Retell AI vs Vapi vs Bland AI — which voice AI platform fits your team?
A three-way comparison of Retell AI, Vapi and Bland AI across builder experience, pricing, telephony, languages, integrations and time-to-live.
Retell, Vapi and Bland all ship production voice agents, but they optimize for different buyers. Retell is the fastest no-code path with bundled telephony and analytics. Vapi is the engineer's choice — full code control, mix-and-match LLM/TTS/STT, lowest cost at scale. Bland sits in the middle: a simpler self-serve API with strong English voice quality and a shorter learning curve than Vapi, but less depth than either Retell's visual builder or Vapi's SDK. For non-engineers shipping English-only inbound, pick Retell. For custom outbound with CRM logic, pick Vapi. For a quick English API prototype without a visual builder, pick Bland.
Products at a glance
Retell AI
Retell AI, Inc.
Managed voice AI platform with a visual flow builder, bundled telephony, prompt-only agent design and a dashboard for non-engineers.
- Pricing from
- $0.07 per minute
- Founded
- 2024
- HQ
- San Francisco, CA
Vapi
Vapi Labs, Inc.
Developer-first voice agent platform with code-level control, custom LLM routing and a deep TypeScript SDK plus REST/webhook surface.
- Pricing from
- $0.05 per minute
- Founded
- 2023
- HQ
- San Francisco, CA
Bland AI
Bland.ai, Inc.
Self-serve voice agent API with strong out-of-the-box English voice quality and a simple pathway model for building agents.
- Pricing from
- $0.09 per minute
- Founded
- 2023
- HQ
- San Francisco, CA
Feature matrix
| Feature | Retell AI | Vapi | Bland AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authoring | |||
| Builder experience | Visual flow + promptsNo-code friendly | Code-first SDKTypeScript + REST | Pathway APIPrompt + simple flows |
| Performance | |||
| Latency (end-to-end) | ~700 ms median | ~600 ms medianTunable via custom LLM | ~750 ms median |
| Infrastructure | |||
| Telephony | Bundled (Twilio under the hood) | BYO (Twilio, Telnyx, SIP) | Bundled US numbers |
| Multilingual | |||
| Languages | ~20Hindi via ElevenLabs/Deepgram | 30+Depends on chosen TTS/STT | English-firstLimited Hindi via 3rd-party TTS |
| Integrations | |||
| CRM integrations | Webhooks + Zapier | Deep webhook surfaceCustom CRM wiring | Webhook-only |
| Operations | |||
| Built-in analytics | YesCalls, sentiment, outcomes | BasicShip to your warehouse | DashboardCall logs + transcripts |
Builder experience
- Retell AI
- Visual flow + promptsNo-code friendly
- Vapi
- Code-first SDKTypeScript + REST
- Bland AI
- Pathway APIPrompt + simple flows
Latency (end-to-end)
- Retell AI
- ~700 ms median
- Vapi
- ~600 ms medianTunable via custom LLM
- Bland AI
- ~750 ms median
Telephony
- Retell AI
- Bundled (Twilio under the hood)
- Vapi
- BYO (Twilio, Telnyx, SIP)
- Bland AI
- Bundled US numbers
Languages
- Retell AI
- ~20Hindi via ElevenLabs/Deepgram
- Vapi
- 30+Depends on chosen TTS/STT
- Bland AI
- English-firstLimited Hindi via 3rd-party TTS
CRM integrations
- Retell AI
- Webhooks + Zapier
- Vapi
- Deep webhook surfaceCustom CRM wiring
- Bland AI
- Webhook-only
Built-in analytics
- Retell AI
- YesCalls, sentiment, outcomes
- Vapi
- BasicShip to your warehouse
- Bland AI
- DashboardCall logs + transcripts
Pricing
Starter
Retell AI
$0.07/min + LLM/TTS pass-through
- Visual builder
- Bundled telephony
- Up to 5 agents
Free $10 trial credit
Vapi
$0.05/min + LLM/TTS pass-through
- SDK access
- BYO telephony
- Unlimited agents
Free $10 trial credit
Bland AI
$0.09/min + telephony
- Pathway API
- Bundled US numbers
- Webhook surface
Free $10 trial
Growth
Retell AI
From $499/mo + usage
- Team seats
- Concierge onboarding
- SLA email support
Vapi
Usage-only, no minimum
- Slack support
- Priority queue
- Higher rate limits
Bland AI
Usage-only
- Higher rate limits
- Email support
Enterprise
Retell AI
Custom
- SOC 2
- Single-tenant
- Custom voice
- Solutions team
Vapi
Custom
- VPC deploy
- Custom LLM hosting
- Dedicated infra
Bland AI
Custom
- Dedicated infra
- Higher rate limits
- SLA
Pros & cons
Retell AI
Pros
- Fastest time-to-first-agent for non-engineers
- Bundled telephony + analytics out of the box
- Built-in RAG for support deflection use cases
Cons
- Less control over LLM cost/routing
- Higher per-minute cost than DIY stacks
- Indian-language quality lags Hindi-first vendors
Vapi
Pros
- Full code-level control of every turn
- Mix-and-match LLM/TTS/STT for cost or quality
- Strong webhook surface for CRM/CDP wiring
Cons
- Requires engineering bandwidth to ship
- No bundled telephony — you wire Twilio/Telnyx
- Analytics are bring-your-own
Bland AI
Pros
- Strong English voice quality out of the box
- Simple API — faster than wiring Vapi from scratch
- Bundled US telephony for quick pilots
Cons
- Less builder depth than Retell's visual flows
- Limited multilingual and CRM depth
- Webhook-only integrations — you wire CRM yourself
Our verdict
It depends on your setup
There is no single winner — Retell wins on no-code speed, Vapi wins on engineering control and cost at scale, and Bland wins on the simplest English API path. Match the platform to your team's skills and your language/CRM requirements.
Scenario picks
Non-technical founder shipping a clinic receptionist in a week
→ Retell AI. Visual builder + bundled telephony beats wiring SDK or API yourself.
Engineering team building a multilingual outbound dialer with custom CRM logic
→ Vapi. Code-level control and a custom LLM router give you the lowest cost-per-call.
US startup prototyping an English-only sales dialer in 3 days
→ Bland AI. Simple pathway API + bundled numbers without Retell's visual builder overhead.
Related questions
Retell is better for non-engineers who want a visual builder and bundled telephony. Vapi is better for engineering teams that need full code control and custom LLM routing.
Bland sits between them: simpler than Vapi's SDK, less visual than Retell's builder, with strong English voice quality and bundled US telephony for quick pilots.
Vapi typically has the lowest per-minute base rate ($0.05/min) if you bring your own telephony and optimize LLM/TTS choices. Retell and Bland bundle more but charge higher per-minute rates.
Citations
- Retell AI pricingRetell AI
- Vapi pricingVapi
- Bland AI docsBland AI