Vapi alternatives
Vapi is a developer-oriented voice-agent platform whose usage-based Build plan lists call hosting at $0.05/minute, with speech recognition, language models, and text-to-speech billed at provider cost on top — or $0 on the Vapi bill with customer-supplied API keys — and telephony billed separately (Vapi pricing, accessed 2026-08-18). A complete configured per-minute total therefore has to be assembled from several line items — hosting, speech, model, voice, and telephony — rather than read off one published number, which is where teams that want to forecast call costs from a single rate often start their search.
The second common reason is where compliance and enterprise controls sit. Vapi's public pricing lists HIPAA compliance as a $2,000/month add-on and zero data retention as a $1,000/month add-on, and its documentation states that HIPAA mode and zero data retention are mutually exclusive (Vapi pricing and HIPAA docs, accessed 2026-08-18). SSO, RBAC, and data-residency options are listed under the Scale (enterprise) tier rather than the self-serve Build plan, Build call history is retained for 14 days, and GDPR is not stated on the public pages reviewed (Vapi pricing, accessed 2026-08-18). Buyers who need bundled pricing, GDPR in the vendor's public posture, or those controls on a self-serve plan tend to evaluate the platforms below.
Top alternatives
1. ThunderPhone (this site)
ThunderPhone publishes all-in engine rates — Spark 2¢/minute, Bolt 5¢/minute, Storm 9¢/minute — on a pay-as-you-go basis with no subscription or seat fee; premium voice or language paths can add up to 3¢/minute, and the builder displays the current all-in rate. The catalog covers 47 languages and 123 voices, with automatic mid-call switching among an agent's configured languages. Testing tooling includes AI-caller simulations, reusable graded scenarios, regression suites with minimum pass-rate gates, CI execution, and live-traffic A/B experiments (simulations are billable real calls, with the charge shown before a run). Numbers can be brought in through supported VoIP connections or manual SIP configuration for any SIP trunk. Public compliance posture: GDPR and HIPAA compliant, with customers remaining responsible for configuring their workflows, data handling, recordings, integrations, and notices for their own obligations.
Fits teams that want the usage portion of a cost forecast to come from one published all-in rate instead of assembled provider line items.
2. Retell AI
Retell prices pay-as-you-go by component: voice infrastructure at $0.055/minute, an advertised all-in range of $0.07–$0.31/minute depending on the LLM and add-ons, telephony at $0.015/minute, and phone numbers at $2/month (Retell pricing, accessed 2026-08-18). Its compliance documentation states SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2, HIPAA compliance with a signed BAA required before transmitting PHI, and GDPR compliance via a DPA with SCCs — while noting Retell does not currently operate services within the European Union (Retell compliance docs, accessed 2026-08-18). It also documents LLM simulation testing (Retell simulation docs, accessed 2026-08-18).
Fits teams that want component-level pay-as-you-go pricing like Vapi's but with a published all-in range and a stated SOC 2 posture without a separate monthly HIPAA fee on the public price list.
3. Bland AI
Bland takes the opposite approach to Vapi: an all-inclusive per-minute rate covering LLM, STT, and TTS with no model-provider pass-throughs — $0.14/minute talk time on Start, $0.12 on Build, $0.11 on Scale, plus per-minute transfer fees, platform fees of $0, $299, and $499/month respectively, and tier limits on daily calls, concurrency, and voices (Bland pricing, accessed 2026-08-18). Its trust page lists SOC 2 Type II and PCI DSS v4.0 as independently audited, with HIPAA (BAA) and GDPR (DPA, EU data residency on Enterprise) self-attested (Bland trust page, accessed 2026-08-18). It advertises self-hosted, customer-VPC, on-premise, and air-gapped deployment options and supports bring-your-own telephony via Twilio or SIP trunks (Bland homepage, accessed 2026-08-18).
Fits teams that want a single-number per-minute rate and are weighing monthly platform fees, or regulated enterprises evaluating self-hosted deployment.
4. ElevenLabs Agents
ElevenLabs Agents publishes self-serve tiers from $0 to $990/month with a $0.08/minute overage rate and — like Vapi — bills LLM and telephony at cost on top; its docs cover SIP, batch outbound calling, agent testing with A/B evaluation, and 31 agent languages, with a HIPAA BAA on the pricing page and SOC 2 and GDPR in its trust documentation (elevenlabs.io/pricing/agents and the Agents platform docs, accessed 2026-08-19).
Fits teams that want a self-serve, developer-oriented platform in Vapi's mold with published tier pricing and deep public documentation.
5. Phonely
Phonely publishes fully self-serve pricing: a free plan with 100 minutes, then $50/month and $150/month plans with overage rates of $0.25–$0.35/minute; its pricing page lists SOC 2, GDPR, and PCI, with a HIPAA BAA at the enterprise level, and it maintains public docs at docs.phonely.ai (phonely.ai/pricing, accessed 2026-08-19).
Fits teams that prefer a flat monthly SMB plan with included minutes over per-minute assembly.
At a glance
| Platform | Published pricing model | Public compliance posture | What the listed rate includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vapi | $0.05/min call hosting (Build); STT/LLM/TTS at provider cost or BYO keys; telephony separate | SOC 2, HIPAA (+$2,000/mo add-on), PCI; ZDR +$1,000/mo; GDPR not stated on pages reviewed | Hosting only — full total requires assembly |
| ThunderPhone | 2¢/5¢/9¢ per-minute engine rates, pay as you go, no subscription | GDPR and HIPAA compliant (customer configuration responsibilities apply) | All-in engine rate; premium voice/language up to +3¢/min; add-ons published per-minute |
| Retell AI | $0.055/min voice infra; advertised all-in $0.07–$0.31/min; telephony $0.015/min | SOC 2 Type 1+2, HIPAA (BAA), GDPR via DPA; no EU operations | Components priced separately with a published all-in range |
| Bland AI | $0.14/$0.12/$0.11 per-minute by tier + transfer fees; platform fees $0/$299/$499/mo | SOC 2 Type II + PCI audited; HIPAA and GDPR self-attested | LLM, STT, TTS bundled; telephony pass-through; tier limits apply |
| ElevenLabs Agents | $0–$990/mo tiers; $0.08/min overage; LLM + telephony at cost | HIPAA BAA on pricing; SOC 2/GDPR in trust docs | Tier minutes; LLM and telephony billed separately |
| Phonely | Free (100 min) / $50 / $150 per month; overage $0.25–$0.35/min | SOC 2, GDPR, PCI on pricing; HIPAA BAA at enterprise | Plan minutes with per-minute overage |
Sources: as cited in the sections above (Vapi, Retell, Bland accessed 2026-08-18; ElevenLabs Agents and Phonely accessed 2026-08-19). Confirm on each vendor's live pricing page.
How to evaluate an alternative
- Assemble the true per-minute total. For platforms with pass-through components, add hosting, speech, model, voice, and telephony for your configuration before comparing against an all-in rate.
- Price the compliance you need. Check whether HIPAA, zero data retention, SSO, RBAC, or data residency are included, add-on fees, or enterprise-tier features — and whether any exclude each other.
- Test your exact language combination, including mid-call switching if you need it; provider ceilings and catalog totals differ.
- Confirm number and SIP portability, including inbound and outbound support on imported numbers.
- Check retention and concurrency limits on the tier you would actually buy.
- Run the vendor's testing tooling on a real scenario — simulated or scripted calls, pass/fail criteria, whether tests can gate releases, and whether test calls are billable.
- Pilot with a small paid workload before migrating production traffic.
FAQ
Why isn't Vapi's $0.05/minute the full cost of a call?
Because $0.05 covers call hosting only. Speech recognition, the language model, and text-to-speech bill at provider cost on top (or under your own API keys), and telephony is separate (Vapi pricing, accessed 2026-08-18).
Which Vapi alternatives publish an all-in per-minute rate?
ThunderPhone publishes 2¢/5¢/9¢ all-in engine rates; Bland publishes bundled per-minute rates of $0.14/$0.12/$0.11 by tier (plus transfer fees and paid-tier platform fees); Retell advertises an all-in range of $0.07–$0.31/minute built from priced components.
Do any of these platforms charge a separate monthly fee for HIPAA?
Of the platforms reviewed, Vapi is the only one whose public pricing lists a standalone monthly HIPAA fee ($2,000/month) (Vapi pricing, accessed 2026-08-18). Retell requires a signed BAA before PHI is transmitted, Bland offers a HIPAA BAA (self-attested), and ThunderPhone's public posture is GDPR and HIPAA compliant — in every case, customers remain responsible for configuring their own workflows and data handling.
Does Vapi state GDPR compliance?
GDPR was not stated on the Vapi pages reviewed (Vapi homepage and pricing, accessed 2026-08-18). ThunderPhone, Retell (DPA with SCCs), and Bland (self-attested) each address GDPR publicly; ElevenLabs Agents and Phonely reference it in their trust or pricing materials accessed 2026-08-19.
Can I keep my phone numbers and SIP trunk when I switch?
ThunderPhone, Retell, and Bland each document a bring-your-own path: ThunderPhone supports direct VoIP connections and manual SIP configuration for any trunk, Retell advertises SIP trunking with Twilio, Vonage, and Telnyx integrations, and Bland supports Twilio or SIP trunks (Retell homepage, Bland pricing, accessed 2026-08-18). ElevenLabs documents SIP trunking for inbound and outbound calls (SIP trunking docs, accessed 2026-08-19), while Phonely lists SIP trunking with its Enterprise plan and its public number-import API accepts only Twilio as a source (phonely.ai/pricing and import-number docs, accessed 2026-08-19). Verify inbound and outbound support for imported numbers before migrating.
What happens to my Vapi call history if I move?
Vapi's Build plan retains call history for 14 days (customizable on Scale) (Vapi pricing, accessed 2026-08-18), so export transcripts and recordings you want to keep before winding a workspace down.
Sources and freshness
All third-party claims on this page were checked against the vendor pages cited inline, on the accessed dates shown (ElevenLabs Agents and Phonely on August 19, 2026). ThunderPhone pricing and product details reflect its published pricing and documentation as of August 19, 2026. Vendors change pricing and features often, so confirm against the live vendor pages before relying on them.