Retell AI vs Bland AI on price
With the cheapest picks each lists, a minute costs Retell AI $0.0716 and Bland AI $0.12, before the phone line; with the dearest, $0.795 and $0.14, so which is cheaper depends on what you pick. At 10,000 minutes a month that comes to $716 on Retell AI and $1,400 on Bland AI, so Retell AI is cheaper. Retell AI charges $0.055 a minute for Retell Voice Infra, plus $0.0166 for the cheapest language model and voice it lists (GPT 5 nano and Retell Platform Voices); Bland AI charges $0.12 to $0.14 a minute, depending on the plan, with language model, speech to text and voice included.
Part by part
A minute of conversation, as each vendor's pricing page splits it:
| Part | Retell AI | Bland AI |
|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | $0.055 (Retell Voice Infra) | $0.12 to $0.14 by plan (Talk time), language model, speech to text and voice included |
| Speech to text | No separate price listed | Included in the $0.12 to $0.14 rate |
| Language model | $0.0016 (GPT 5 nano) to $0.64 (GPT 6 Astra, fast tier) | Included in the $0.12 to $0.14 rate |
| Voice | $0.015 (Retell Platform Voices) to $0.10 (ElevenLabs v3) | Included in the $0.12 to $0.14 rate |
| Phone line | $0.015 to $0.80 on Retell's numbers; no Retell charge with your own SIP trunk | Billed separately: your own carrier, or Bland's Twilio at pass-through cost (no rate given) |
| A minute, before the phone line | $0.0716 to $0.795 | $0.12 to $0.14 |
| With a US inbound line | $0.0866 to $0.81 Retell number: United States (Twilio): $0.015 | $0.1285 to $0.1485 Twilio local number, inbound, at Twilio's price: $0.0085 |
The range runs from the cheapest to the dearest option each vendor lists for every part, without add-ons. The US line is the vendor's own where it sells one, otherwise a Twilio local number at Twilio's inbound price; number rental is left out.
What a month costs
| Minutes a month | Retell AI | Bland AI |
|---|---|---|
| 100 minutes | $7.16 to $79.50 | $14.00 |
| 1,000 minutes | $71.60 to $795 | $140 |
| 10,000 minutes | $716 to $7,950 | $1,400 |
| 50,000 minutes | $3,580 to $39,750 | $6,299 Build plan |
Each side's cheapest picks on the plan that costs least for that volume, then (smaller) its dearest picks; bold marks the cheaper, before the phone line. Plans with included minutes or a lower rate are counted where they lower the bill; phone number rental, extra concurrency and taxes are left out.
How the language model is billed
- Retell AI sells it by the minute at its own prices, $0.0016 to $0.64 across the 48 models and speed tiers it lists.
- Bland AI includes it in its $0.12 to $0.14 rate, whatever the model, with no token charges.
Free credit and calls at once
- Retell AI: The first 20 concurrent calls are free; each further one costs $8.00 a month. New accounts get $10 of free credit.
- Bland AI: Calls at once by plan: Start 10 and Build 50.
Latency, in each vendor's words
- Retell AI: “The platform features a ~600ms latency (industry-leading responsiveness)”
- Bland AI: “And all this with latency so low you might miss it. 400 ms 1,240 ms Bland Industry Average” A graphic on Bland's home page: 400 ms for Bland against 1,240 ms for an industry average it doesn't define.
These are the vendors' own claims. None says what is timed or under what conditions, and they don't use the same measure, so they can't be ranked against each other; test on your own calls.
Price your own stack
Pick a platform, then its parts and your minutes. The phone line opens on an inbound call to a Twilio US local number at Twilio's price; set it to none for web or app calls.
1,000 minutes a month on Retell AI: $230, or $0.23 a minute on average.
| Part | Per minute | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Retell voice infra | $0.055 | $55.00 |
| Language model GPT 5.5 | $0.16 | $160 |
| Voice (text to speech) Retell Platform Voices | $0.015 | $15.00 |
| Telephony Your own carrier or SIP trunk | $0 | $0 |
| Total | $0.23 | $230 |
Retell AI or Bland AI: quick answers
Is Retell AI cheaper than Bland AI?
It depends on what you pick. With the cheapest picks each lists, Retell AI costs least: $0.0716 a minute on Retell AI and $0.12 a minute on Bland AI, before the phone line. At 1,000, 10,000 and 50,000 minutes a month: Retell AI $71.60, $716 and $3,580; Bland AI $140, $1,400 and $6,299. With the dearest picks Bland AI costs least: $0.795 on Retell AI and $0.14 on Bland AI.
How much do Retell AI and Bland AI cost per minute?
Retell AI: a platform fee of $0.055 (Retell Voice Infra); $0.0716 to $0.795 a minute before the phone line, from its cheapest to its dearest picks. Bland AI: a platform fee of $0.12 to $0.14 by plan (Talk time), language model, speech to text and voice included; $0.12 to $0.14 a minute before the phone line, from its cheapest to its dearest picks.
What do Retell AI and Bland AI include in the price, and what's billed on top?
Retell AI: only its own fee in the rate; language model and voice billed on top; phone line: $0.015 to $0.80 on Retell's numbers; no Retell charge with your own SIP trunk. Bland AI: language model, speech to text and voice in the rate; phone line: billed separately: your own carrier, or Bland's Twilio at pass-through cost (no rate given).
How is the language model billed on Retell AI and Bland AI?
Retell AI sells it by the minute at its own prices, $0.0016 to $0.64 across the 48 models and speed tiers it lists. Bland AI includes it in its $0.12 to $0.14 rate, whatever the model, with no token charges.
Do Retell AI and Bland AI give free credit, and how many calls can run at once?
Retell AI: The first 20 concurrent calls are free; each further one costs $8.00 a month. New accounts get $10 of free credit. Bland AI: Calls at once by plan: Start 10 and Build 50.
Which is faster, Retell AI or Bland AI?
Retell AI says “The platform features a ~600ms latency (industry-leading responsiveness)”. Bland AI says “And all this with latency so low you might miss it. 400 ms 1,240 ms Bland Industry Average”. None says what is timed or under what conditions, and they don't use the same measure, so the figures can't be ranked against each other.
Each platform in full: Retell AI, Bland AI. Every platform side by side: AI voice agent cost per minute.
Other comparisons: Retell AI vs Vapi, Vapi vs Bland AI, Retell AI vs ElevenLabs Agents, Retell AI vs Vapi vs ElevenLabs Agents.
Sources
Read on 7 October 2026:
- retellai.com/pricing
- docs.retellai.com/accounts/billing
- docs.retellai.com/accounts/billing-exceptions
- bland.ai/pricing
- docs.bland.ai/platform/billing
- twilio.com/en-us/voice/pricing/us
- retellai.com/
- bland.ai/
Show the quoted text
Pay as you go Go live in minutes with $10 in free credits. Full platform access, no commitments. Just build, test, and pay as you scale. $0.07-$0.31 / min for AI Voice Agents
retellai.com/pricing
Cost Per Minute $ 0.230 LLM Cost $ 0.160 /min Retell Voice Infra $ 0.055 /min TTS Cost $ 0.015 /min Telephony Cost $ 0.000 /min Add-ons $ 0.000 /min
retellai.com/pricing. The page's cost estimator as it opens in a browser, with GPT 5.5 and Retell's platform voices picked (read in plain headless Chromium; the static HTML holds a placeholder of $0.11 until the script runs).
Conversation Voice Engine Notes Pricing Retell Voice Infra $0.055/minute
retellai.com/pricing
Text-to-speech Notes Pricing Retell Platform Voices $0.015/minute Minimax Voices $0.015/minute Fish Voices $0.015/minute ElevenLabs Flash $0.040/minute ElevenLabs Multilingual v2 $0.06/minute ElevenLabs v3 $0.10/minute ElevenLabs v3 Conversational $0.08/minute ElevenLabs v4 $0.10/minute ElevenLabs v4 Turbo $0.08/minute Cartesia Voices $0.015/minute OpenAI Voices $0.015/minute Inworld Voices $0.015/minute
retellai.com/pricing
LLM Standard Fast Tier GPT 5.6 Terra Recommended $0.064/minute Claude 5 Sonnet Recommended $0.064/minute GPT 5.5 Recommended $0.16/minute $0.32/minute GPT 5.4 Recommended $0.080/minute $0.16/minute GPT 6.1 Sol $0.064/minute $0.128/minute GPT 6 Astra $0.32/minute $0.64/minute GPT 6 Sol $0.064/minute $0.128/minute GPT 6 Luna $0.0032/minute $0.0064/minute GPT 5.6 Sol $0.128/minute $0.256/minute GPT 5.6 Luna $0.0064/minute GPT 5.4 mini $0.024/minute $0.048/minute GPT 5.4 nano $0.0064/minute GPT 5.2 $0.056/minute $0.112/minute GPT 5.1 $0.04/minute $0.08/minute GPT 5 $0.04/minute $0.08/minute GPT 5 mini $0.008/minute $0.016/minute GPT 5 nano $0.0016/minute GPT 4.1 $0.045/minute $0.0675/minute GPT 4.1 mini $0.0128/minute $0.0192/minute GPT 4.1 nano $0.0032/minute $0.0048/minute Claude 5.5 Opus $0.128/minute Claude 5.5 Sonnet $0.064/minute Claude 5 Opus $0.16/minute Claude 4.6 sonnet $0.08/minute Claude 4.5 haiku $0.025/minute Claude 4.5 sonnet $0.08/minute Gemini 3.8 Flash $0.048/minute Gemini 3.7 Flash $0.048/minute Gemini 3.6 Flash $0.024/minute Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite $0.0096/minute Gemini 3.5 Flash $0.048/minute Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite $0.008/minute Gemini 3.0 Flash $0.016/minute
retellai.com/pricing. The table's columns are Standard, then Fast Tier; a model with one price has an empty Fast Tier cell.
Telephony Pricing Call Rates No Charge for Sip Trunking/Custom Telephony Select Country Country United States (Twilio) United States (Twilio Toll Free) India (Twilio) Australia (Twilio) Germany (Twilio) Spain (Twilio) United Kingdom (Twilio) Mexico (Twilio) France (Twilio) Japan (Twilio) Canada (Twilio) Italy (Twilio) Indonesia (Twilio) Philippines (Twilio) Malaysia (Twilio) Thailand (Twilio) United States (Telnyx) India(Telnyx) Canada(Telnyx) $ 0.015 /min
retellai.com/pricing
<option value="0.015" class="option">United States (Twilio)</option><option value="0.06" class="option">United States (Twilio Toll Free)</option><option value="0.15" class="option">India (Twilio)</option><option value="0.1" class="option">Australia (Twilio)</option><option value="0.1" class="option">Germany (Twilio)</option><option value="0.1" class="option">Spain (Twilio)</option><option value="0.1" class="option">United Kingdom (Twilio)</option><option value="0.05" class="option">Mexico (Twilio)</option><option value="0.06" class="option">France (Twilio)</option><option value="0.28" class="option">Japan (Twilio)</option><option value="0.03" class="option">Canada (Twilio)</option><option value="0.06" class="option">Italy (Twilio)</option><option value="0.4" class="option">Indonesia (Twilio)</option><option value="0.8" class="option">Philippines (Twilio)</option><option value="0.2" class="option">Malaysia (Twilio)</option><option value="0.45" class="option">Thailand (Twilio)</option><option value="0.03" class="option">United States (Telnyx)</option><option value="0.25" class="option">India(Telnyx)</option><option value="0.03" class="option">Canada(Telnyx)</option>
retellai.com/pricing. The page's country menu in its own markup; each value is the per-minute rate the page shows when that country is picked.
Call Agent Add-ons Notes Extras Knowledge Base +$0.005/minute Batch Call +$0.005/dial Branded Call +$0.10/outbound call Advanced Denoising +$0.005/min Safety Guardrails +$0.005/min PII Removal +$0.01/min AI Quality Assurance First 100 minutes free $0.10/min SMS $0.01/Msg
retellai.com/pricing
Monthly Subscription Items Notes Pricing Retell Phone Numbers No Charge for custom phone numbers $2.00/month Retell SMS No charge for custom telephony SMS $20.00/month Concurrency (Active Calls) Free for first 20 concurrency (active calls) $8.00/Concurrency/month Knowledge Base $80/month free value (10 KBs) $8.00/Knowledge Base/month (prorated) Verified Phone Number $10.00/Phone number/month
retellai.com/pricing
Speech-to-speech LLM Notes Pricing GPT Realtime 1.5 $0.345/minute GPT Realtime $0.345/minute GPT Realtime mini $0.07/minute GPT Realtime 2.1 $0.38/minute GPT Realtime 2 $0.38/minute GPT Realtime 2.1 mini $0.07/minute
retellai.com/pricing
How do you calculate the minutes? Each call is tracked to the nearest second. At the end of each billing cycle, we charge based on your total accumulated minutes. No rounding up per call, no inflated bills. Does billing continue after a transfer? Once the call is transferred, the AI voice agent fee stops. Only the telephony fee continues for the remainder of the transferred call. Am I charged during silence or hold time? Yes. Billing covers the entire duration of the call because the speech-to-text engine remains active and listening throughout, even during silence.
retellai.com/pricing
Voice infra : Retell’s conversation voice engine. This is the flat per-minute platform cost of running the real-time call, separate from LLM and telephony costs. LLM : the per-minute cost of the language model your agent uses, which varies by model. Telephony : per-minute call rates and monthly phone number fees for Retell-provided numbers. Custom telephony (SIP trunking) carries no Retell telephony charge.
docs.retellai.com/accounts/billing
Rule 2: LLM Price Scaling for > 4,000 Token Prompt Length When it applies: Agents that use more than 4,000 LLM tokens in their prompts Billing adjustment: Duration is scaled proportionally based on token usage
docs.retellai.com/accounts/billing-exceptions
Scaling Factor = Prompt LLM Tokens ÷ 4,000 Billed Duration = Original Duration × Scaling Factor (rounded up) Example: Call duration: 60 seconds LLM tokens used: 4,800 Scaling factor: 4,800 ÷ 4,000 = 1.2 Billed duration: 72 seconds (12 seconds additional charge)
docs.retellai.com/accounts/billing-exceptions
FOR DEVELOPERS Start 2 credits + an inbound number ($15/mo value). $0.14 /min $0 platform fee. No card required. Start building $0.05/transfer min 10 concurrent calls 100 calls/day 10 knowledge bases FOR TEAMS Build Lower per-minute rates. Higher rate limits. $0.12 /min $299/month platform fee Start building $0.04/transfer min 50 concurrent calls 2,000 calls/day 50 knowledge bases
bland.ai/pricing
Included in your per-minute rate LLM No token charges STT Real-time transcription TTS Premium voices
bland.ai/pricing
Clear pricing across every call No token charges. No model-provider pass-throughs. No surprise bills.
bland.ai/pricing
Bland's per-minute rate covers the LLM, STT, and TTS in one number, with no token charges and no model-provider pass-throughs. Telephony is billed separately, on your own carrier or Bland's at pass-through cost.
bland.ai/pricing
Yes. Bland integrates with your existing Twilio account, with SIP trunks from any contact-center or telephony provider, or you can use Bland's built-in Twilio at pass-through cost. BYOT customers do not pay transfer fees. You handle carrier costs directly and Bland charges only the per-minute AI rate.
bland.ai/pricing
New Pricing Structure (Effective December 5th, 2025) Plan Price Connected Minute Rate Transfer Time Rate Start Free $0.14 / min $0.05 / min Build $299 $0.12 / min $0.04 / min Scale $499 $0.11 / min $0.03 / min
docs.bland.ai/platform/billing
Call Time Prorated to the exact second. Only active call time is counted. Per minute rate based on plan
docs.bland.ai/platform/billing
Outbound Minimum Minimum charge per outbound call attempt using Bland’s telephony. $0.015 / call
docs.bland.ai/platform/billing
Connected time is the full AI conversation duration of the call. Transfer time is billed additionally when the call is transferred to a human using Bland-provided numbers. BYOT (Bring Your Own Twilio) customers do not pay transfer fees.
docs.bland.ai/platform/billing
Number type To make calls To receive calls Refer from Twilio Local calls $0.0140 / min $0.0085 / min Toll-free calls $0.0140 / min $0.0220 / min Browser/app $0.0040 / min $0.0040 / min SIP interface $0.0040 / min $0.0040 / min
twilio.com/en-us/voice/pricing/us
The platform features a ~600ms latency (industry-leading responsiveness)
retellai.com/
And all this with latency so low you might miss it. 400 ms 1,240 ms Bland Industry Average
bland.ai/. A graphic on Bland's home page: 400 ms for Bland against 1,240 ms for an industry average it doesn't define.
Prices on this page were checked against the official pricing pages on .