: "There is no additional fee to sign these agreements." They also say: "A signed BAA is required before transmitting PHI through Retell."
- Vapi. The HIPAA add-on is $2,000 a month and includes a Business Associate Agreement. Vapi's HIPAA docs say: "You may only pass PHI through the
/callendpoint." - Bland. Its FAQ refers to HIPAA with a signed BAA. Its comparison table shows a BAA as included on Enterprise and a dash for Start and Build, so ask sales before relying on it.
A BAA doesn't settle the question by itself. Read whether an AI receptionist can be HIPAA compliant before you connect patient calls.
Which one fits
Treat this as a starting point based on published terms, not a test result.
- Choose Retell if you want an itemized rate card, more concurrent calls at no charge, and a self-signed BAA.
- Choose Vapi if you want to pick each model and voice provider and you have developers who will tune them.
- Choose Bland if you would rather see one bundled rate, and Start's 100 calls a day is enough.
- Choose none of them if nobody on your team can build and maintain a voice agent. A packaged product may fit better, and our guide on build versus buy for AI agents walks through that decision.
If you want a custom agent built on one of these platforms, our AI agent development team can scope the work with you.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheapest, Retell, Vapi or Bland?
It depends on your model, voice and volume. On rates published 9 November 2026, our 1,000-minute example came to about $109 on Retell and $140 plus telephony on Bland Start. Vapi's calculator showed $82 to $129.
Do I need a developer to use these platforms?
Plan on it. These platforms are built for configuring your own agent, including prompts, phone numbers and transfers. If you have no technical help, consider a packaged AI receptionist.
Which platform offers a BAA?
Retell's docs describe a self-signed BAA at no additional fee. Vapi includes one with its $2,000 monthly HIPAA add-on. Bland's table shows a BAA on Enterprise, while its Start and Build plans show a dash.
Do these platforms bill for hold time?
Retell says billing covers the entire call, including silence and hold. Bland lists separate rates for transfer minutes. Confirm the current terms with your chosen vendor before you estimate costs.
Can a voice agent brief my staff before connecting a caller?
All three document a form of warm transfer that can do this. Each has setup limits, such as Vapi's phone provider requirements. Test the transfer on your own phone system before going live.
