Retell AI, Vapi and other AI voice agent platforms compared
Short answer
Four voice agent platforms are compared on what each vendor publishes. Retell AI lists $0.07 to $0.31 a minute, Vapi charges a $0.05 a minute hosting fee plus provider costs, Bland lists $0.14 a minute on Start, and Synthflow publishes enterprise contracts only, from $30,000 a year. Only Retell’s docs state a Philippines calling rate ($0.80 a minute). No call was placed on any platform for this page.
On this page
Comparison basis
- Sources
- Each vendor’s own pricing page and, where read, its documentation, on 12 Oct 2026
- Currencies published
- US dollars. The pages show “$” and do not always name the currency; treated as US dollars
- Exchange rate used
- USD 1 = PHP 62.821, derived from the ECB euro reference rates for 9 Oct 2026
- Testing
- Documentation-based. No call was placed and no agent was built on any platform
- Selection
- Four platforms whose pricing pages could be read. This is a selection list, not a ranking, and other platforms exist
Fit by need
Verdict by use case
- Pay as you go with no contract
- Retell AI or Vapi Both list usage-based pricing with free starting credit (Retell $10, Vapi $5).
- All-in per-minute rate
- Retell AI or Bland Bland says its per-minute rate includes the language model, speech-to-text and voice. Retell publishes a range that depends on the model chosen.
- Choose each component yourself
- Vapi Vapi lists its model, transcriber and voice costs as passed through without markup, on top of a hosting fee.
- Philippines rate stated by the vendor
- Retell AI Retell’s international calling page lists the Philippines at $0.80 a minute. Vapi, Bland and Synthflow pages read did not state it.
- Large enterprise contract
- Synthflow or Bland Enterprise Synthflow lists enterprise contracts only. Bland has an Enterprise tier with custom pricing.
Criteria table
| Platform | Headline price as listed | Included | Starting credit or plan | Philippines in vendor docs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retell AI | $0.07 to $0.31 a minute | Platform access, templates, analytics and transcripts, simulation testing, webhooks, API | $10 free credits, 20 free concurrent calls | Yes: international calling table lists the Philippines at $0.80 a minute |
| Vapi | $0.05 a minute hosting fee, plus provider costs | Hosting, with models passed through at cost | No Success Package $0 to start, $5 credits, 4 concurrent calls | Not stated on the pages read |
| Bland AI | $0.14 a minute on Start, $0.12 on Build | Language model, speech-to-text and premium voices included | Start $0 platform fee. Build $299 a month | Not stated on the pages read |
| Synthflow | Enterprise contracts from $30,000 a year | SLA, telephony options, integrations, implementation | No self-serve plan listed | Not stated on the pages read |
Swipe the table sideways to see all columns.
Last verified: 12 Oct 2026. Telephony, taxes and card conversion fees are not included in these figures unless stated.
Retell AI
Retell lists “$0.07-$0.31 / min for AI Voice Agents”. Its calculator example totals $0.11 a minute (about PHP 7), made up of $0.04 for the language model, $0.055 for Retell voice infrastructure, $0.015 for text-to-speech and nothing for telephony or add-ons. The model choice moves the price, for example GPT 5.4 mini at $0.024 a minute on the standard tier and Claude 5 Sonnet at $0.064.
Included: full platform access, templates, call analytics and transcripts, simulation testing, webhooks and API access. Twenty concurrent calls are free and each extra costs $8.00 a month. Add-ons are priced per minute, for example Knowledge Base at $0.005 and PII Removal at $0.01. Branded call costs $0.10 per outbound call. Billing is to the nearest second, and the page says silence and hold time are billed. Enterprise is by quote.
Philippines. Retell’s documentation says it sells numbers only in the US and Canada, and that outbound calls from a Retell-purchased number go to 15 listed countries. The international calling page lists the Philippines under Twilio at $0.80 a minute. Retell also has a page for agents that speak Filipino. A Philippine caller-ID number is not mentioned on the pages read.
Vapi
Vapi’s hosting fee is $0.05 a minute. On top of that, its page shows provider costs passed through “with no markup”: Deepgram transcription at about $0.0095 to $0.0099 a minute, OpenAI models at $0.0077 to $0.0452 and ElevenLabs voices at $0.0146 to $0.0238. For 1,000 minutes in a month, the calculator on the page estimates $82 to $129.
Telephony is billed by the provider. Twilio is listed at $0.008 a minute inbound and $0.014 outbound, Vonage at $0.00814 and Telnyx at $0.0055. Core is $29 a month for 10 concurrent calls and 5 phone numbers. Pro starts at $999 a month, and Premier is by quote. Extra concurrency is $10 a line each month. The Vapi pages read did not state support for Philippine numbers or Philippine destinations, so confirm with Vapi or its Twilio import guide for your case.
Bland AI
Bland lists $0.14 a minute of talk time on Start and $0.12 on Build, with transfer time at $0.05 and $0.04. Build has a $299 a month platform fee (about PHP 18,783). The page says the language model, real-time speech-to-text and premium voices are included, with no token charges. Start allows 10 concurrent calls and a daily cap of 100 calls. Telephony is billed separately at pass-through cost on Bland’s Twilio, and customers who bring their own telephony pay no transfer fees. SMS and web chat are listed for Enterprise only. Bland’s documentation page read gave no country list.
Synthflow
The Synthflow pricing page read shows one plan: Enterprise, with “contracts start at $30,000 annually” (about PHP 1,884,630 a year). Final price depends on call volume, concurrency, telephony, integrations and security needs. Per-minute rates and included minutes are not published. It lists native telephony, SIP trunking, CRM and calendar integrations, a data processing agreement and implementation support. Philippine coverage is not stated on the page read.
Cost sheet
One scenario: 1,000 minutes a month on an agent. The units differ, so the sheet shows only what the vendors’ published figures imply.
| Platform | Basis | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Retell AI | $0.11 a minute from the calculator example, 1,000 minutes | About $110 (about PHP 6,910), telephony at $0.00 in that example |
| Vapi | The page’s own calculator for 1,000 minutes | $82 to $129, telephony billed separately |
| Bland AI | Start at $0.14 a minute, 1,000 minutes | $140 (about PHP 8,795), telephony billed separately |
| Synthflow | Contract only | From $30,000 a year |
Swipe the table sideways to see all columns.
The Retell and Bland rows are multiplication on published figures. Calls to the Philippines from a US-based number carry their own charge: Retell’s table lists $0.80 a minute, which would be $800 for 1,000 outbound minutes on that route. Bland and Vapi did not publish a comparable rate.
Connecting a voice agent to automation
Most platforms expose a webhook or API. A call can end with a transcript sent to a workflow in n8n, which then writes to a sheet or CRM, as AI automation in the Philippines describes. For text-based agents on Messenger and other channels, the AI chatbot platforms comparison covers the same decision for chat. Conversational AI explained covers what these agents can and cannot do.
Rules that apply to calls in the Philippines
Two points were read from primary sources.
- Recording. Republic Act 4200 (the Anti-Wiretapping Act), Section 1, requires the consent of “all the parties to any private communication or spoken word” for recording. An agent that records or transcribes a call needs that consent at the start of the call. Whether a specific recording is a private communication is a legal question for your counsel.
- Personal data. Republic Act 10173 (the Data Privacy Act of 2012) defines consent as a “freely given, specific, informed indication of will” and lists lawful bases for processing in Section 12, including consent, contract, legal obligation and legitimate interests. Section 16 gives data subjects rights to be informed, to access and to dispute data. A call transcript that names a person is personal information.
The National Privacy Commission’s guidance on call recording was not read for this page. Check the Commission’s current notices and each vendor’s data processing terms before going live.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Retell AI cost?
Retell lists $0.07 to $0.31 a minute, depending on the language model and add-ons, plus $10 in free starting credit. Its own calculator example comes to $0.11 a minute.
Is Vapi cheaper than Retell AI?
Not determined. Vapi charges a $0.05 a minute hosting fee plus pass-through provider and telephony costs, while Retell publishes a combined range. The cost sheet shows each platform’s published estimate.
Can an AI voice agent call Philippine numbers?
Retell’s international calling page lists the Philippines at $0.80 a minute. Vapi, Bland and Synthflow pages read did not state Philippine support, so confirm with each vendor.
Do voice agent platforms include the phone line?
Usually not as a free item. Vapi and Bland bill telephony separately. Retell lists $0.00 for telephony in its example and charges per minute for supported destinations.
Do I need consent to record calls in the Philippines?
Republic Act 4200 requires the consent of all parties to a private communication. Take legal advice for your use.
Disclosure
Brainnex Digital Marketing also operates AI Automation Services, which builds AI voice agents for businesses. This page lists no affiliate links, and the vendors have not reviewed it.
Sources
All sources were read on 12 Oct 2026.
- Retell AI, Pricing: per-minute prices, add-ons, concurrency, credits.
- Retell AI, International calling: destination rates, including the Philippines.
- Retell AI, Purchase a number: US and Canada numbers, 15 countries.
- Retell AI, Filipino voice agents: language support.
- Vapi, Pricing: hosting fee, provider costs, packages.
- Bland AI, Pricing: plans and per-minute rates.
- Synthflow, Pricing: enterprise contracts.
- Republic Act 4200, Anti-Wiretapping Act, Section 1.
- Republic Act 10173, Data Privacy Act of 2012, Sections 3, 12 and 16.
- European Central Bank euro reference rates, retrieved through the Frankfurter API (api.frankfurter.dev): EUR to PHP and USD, 9 Oct 2026.