5 AI tools that answer customers by phone and chat

Which tool fits whom?

Retell AI

• For: Businesses that miss calls or want an AI receptionist, appointment setter or lead qualifier on the phone.
• Not ideal for: people who need a free plan or trial that renews. Official pages say: $10 in free trial credits for new accounts; no free plan that renews.
• Not ideal for: buyers who need every price published before talking to sales. Official pages say: Pay-as-you-go per-minute and per-message rates are published by component; Enterprise is custom.

Botpress

• For: Small businesses and agencies that want a support or sales agent on their website without hiring a developer.
• Not ideal for: teams that need seats, admin controls or SSO on a published plan. Official pages say: Team plan adds unlimited seats, teams, routing and role-based access; no SSO is listed on the published plans.
• Not ideal for: buyers who need every price published before talking to sales. Official pages say: Free, Plus and Team prices are published; Enterprise is custom.

ElevenLabs

• For: Voiceovers, dubbing and voice agents.
• Not ideal for: buyers who need every price published before talking to sales. Official pages say: Self-serve plan prices are published; Enterprise is custom.

What are the key features of each tool?

Retell AI

• Free access: $10 in free trial credits for new accounts; no free plan that renews. This matters when you want to test before you pay.
• Integrations and API: Public API, SDKs, webhooks, MCP and CLI, plus CRM, helpdesk and calendar integrations. This matters when it has to connect to your other apps or be automated.
• Team and business features: Enterprise lists custom SSO, role-based access control and custom MSA/DPA terms. This matters when a team shares the account or you need admin controls.
• Help documentation: Public documentation at docs.retellai.com. This matters when you set it up yourself without a sales call.
• Privacy and data terms: Privacy policy and compliance page published; no training on data for enterprise customers with an MSA, and per-agent retention controls. This matters when client or personal data goes into the tool.
• Enterprise plan: Volume pricing, custom MSA/DPA, role-based access control, custom SSO, high concurrency, 24/7 support with a dedicated portal, optional dedicated server and implementation support. This matters when the free tier is not enough.

Botpress

• Free access: Free plan with 100 conversations, 3 seats and 3 AI agents. This matters when you want to test before you pay.
• Integrations and API: Public API reference, an integrations hub, Webchat and WhatsApp channels, and a TypeScript ADK. This matters when it has to connect to your other apps or be automated.
• Team and business features: Team plan adds unlimited seats, teams, routing and role-based access; no SSO is listed on the published plans. This matters when a team shares the account or you need admin controls.
• Help documentation: Public documentation at botpress.com/docs. This matters when you set it up yourself without a sales call.
• Privacy and data terms: Privacy statement says conversation data is not used for model improvement or training. This matters when client or personal data goes into the tool.
• Plus plan: 250 conversations a month, extra packs of 100 for $65, $25 AI usage included, unlimited AI agents, whitelabel webchat, live-chat support. This matters when the free tier is not enough.

ElevenLabs

• Free access: Free plan with 10k credits a month. This matters when you want to test before you pay.
• Integrations and API: Public API docs; voice agents connect to other systems. This matters when it has to connect to your other apps or be automated.
• Team and business features: Workspace seats on Scale and Business; custom SSO on Enterprise. This matters when a team shares the account or you need admin controls.
• Help documentation: Public help center and docs. This matters when you set it up yourself without a sales call.
• Privacy and data terms: Privacy policy published, and it explains how personal information is used to train models. This matters when client or personal data goes into the tool.
• Starter plan: 30k credits; commercial license; instant voice cloning. This matters when the free tier is not enough.

How do you get started with each tool?

Retell AI

1. Sign up in the Retell Dashboard. New accounts start with $10 in free trial credits and need no payment method until you buy a phone number.
2. Open the Agents tab and click Create an agent. Choose Single prompt for a first version, then build from scratch, pick a template like Receptionist, or click Generate from prompt so Conductor drafts the agent from a plain-English description.
3. Click Test to start a web call, allow microphone access and talk to the agent like a real caller. Browser tests are free and need no phone number, so repeat until it handles your common questions.
4. Go to Phone Numbers, click Buy New Number, add a payment method if asked, optionally pick an area code, and assign your agent to the number. Retell numbers are US and Canada only: $2 a month, or $5 for toll-free.
5. Dial the number to test inbound, or click Make an outbound call and enter a number with the country code. Then add functions, post-call extraction and monitoring from the dashboard.

Botpress

1. Sign up for Botpress (the free plan needs no payment). Open Botpress Viber, select a workspace and choose New agent.
2. Tell Vibe, the builder agent, who the agent should help, what it should help them do, what it should know and when to hand off to a person. Botpress's example: "Build a customer support agent for Northstar. It should answer questions about shipping and returns using our help center and escalate billing disputes to a person."
3. Refine it in the same conversation: "Make the responses concise and friendly," "Use this page to answer questions about our return policy," or "Escalate refund requests over $500 to a person." You can also edit behavior, knowledge, tools and escalation under Build.
4. Open Preview and run a realistic conversation. If an answer is wrong, describe the problem to Vibe or use Fix with Vibe, then test again.
5. Select Publish changes. Then open Deploy → Channels → Webchat, choose Share your agent, copy the embed snippet and paste it just before the closing </body> tag on your website.

ElevenLabs

1. Create a free account at elevenlabs.io.
2. Paste your script into Text to Speech and pick a voice.
3. Generate, listen, and regenerate any lines that sound off.
4. Download the audio and add it to your video editor.
5. For commercial use, move to Starter or higher, which the pricing page says adds a commercial license.

What are the limitations of each tool?

Retell AI

• Free tier: $10 in free trial credits for new accounts; no free plan that renews.
• Published pricing: Pay-as-you-go per-minute and per-message rates are published by component; Enterprise is custom.
• Plans change: vendors update limits and prices; confirm on the official page before you buy.

Botpress

• Free tier: Free plan with 100 conversations, 3 seats and 3 AI agents.
• Published pricing: Free, Plus and Team prices are published; Enterprise is custom.
• Team and business features: Team plan adds unlimited seats, teams, routing and role-based access; no SSO is listed on the published plans.
• Plans change: vendors update limits and prices; confirm on the official page before you buy.

ElevenLabs

• Free tier: Free plan with 10k credits a month.
• Published pricing: Self-serve plan prices are published; Enterprise is custom.
• Plans change: vendors update limits and prices; confirm on the official page before you buy.

What is the verdict on each tool?

Retell AI

What official pages document: Builds AI phone agents that answer calls, book appointments and make outbound calls. Its official pages fully document integrations and api, team and business features, help documentation, privacy and data terms. Check free access, published pricing before you commit. Best fit, per those pages: businesses that miss calls or want an AI receptionist, appointment setter or lead qualifier on the phone. Based on official pages, checked Oct 23, 2026.

Botpress

What official pages document: Builds AI agents that answer customers on your site and WhatsApp and hand off to a person when needed. Its official pages fully document free access, integrations and api, help documentation, privacy and data terms. Check team and business features, published pricing before you commit. Best fit, per those pages: small businesses and agencies that want a support or sales agent on their website without hiring a developer. Based on official pages, checked Oct 23, 2026.

ElevenLabs

What official pages document: Turn text into natural voiceovers, clone voices and dub video. Its official pages fully document free access, integrations and api, team and business features, help documentation, privacy and data terms. Check published pricing before you commit. Best fit, per those pages: voiceovers, dubbing and voice agents. Based on official pages, checked Oct 13, 2026.