Bland AI vs Retell AI (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Retell AI grades higher than Bland AI: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Retell AI grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Retell AI
Pay-per-minute platform for AI phone and chat agents
Which one is for you
Pick Bland AI if
- Fits if you want to build voice agents and pay by the minute
- Works for a team that wants its own telephony carrier
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you grow: Start is capped at 100 calls a day and Build at 2,000
- Watch out: telephony is billed separately, plus $0.05 or $0.04 a transfer minute
- Not for you if you need BAA, SSO or data residency, which are Enterprise
- Watch out: its comparisons with Vapi and Retell are the vendor's own marketing
Pick Retell AI if
- Fits if you want to pay per minute with no monthly commitment
- Works for developers wiring phone agents into Twilio or HubSpot
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you add it up, as model, voice and telephony sit on top of the $0.055 base
- Watch out: HIPAA and BAA, SSO, role-based access and custom retention are Enterprise only
- Watch out: AI quality assurance and PII removal are charged per minute on top
- Not for you if you want a fixed bill, because cost moves with minutes
How we grade them
| 2.2GPABland AIFair | 2.4GPARetell AIFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStart has no platform fee and $0.14 a minute, which has no monthly figure to compare, so it sits in the middle. | CStarts at $0 and bills $0.07 to $0.31 a minute, so the price can't be set against the category's monthly plans. Voice infrastructure alone is $0.055 a minute. |
| Free plan and trial | CSign-up includes 2 credits and an inbound number valued at $15 a month, and no card is needed. It is a trial, not a free plan. | C$10 in free credits with full platform access. There is no free plan, and the page does not say whether a card is needed. |
| Features | CConversational pathways, knowledge bases, voices, messaging and telephony, but telephony is billed separately and limits scale by plan. | BInbound and outbound calls, batch calls, testing and monitoring, model and voice choice, and chat agents. The core job of a phone agent is covered. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Pathways, voices and phone numbers all need setting up. | CNo store rating on record, and you set up prompts, a number, models and voices, often with the API. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with eight named integrations and your own carrier option. | BWeb, with Make, Twilio, Vonage, HubSpot, n8n and Go High Level listed, plus API access. |
| Best for | AI phone agents billed by the minute | developers building phone agents that bill by the minute |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Bland AI and Retell AI. How we grade
Where they differ
At a glance
| Bland AI | Retell AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $0 platform fee at $0.14 per minute; Build is $299 per month at $0.12 per minute | $0 to start, then $0.07 to $0.31 per minute for voice agents |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | Sign-up includes 2 credits and an inbound number valued at $15 a month; no card. | $10 in free credits with full platform access. |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Bland | Retell AI |
| Price read from | bland.ai | retellai.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Bland AI
- Telephony is billed separately, on your own carrier or at Bland's pass-through cost, and transfer minutes carry their own rate.
- Start is capped at 100 calls a day and Build at 2,000; unlimited calls are Enterprise only.
- BAA, SSO, data residency and on-prem or VPC deployment are listed for Enterprise.
- The per-minute rates are the vendor's own comparison basis; its FAQ comparisons with Vapi and Retell are its marketing claims.
Retell AI
- The rate is a sum of parts: voice infrastructure is $0.055 per minute, with model, voice and telephony on top, hence $0.07 to $0.31.
- The comparison table lists HIPAA and BAA, SSO, role-based access and custom data retention for Enterprise only.
- Dedicated implementation support and a dedicated stable server are Enterprise add-ons.
- Add-ons such as AI quality assurance and PII removal are charged per minute on top of the base rate.
Key features
Bland AI
- All-in per-minute rate
- The talk-time rate includes the language model, real-time transcription and premium voices, with no token charges. Telephony is billed separately.
- Conversational pathways
- Call flows are built as pathways, with knowledge bases, automations and integrations available on every plan.
- Telephony choices
- Connect an existing Twilio account or a SIP trunk, or use Bland's built-in Twilio at pass-through cost.
- Messaging
- SMS and web chat, in-call text nodes and iMessage appear in the plan table with dashes under Start and Build, so they look Enterprise-only.
- Compliance claims
- The FAQ says Bland holds SOC 2 Type I and II and ISO 27001, signs a HIPAA BAA and is GDPR compliant. Documentation is under NDA.
Retell AI
- Inbound and outbound phone agents
- Agents answer or place calls, transfer to a human, book appointments, use a knowledge base and navigate keypad menus.
- Batch calls and caller ID
- The deploy menu lists batch calling for high-volume campaigns, branded caller ID and verified phone numbers.
- Testing and monitoring
- Simulation testing, call transcripts and analytics, post-call analysis and AI quality assurance are listed for monitoring agents.
- Model and voice choice
- The cost estimator offers language models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google and voices from Retell, ElevenLabs, Cartesia, Minimax, Fish and OpenAI.
- Chat agents
- The same platform runs chat agents, priced from $0.002 per message.
Plans
Bland AI
Start$0
platform fee, then $0.14 per minute
Transfer minutes $0.05, 10 concurrent calls, 100 calls a day, 10 knowledge bases and 1 voice.
Build$299
per month platform fee, plus $0.12 per minute
Transfer minutes $0.04, 50 concurrent calls, 2,000 calls a day, 50 knowledge bases and 5 voices.
EnterpriseCustom
Rates contracted to volume, with on-prem or VPC deployment, BAA, SSO, data residency and forward-deployed engineers.
Retell AI
Pay as you go$0
to start, then $0.07-$0.31 per minute
Voice agents at $0.07-$0.31 per minute, chat agents from $0.002 per message, 20 free concurrent calls, API access and email support.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom voice and chat pricing, role-based access, custom SSO, MSA, DPA and BAA terms, and 24/7 support with a dedicated portal.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Bland AI or Retell AI?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Bland AI starts at $0 platform fee at $0.14 per minute; Build is $299 per month at $0.12 per minute, and Retell AI starts at $0 to start, then $0.07 to $0.31 per minute for voice agents.
Which has a free plan, Bland AI or Retell AI?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Bland AI nor Retell AI has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.