Voice & audio
Retell AI: pricing, free plan, and how to use it
Retell AI: Builds AI phone agents that answer calls, book appointments and make outbound calls. It is best for businesses that miss calls or want an AI receptionist, appointment setter or lead qualifier on the phone. $10 in free trial credits for new accounts; no free plan that renews. Paid plans start at $0.
Updated Oct 23, 2026 · By Mishal Brands Editorial
Retell AI is a platform for building AI phone agents that answer calls, book appointments and make outbound calls. It is pay as you go: voice agents cost $0.07 to $0.31 a minute, and new accounts start with $10 in free credits.
Last checked:
Docs score
Measures documented business features and transparency from official pages, not product performance. How the score works
How do you build your first Retell AI phone agent?
Here is a practical setup in 5 steps. It follows the features Retell AI lists.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
What is our verdict?
Retell AI is documented for businesses that miss calls or want an AI receptionist, appointment setter or lead qualifier on the phone. Its official pages are strongest on integrations and api and weakest on free plan or trial. This verdict summarizes the vendor’s published facts.
- Who it suits
- Businesses that miss calls or want an AI receptionist, appointment setter or lead qualifier on the phone (as Retell AI positions it).
- Consider an alternative
- Grok, which covers the same tasks (voice & audio); compare them on the compare page. It may suit you better if free plan or trial matters most: Grok’s record says “Free plan with limited chat and agent requests that renew with the plan.”
- Main advantage
- Public API, SDKs, webhooks, MCP and CLI, plus CRM, helpdesk and calendar integrations.
- Main limitation
- Free plan, in the official wording: $10 in free credits to start, full platform access, templates, call analytics and transcripts, simulation testing, webhooks and API, 20 concurrent calls, community and email support. Documentation gap: Pay-as-you-go per-minute and per-message rates are published by component; Enterprise is custom.
- Starting plan
- Start on the Pay as you go plan ($0.07-$0.31 per minute (voice); from $0.002 per message (chat)): $10 in free credits to start, full platform access, templates, call analytics and transcripts, simulation testing, webhooks and API, 20 concurrent calls, community and email support. Move up when you reach those limits. The next plan is Enterprise at Custom pricing.
See Retell AI pricing on the official site Not affiliate
Who is Retell AI for, and who is it not for?
- 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.
What are the key features of 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.
What are the limitations of 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.
Facts in these sections come from official vendor pages (checked Oct 23, 2026).
What do the plans and prices look like?
The how-to comes first. Below are the product facts, plan limits and prices, taken from official vendor pages. Each fact shows the date it was checked; vendors change plans, so confirm on the official page before you buy.
Quick answer
Retell AI has no monthly fee on pay as you go: voice agents cost $0.07 to $0.31 a minute and chat agents from $0.002 a message, depending on the AI model, voice and telephony you choose. New accounts get $10 in free trial credits with no payment method. Retell phone numbers cost $2 a month ($5 toll-free), US and Canada only. Enterprise pricing is custom. Checked October 23, 2026.
No affiliate links. Links to Retell AI on this page are plain links to the official site.
What is Retell AI?
Retell AI lets you build, test and deploy voice agents that hold phone conversations. You start from scratch, from a template such as Receptionist, or from a plain-English description that its assistant, Conductor, turns into a draft agent. Agents can transfer calls, book appointments, navigate phone menus, answer from a knowledge base and send SMS, and you can run batch outbound calls. Testing happens in the browser for free before you buy a number. After calls, Retell provides transcripts, analytics, post-call data extraction and optional AI quality assurance. Per-minute cost is the sum of voice infrastructure ($0.055), text-to-speech, the LLM you pick and telephony, plus optional add-ons. Pay as you go includes 20 concurrent calls; Enterprise adds SSO, role-based access, custom data agreements and no cap on concurrent calls.
Official site: www.retellai.com Not affiliate. Category in the Library: Voice & audio.
How much does Retell AI cost?
Prices from Retell AI’s official pricing page Not affiliate, checked Oct 23, 2026, in US dollars before tax. If the official page shows something different, the official page is right.
| Plan | Price | What the official page says |
|---|---|---|
| Pay as you go | $0.07-$0.31 per minute (voice); from $0.002 per message (chat) | $10 in free credits to start, full platform access, templates, call analytics and transcripts, simulation testing, webhooks and API, 20 concurrent calls, community and email support |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | 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 |
What is Retell AI’s Docs score?
Retell AI scores 8 out of 10 on the Docs score (documented business features and transparency, not product performance). Each point comes from a public fact on an official page. How the score works.
| Criterion | Points | Public fact |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing transparency | 1 / 2 | Pay-as-you-go per-minute and per-message rates are published by component; Enterprise is custom. |
| Free plan or trial | 1 / 2 | $10 in free trial credits for new accounts; no free plan that renews. |
| Business features | 2 / 2 | Enterprise lists custom SSO, role-based access control and custom MSA/DPA terms. |
| Integrations and API | 2 / 2 | Public API, SDKs, webhooks, MCP and CLI, plus CRM, helpdesk and calendar integrations. |
| Documentation and support | 1 / 1 | Public documentation at docs.retellai.com. |
| Privacy and data terms | 1 / 1 | Privacy policy and compliance page published; no training on data for enterprise customers with an MSA, and per-agent retention controls. |
| Total | 8 / 10 | Docs score (documented business features and transparency, not product performance) |
Frequently asked questions
Is Retell AI free?
There is no free plan, but pay as you go has no monthly fee and new accounts start with $10 in free trial credits, with no payment method required until you buy a phone number. Browser test calls are free, per Retell's quick-start guide, checked October 23, 2026.
How much does Retell AI cost per minute?
Voice agents cost $0.07 to $0.31 a minute on pay as you go. The rate adds voice infrastructure ($0.055 a minute), text-to-speech (from $0.015 a minute for Retell platform voices), the LLM you choose and telephony, plus add-ons such as a knowledge base (+$0.005 a minute). Chat agents start at $0.002 a message. Checked on retellai.com/pricing, October 23, 2026.
How many calls can a Retell agent handle at once?
Pay as you go includes 20 concurrent calls, with more available on demand. Enterprise has no cap on concurrent calls.
Is Retell AI HIPAA compliant?
Retell's documentation says it is HIPAA and GDPR compliant and SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2 certified. You must sign its Business Associate Agreement before sending protected health information; the BAA and DPA are self-serve and free to sign.
Does Retell use my call data to train models?
Retell's compliance page says it does not use data from enterprise customers with a Master Services Agreement to train models; its privacy policy lists training AI models among its uses of personal information. Any account can opt out of data storage or set a retention period per agent.
Which other tools do this job?
Other tools in the Library for voice & audio, customer support. Compare Retell AI with another tool.
AI tools Voice & audio
Docs score10/10. Measures public documentation, not quality.
Chat with Grok, or build a voice agent that talks back to your customers.
Best for Teams exploring a customer-support voice agent
Free plan From $8/moAI tools Voice & audio
Docs score9/10. Measures public documentation, not quality.Turn text into natural voiceovers, clone voices and dub video.
Best for Voiceovers, dubbing and voice agents
Free planAI tools Voice & audio
Docs score8/10. Measures public documentation, not quality.Turn a script into an AI voiceover for videos, slides and courses.
Best for Voiceovers for e-learning, presentations and marketing videos
Free trial From $19/mo billed yearly
Sources, all official Retell AI pages, checked Oct 23, 2026: Retell AI pricing Not affiliate; Build your first phone agent in 15 minutes (Retell docs) Not affiliate; Security and compliance (Retell docs) Not affiliate; Introduction to Retell (Retell docs) Not affiliate; Retell AI privacy policy Not affiliate.
Mishal Brands is an independent publisher with no affiliate or business relationship with Retell AI. Product names belong to their owners. How we review.