What makes up the per-minute price
- Retell AI — voice infrastructure $0.055 + speech synthesis from $0.015 + the language model (from a fraction of a cent to several cents) + telephony.
- Vapi — orchestration $0.05 + transcription ≈ $0.01 + voice ≈ $0.02 + model + telephony.
- ElevenLabs Agents — $0.08 a minute plus telephony; plans include bundles of minutes.
- Bland AI — $0.14 a minute on the Start plan, all-in.
For example, 10,000 minutes a month on a standard model cost $950–$1400, while human agents at $12 an hour and 75% occupancy would cost about $2667.
What else to consider
An AI agent does not replace every human: complex and difficult calls still go to people. Typically AI handles 40–70% of routine calls. To size the team for the rest, use the Erlang C calculator. To connect an agent to your PBX, see the SIP configuration generator.
Sources: Retell AI, Vapi, ElevenLabs and Bland rate cards; TextToLab price roundup (September 2026). Some links on this page are affiliate links.