# Vapi vs Retell AI: license, pricing and features compared (October 2026)

Canonical: https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/vapi-vs-retell · Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Published: 2026-10-25 · Author: Agentic Weekly (operated independently from Texas, US) · Evidence: Evidence: Reported for both tools. The facts in the tables were read from each vendor's own pages and the public GitHub API on 2026-10-25 (America/Chicago). The What we measured section says what we have not run yet; anything we could not confirm is marked as not captured.

**Our pick:** Pick Vapi for developers who want to assemble their own voice stack; pick Retell AI for teams automating inbound and outbound phone calls. No overall winner: we have not benchmarked them against each other. **Updated:** 2026-10-26 (America/Chicago).

> Vapi and Retell AI are both listed under AI voice and speech. Free tier: Vapi: $5 free credits. Retell AI: 20 free concurrent calls; sign up free. Vapi is the better fit for: developers who want to assemble their own voice stack. Retell AI is the better fit for: teams automating inbound and outbound phone calls. Facts were read from vendor and GitHub pages on Oct 25, 2026 and are Reported; what we ran ourselves is under What we measured.

## What we measured

We have not run either Vapi or Retell AI ourselves yet, so nothing on this page is Tested; it is Reported from vendor and GitHub pages. Below is what we will run, so the comparison can rest on our own results.

Table: Our own tests for Vapi and Retell AI

| Test | Vapi | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|
| Hands-on test log (install and a real task) | Not tested yet. What we will run: the same audio clip or script, scored by word error rate and speed. | Not tested yet. What we will run: the same audio clip or script, scored by word error rate and speed. |

How we test and label results: [methodology](https://theagenticweekly.com/methodology#testing-rig). All test logs: [test hub](https://theagenticweekly.com/tests).

## Vapi vs Retell AI at a glance

Vapi and Retell AI are both listed under AI voice and speech. Agentic Weekly's Vapi page names Retell AI as an alternative. Vapi: Developer platform for voice agents; $5 free credits, then pay for the minutes you run. Retell AI: Voice AI agents for phone calls with pay-per-minute pricing and 20 free concurrent calls.

Table: Vapi and Retell AI side by side (vendor pages and GitHub, 2026-10-25)

|  | Vapi | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Vapi | Retell AI |
| Listed under | AI voice and speech | AI voice and speech |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Pricing model | Pay as you go | Pay as you go |
| Free tier | $5 free credits | 20 free concurrent calls; sign up free |
| Paid plans | Pay per minute (Vapi hosting $0.05/min pre-paid, plus provider costs); plan amounts of $29 and $999 per month listed; Enterprise custom | $0.07 to $0.31 per minute depending on models and voice; Enterprise custom |
| Platforms | API and dashboard | API and dashboard |
| Evidence | Reported from vendor pages | Reported from vendor pages |

## How Vapi and Retell AI differ

- Free tier: Vapi: $5 free credits. Retell AI: 20 free concurrent calls; sign up free.
- Plans and prices differ and are not like-for-like (credits, seats and usage limits vary), so we do not name a cheaper tool. The Paid plans row above quotes each vendor's plan list as read on Oct 25, 2026.

Neither tool publishes open-source code under a standard license, so you are choosing between hosted products. Both are listed as "Pay as you go", so compare the plan tables rather than the model.

## Which should you pick?

- Pick Vapi if: developers who want to assemble their own voice stack. Skip it if: you want a flat per-seat price.
- Pick Retell AI if: teams automating inbound and outbound phone calls. Skip it if: you need text chat only.

## Strengths and limits

Table: Strengths and limits as listed on each tool page

|  | Vapi | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|
| Strengths | Pay for minutes used; Developer focus | Per-minute pricing; HIPAA and SOC 2 claimed on site |
| Limits | Total cost depends on chosen providers | Range of rates is wide |

## What we did not verify

- Vapi: Release date (none published on the pages we read; the date shown is the day we first covered this entry).
- Retell AI: Release date (none published on the pages we read; the date shown is the day we first covered this entry).
- Output quality, speed and reliability beyond the smoke tests listed under What we measured: not compared.

## FAQ

### Is Vapi or Retell AI open source?

Vapi: Proprietary. Retell AI: Proprietary. Licenses come from each project's GitHub repository or the vendor's own pages, read Oct 25, 2026; read the license text itself before redistributing or building a competing service.

### Does Vapi or Retell AI have a free plan?

Vapi: $5 free credits. Retell AI: 20 free concurrent calls; sign up free. Checked Oct 25, 2026; prices and limits change, so confirm on each vendor's page.

### What is the main difference between Vapi and Retell AI?

Free tier: Vapi: $5 free credits. Retell AI: 20 free concurrent calls; sign up free. Plans and prices differ and are not like-for-like (credits, seats and usage limits vary), so we do not name a cheaper tool. The Paid plans row above quotes each vendor's plan list as read on Oct 25, 2026.

## Sources

- [Vapi](https://vapi.ai/) (fetched 2026-10-25)
- [Vapi pricing](https://vapi.ai/pricing) (fetched 2026-10-25)
- [Retell AI](https://www.retellai.com/) (fetched 2026-10-25)
- [Retell pricing](https://www.retellai.com/pricing) (fetched 2026-10-25)

## Related

- [Vapi facts and sources](https://theagenticweekly.com/tools/vapi)
- [Retell AI facts and sources](https://theagenticweekly.com/tools/retell)
- [Alternatives to Vapi](https://theagenticweekly.com/alternatives/vapi)
- [AI voice and speech: all tools we track](https://theagenticweekly.com/best/voice-ai)
- [Vapi vs Cartesia](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/vapi-vs-cartesia)
- [Vapi vs ElevenLabs](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/vapi-vs-elevenlabs)
- [Retell AI vs Deepgram](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/retell-vs-deepgram)
- [Retell AI vs Cartesia](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/retell-vs-cartesia)
- [Retell AI vs ElevenLabs](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/retell-vs-elevenlabs)

## Changelog

- 2026-10-25: First published. Facts read from vendor pages and the GitHub API on 2026-10-25.

## How to cite

Agentic Weekly, "Vapi vs Retell AI: license, pricing and features compared (October 2026)", last updated 2026-10-26, https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/vapi-vs-retell