Goodcall vs Retell AI (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Retell AI grades higher than Goodcall: 2.4 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Retell AI grades higher on value for money, features and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Goodcall
AI phone agent for small businesses, billed per customer
Retell AI
Pay-per-minute platform for AI phone and chat agents
Which one is for you
Pick Goodcall if
- Fits if you run a one-person shop and miss calls while you work
- Works for businesses that want a flat monthly bill instead of per-minute charges
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you are small, as $79 a month is the entry price for just 100 customers
- Tight if you want a team on it, since Starter allows one team member and 30 days of call history
- Watch out: call counts are approximate and test runs are metered as AI usage you top up in $5 steps
- Watch out: only monthly prices are shown, with no yearly option
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
| 1.8GPAGoodcallWeak | 2.4GPARetell AIFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DStarter is $79 a month, well past the $52 where this category's dearest tenth begins, and it covers just 100 unique customers. Extra customers cost 79 cents each. | 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 | CYou can build and test a demo agent for nothing, but you pay once you connect a number, so nothing real is free. It is a card-free try, 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 | CAnswers calls, takes messages, books appointments and runs plain-English edits. The listing's own gaps hold it at C: one external tool and one team member on Starter, and Zapier is the only integration. | 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, and you set up workers, tools and a number or call forwarding before it answers anyone. | CNo store rating on record, and you set up prompts, a number, models and voices, often with the API. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with a local number or forwarding from your own, and Zapier as the one listed integration. | BWeb, with Make, Twilio, Vonage, HubSpot, n8n and Go High Level listed, plus API access. |
| Best for | a small shop that wants calls answered | 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: Goodcall and Retell AI. How we grade
Where they differ
- Goodcall also covers business phone line and appointment booking.
- Retell AI also covers chatbots.
At a glance
| Goodcall | Retell AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $79 per month for 100 unique customers | $0 to start, then $0.07 to $0.31 per minute for voice agents |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | Build and test a free demo agent; you pay only when you connect a phone number. | $10 in free credits with full platform access. |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Goodcall | Retell AI |
| Price read from | goodcall.com | retellai.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Goodcall
- Extra unique customers beyond the plan are billed at the plan's own rate, from 79¢ on Starter down to 15¢ on Scale.
- Test runs are metered as AI usage; Starter gets a base allowance of about 100 and extra can be topped up $5 at a time.
- The call counts on each plan are approximate, and Starter allows just 1 team member and 30 days of call history.
- Only monthly prices appear on the pricing page; no annual billing option is shown.
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
Goodcall
- Per-customer billing
- A unique customer is one phone number, once a month. Minutes, calls and tokens are not metered, and spam and wrong numbers are not counted.
- Workers
- A worker is one specialist inside your agent, such as a booker, a message taker or a knowledge expert. Plans cap how many you add.
- Agent-powered edits
- You describe a change in plain English, such as new questions or a different greeting, and the assistant Gabi rewrites the agent. Unlimited on every plan.
- Phone numbers
- Every plan includes a local number, or you can keep your existing number by forwarding it to Goodcall.
- External tools
- An API, an MCP server or a code block counts as one external tool however many workers use it. A Zapier integration exists for existing agents.
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
Goodcall
Starter$79
per month for 100 unique customers
Then 79¢ per extra customer, about 150 calls a month, 5 workers, 1 external tool, 1 team member and 30-day call history.
Growth$129
per month for 500 unique customers
Then 26¢ per extra customer, about 750 calls, 10 workers, 5 external tools, 5 team members and 90-day call history.
Scale$299
per month for 2,000 unique customers
Then 15¢ per extra customer, about 3,000 calls, 20 workers, 15 external tools, 10 team members and unlimited call history.
EnterpriseCustom
For more than 2,000 customers a month, several connected systems or franchise groups; volume pricing, onboarding and an SLA.
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, Goodcall or Retell AI?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Goodcall starts at $79 per month for 100 unique customers, and Retell AI starts at $0 to start, then $0.07 to $0.31 per minute for voice agents.
Which has a free plan, Goodcall or Retell AI?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Goodcall 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.