# Retell AI review (2026): is it worth paying for? > Pay-per-minute platform for AI phone and chat agents Checked Nov 12, 2026 ยท graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. Retell AI is a platform for building, testing, deploying and monitoring AI voice agents that take and place phone calls, plus chat agents. Pricing is per minute of use with no platform fee, and the page lets you choose the language model, voice and telephony. - **Category:** AI Agents - **Made by:** Retell AI - **Website:** https://www.retellai.com - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Pricey if you add it up, as model, voice and telephony sit on top of the $0.055 base. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, Retell AI is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $0 to start, then $0.07 to $0.31 per minute for voice agents. - **Pricing model:** Free trial - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** $10 in free credits with full platform access. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | 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. | | Enterprise | Custom | Custom voice and chat pricing, role-based access, custom SSO, MSA, DPA and BAA terms, and 24/7 support with a dedicated portal. | Read from https://www.retellai.com/pricing on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Retell AI before buying. ## Key features - **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. ## Good for - Developers and agencies building phone agents for receptionist, support or lead-qualification work - Teams that want per-minute billing with no annual contract ## Worth knowing - 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.4 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. Retell is a pay-as-you-go platform for AI phone and chat agents, at $0.07 to $0.31 a minute depending on the model, voice and telephony you pick. There is no subscription, but the rate is a sum of parts with add-ons on top, and HIPAA, SSO and roles are Enterprise only. - **Value for money: C.** Starts 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: 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: B.** Inbound 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: C.** No store rating on record, and you set up prompts, a number, models and voices, often with the API. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, with Make, Twilio, Vonage, HubSpot, n8n and Go High Level listed, plus API access. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Retell AI's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among AI agents - Retell AI's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 61 of the 101 other AI agents we grade, and level with 8. - It stands best on features (B, above 69 of 101) and worst on ease of use (C, above 14). The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/ai-agents ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Retell AI you would be making an AI agent, with the models and the safeguards behind it. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. - You could not: An AI agent, with the models and the safeguards behind it. - You could not: A chatbot builder hooked into the messaging apps. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Make, Twilio and Vonage among them, and has an API. - You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Make, Twilio, Vonage, Go High Level, n8n, HubSpot **Tags:** AI agents, Chatbots, Public API, AI features ## Alternatives - [Vapi](https://toolgpa.com/tools/vapi): Developer platform for building and running voice AI agents. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/retell-ai-vs-vapi) - [Bland AI](https://toolgpa.com/tools/bland-ai): AI phone agents with one all-in per-minute rate. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bland-ai-vs-retell-ai) - [Synthflow](https://toolgpa.com/tools/synthflow): Enterprise AI voice agents sold on annual contracts. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/retell-ai-vs-synthflow) - [Thoughtly](https://toolgpa.com/tools/thoughtly): AI voice, SMS and email agents for inbound lead conversion. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/retell-ai-vs-thoughtly) - [Goodcall](https://toolgpa.com/tools/goodcall): AI phone agent for small businesses, billed per customer. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/goodcall-vs-retell-ai) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://www.retellai.com/pricing Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/retell-ai Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).