Vapi vs Retell vs ElevenLabs Agents: which voice platform to pick?
Three platforms for AI receptionists and voice agents compared on per-minute price, free trial, EU data and who they are for. Updated automatically from our tool database.
In short
Pick ElevenLabs Agents if you want to start without code and try it for free. Pick Retell if you want one per-minute price, including model and voice, to pass on to a client. Pick Vapi if you are a developer and want to choose your own model and voice, for example with your own EU keys. Minutes cost cents; your maintenance is the real cost.
- Fact-checked on 2 November 2026
With all three you build an agent that answers the phone, handles questions and books appointments. They differ mainly in how you pay and how much you choose yourself.
- 1
ElevenLabs AgentsBest start
+ No-code builder, free to try, and minutes in a fixed monthly fee. · − LLM costs come on top; EU data residency possibly Enterprise-only ⚠.
- Price from
- $6/month (Starter, 75 min) + LLM costs
- Free tier
- yes (15 minutes)
- Self-host
- no
- Licence
- propriëtair
- Works in NL
- yes
- Checked
- 2 Nov 2026
- 2
Retell AIFor billing clients
+ One per-minute price including model and voice: easy to pass on to a client. · − No clear statement from Retell on full EU data residency ⚠.
- Price from
- $0.07-0.31/min (pay-as-you-go, all-in)
- Free tier
- not checked
- Self-host
- no
- Licence
- propriëtair
- Works in NL
- yes
- Checked
- 2 Nov 2026
- 3
VapiFor developers
+ Most freedom for developers: pick your own model and voice, including your own EU keys. · − Your total depends on separate providers; Vapi's own calculator: $82-129 per 1,000 min.
- Price from
- $0.05/min + model, speech and voice costs (at cost)
- Free tier
- no ($5 starter credit)
- Self-host
- no
- Licence
- propriëtair
- Works in NL
- yes
- Checked
- 2 Nov 2026
Order = our advice for most readers. Prices as shown by the provider; ⚠ = not fully verified. Sources: ElevenLabs Agents · Retell AI · Vapi
Which one should you pick?
Section titled “Which one should you pick?”- You first want to see if it works at all: ElevenLabs Agents. Free minutes and a no-code builder.
- You build a receptionist for a client and want a simple quote: Retell. One per-minute price with model, infrastructure and voice included.
- You code and want to choose everything yourself: Vapi. You pay a small platform fee and the rest at cost.
- Your client handles medical or other sensitive data: don’t make that your first project. You probably need a DPIA.
- Always: say in the first sentence that the caller is talking to AI (AI Act Art. 50) and sign a data processing agreement with your client.