AI voice agent pricing explained: per-minute platforms, monthly plans with included minutes and per-call services, ten vendors priced on November 6, 2026, the bill at 500, 1,500 and 3,000 minutes, the add-ons to check and a calculator for your own volume.
AI voice agent pricing comes in three models. Developer platforms charge per minute ($0.05 hosting on Vapi, $0.07 to $0.31 on Retell, $0.14 on Bland) before models and telephony. Managed plans charge monthly with included minutes ($29 to $449 to start; Botcadence's Voice AI plan is $299 for 1,500 minutes, then $35 per 200). Per-call services charge $1.67 to $3.00 a call. Prices checked November 6, 2026.
On November 6, 2026, published AI voice agent prices fell into three models. Developer platforms charge per minute, from $0.05 a minute for hosting on Vapi to $0.07 to $0.31 on Retell and $0.14 on Bland, usually before you add the language model and telephony. Managed answering services charge a monthly plan with included minutes: $29 to $449 to start, with Botcadence's Voice AI plan at $299 for 1,500 minutes and $35 per 200 more. Per-call services such as Smith.ai charge $1.67 to $3.00 a call. At 1,500 minutes a month, 500 three-minute calls, the spread runs from $75 for Vapi's hosting alone to $2,344 on a live receptionist plan. The calculator below prices your own volume.
We build Botcadence, so read our row the way you would read any vendor's. Every figure links to the page it came from.
| Model | How you pay | Who uses it | What raises the bill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per-minute platform | A rate per connected minute, plus the language model and telephony where they are not included | Retell, Vapi, Bland, ElevenLabs | Every minute, and the add-ons you switch on |
| Monthly plan with included minutes | A flat fee for a block of minutes, then an overage rate or a bigger plan | Botcadence, Dialzara, My AI Front Desk, Rosie, Sameday | Passing the included minutes |
| Per call or per caller | A plan with included calls, then a rate per extra call or unique caller | Smith.ai, Goodcall | Every extra call; spam rules decide what counts |
Live receptionist services bill per minute of operator time, from $1.49 to $2.99, and are the baseline every AI vendor compares itself to.
| Vendor | Model | Price | Included | Extra | What is not included |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vapi | Platform | $0 to start; Core $29 a month; Pro from $999 | Nothing; $5 credits | $0.05 a minute hosting | Models at cost; Twilio $0.008 to $0.014 a minute; $10 per extra concurrent line |
| Retell AI | Platform | Pay as you go | Nothing; $10 credits | $0.07 to $0.31 a minute | Telephony $0.015 a minute; knowledge base $0.005 a minute |
| Bland AI | Platform, models included | $0 (Start) or $299 a month (Build) | Nothing | $0.14 a minute (Start), $0.12 (Build) | Transfer time $0.04 to $0.05 a minute |
| ElevenLabs Agents | Platform | Free, then $6 to $990 a month across five plans | 15 to 12,375 minutes | $0.08 a minute | The language model, billed by usage |
| Botcadence | Plan | $299 a month | 1,500 minutes | $35 per 200 minutes | Nothing for voice; Meta's WhatsApp fees if you use that channel |
| Dialzara | Plan | $29 to $349 a month | 60 to 1,000 minutes | 35 to 48 cents a minute | Done-for-you setup from $1,500 a month |
| My AI Front Desk | Plan | $99 a month ($79 yearly) | 200 minutes | 25 cents a minute | Nothing stated |
| Sameday | Plan | $449 or $789 a month | 500 or 1,000 minutes | Not published | API on Enterprise only |
| Smith.ai AI receptionist | Per call | Free for 25 calls, then $150 or $500 a month | 25 to 300 calls | $1.67 to $3.00 a call | Nothing stated |
| PATLive (live) | Per minute | $49 to $6,899 a month | 0 to 5,000 minutes | $1.49 to $2.99 a minute | Human-only; no AI |
Synthflow publishes no prices; it sells annual enterprise agreements. Goodcall prices per unique caller ($79 for 100), which doesn't convert to minutes; see the best AI answering services list.
Three-minute calls, so 167, 500 and 1,000 calls. Platforms are shown at their published rate without the language model or telephony unless the vendor includes them; add $0.02 to $0.10 a minute for those on Vapi and Retell.
| Vendor | 500 minutes | 1,500 minutes | 3,000 minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vapi (hosting only) | $25 | $75 | $150 |
| Bland Start | $70 | $210 | $420 |
| Retell (at $0.15 plus telephony) | $83 | $248 | $495 |
| ElevenLabs (at $0.08 a minute, plan fee and model excluded) | $40 | $120 | $240 |
| Botcadence Voice AI | $299 | $299 | $579 |
| My AI Front Desk | $174 | $424 | $799 |
| Dialzara | $199 | $524 | $1,049 |
| Sameday | $449 | $789 | Not published |
| Smith.ai AI receptionist | $334 | $835 | $1,670 |
| PATLive (live) | $946 | $2,344 | $4,879 |
Two things stand out. Platforms are cheapest on paper and most expensive in time: someone has to build and maintain the agent, the prompts, the calendar connection and the transfer logic, which is why small businesses usually buy them through an agency at $500 to $3,000 a month. Managed plans cross over at different volumes: Botcadence costs more than ElevenLabs at every row and less than Dialzara above about 700 minutes.
A 1,000-minute month costs $1,499 on PATLive and $299 on Botcadence; the $1,200 difference pays for the escalation and chat channels many times over. But the comparison that matters is cost per booked job, not cost per minute. Track answer rate and booking rate before and after; the HVAC booking rate guide shows the formulas and the AI answering service cost guide covers the hidden fees. To hear what the minutes buy, call the AI voice agent demo line, or read the AI receptionist and inbound voice pages for what a managed plan includes.
Calculator
Enter your calls and average call length. The Botcadence figure uses the published Voice AI plan ($299 a month, 1,500 minutes included, $35 per 200 extra). The other rows multiply your volume by each vendor's published pay-as-you-go rate, with no plan allowance; platforms exclude the language model where the vendor bills it separately. Plans with included minutes are compared in the table above.
| Service | Rate | Monthly cost for 1,500 minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Botcadence Voice AI | $299 plan | $299 |
| Bland AI Start (models included) | $0.14 a minute | $210 |
| Retell AI at $0.15 plus $0.015 telephony, before the model | $0.165 a minute | $248 |
| Smith.ai AI receptionist Pro | $2.00 a call | $1,000 |
| PATLive live receptionists, at its $1.99 extra-minute rate | $1.99 a minute | $2,985 |
Rates read on each vendor's pricing page: Bland AI pricing (November 6, 2026), Retell AI pricing (November 6, 2026), Smith.ai AI receptionist pricing (November 6, 2026), PATLive pricing (November 6, 2026). Estimates only; included minutes, rounding rules and add-ons change the real bill.
Questions readers ask
On November 6, 2026: Vapi $0.05 a minute hosting plus models and telephony, Retell $0.07 to $0.31 plus $0.015 telephony, Bland $0.14 with models included, ElevenLabs $0.08 for extra minutes plus the language model. Managed plans work out to 15 to 90 cents a minute inside their included minutes, from Rosie's $149 for 1,000 minutes to Sameday's $449 for 500.
In our model at three-minute calls: Vapi hosting $75, Bland $210, Retell about $248, ElevenLabs $120, Botcadence $299, My AI Front Desk $424, Dialzara $524, Sameday $789, Smith.ai $835 and a live PATLive plan $2,344. Platforms exclude the model and telephony.
You pay for the minutes and do the building: prompts, calendar connection, transfers, testing and monitoring. Small businesses usually buy platforms through an agency at $500 to $3,000 a month, which closes the gap.
Billing increments (rounding to the minute), concurrency charges ($10 a line on Vapi), transfer time (4 to 5 cents a minute on Bland), carrier minutes on Retell and Vapi, compliance add-ons (Vapi HIPAA $2,000 a month) and setup fees.
The Voice AI plan is $299 a month with 1,500 minutes, then $35 per 200 extra minutes, billed in a 15-second first step and 30-second steps. Inbound and outbound calls both use minutes; there is no telephony or model charge on top.
At every volume we priced. 1,000 minutes is $1,499 on PATLive's live plan and $299 on Botcadence; live services bill $1.49 to $2.99 a minute of operator time.
Book a free demo and we will build a working AI agent for the channel this article covers, tailored to your business goals. No commitment required.
Ask AI about this page
