Retell AI alternative
Retell publishes a range, $0.07 to $0.31 a minute, and a calculator that shows how you get from one end to the other. The honest read is that the model and voice you pick decide your bill.
Retell AI is a pay-as-you-go developer platform billing $0.07 to $0.31 per minute, with the model, voice and telephony chosen by you. HIPAA, SSO and a dedicated server are Enterprise-only. AI Placers builds and runs the agent for you and bills per booked job.
Retell AI and AI Placers, side by side
| Retell AI | AI Placers | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Developer platform, you build the agent | Done for you. We build and run the agent. |
| Headline price | $0.07-$0.31/min, pay as you go | Per booked job. $199/month for up to 25. |
| Voice infrastructure | $0.055/min in their default calculator | Included |
| LLM | Priced per model, $0.080/min in their default | Included |
| Text to speech | $0.015/min in their default | Included |
| Free tier | $10 credits, 20 concurrent calls | Two-week proof of concept |
| HIPAA / BAA | Enterprise only | Ask us |
| SSO, RBAC, custom MSA | Enterprise only | Ask us |
| Dedicated server | Enterprise add-on; shared otherwise | Not applicable |
| Who builds it | You | None. Two-week proof of concept on your number. |
Retell AI figures read from their pricing page on 14 October 2026. Prices move. Check before you decide, and tell us if this table is out of date.
What the price actually covers
Retell's free tier is the most generous of the three: $10 of credits and 20 concurrent calls with no card. The catch is where compliance sits. HIPAA with a BAA, SSO, role-based access and custom data retention are all Enterprise, so a clinic that starts on pay-as-you-go will hit a contract conversation before it hits a cost problem.
When Retell AI is the right answer
- You want to try voice AI this afternoon without talking to anyone. The free tier is the best of the three for that.
- You want to pick your own model and voice per agent, and swap them.
- You have the engineering time to build and tune the agent yourself.
- Twenty concurrent calls on the free tier covers your actual peak.
When we are
- You need HIPAA and a BAA without moving to an Enterprise contract first.
- Nobody is going to tune a prompt after the novelty wears off.
- You want the bill to track booked work rather than minutes and model choice.
- You want one accountable party when the phone is answered badly, rather than a shared server and a support queue.
Questions people ask
Why is Retell's price a range?
Because you choose the parts. Their calculator defaults to roughly $0.15 a minute: voice infrastructure $0.055, the model $0.080, text to speech $0.015. A cheaper model and voice moves you toward $0.07, a premium combination toward $0.31.
Does Retell do HIPAA?
On Enterprise. HIPAA with a BAA, SSO, role-based access control and custom data retention are listed as Enterprise features, not pay-as-you-go. For a dental or veterinary practice that is the deciding line.
Is the free tier enough to test properly?
For a feel, yes, and it is a genuinely good way to find out whether voice AI handles your callers at all. It will not tell you whether the agent still works in month three, which is the part that decides the outcome.
What is the real difference between Retell and AI Placers?
Retell sells you the infrastructure to build a voice agent. We build the agent and answer for how it performs. If you want to build, Retell is a reasonable place to do it, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise.
Try it on your own line first
Two weeks, free, on your own number and calendar. If Retell AI suits you better after that, use Retell AI. A fortnight is a cheap way to find out either way.
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