The best Vapi alternatives for building or buying an AI receptionist

Alternatives

1. 1

   Retell AI

   Retell AI

   Our pick

   ★★★★★

   –

   A pay-as-you-go platform for building AI phone agents: you set up the agent, number and integrations, and pay per minute for each part of the stack.

   Strengths

   • No platform fee or contract: start with $10 in free credits and pay per second of use
   • A dashboard builder with templates, plus an Auto Receptionist setup that starts from your website
   • Books into Cal.com, Calendly and GoHighLevel and syncs calls to HubSpot, Salesforce and other CRMs
   • Keep your existing number over SIP, or buy one for $2 a month
   • Self-serve HIPAA BAA at no extra fee, plus SOC 2 Type II
   • Agents can speak 55 languages, depending on the voice and speech-recognition providers chosen

   Weaknesses

   • You build and tune the agent yourself, or pay an implementation team or partner to do it
   • The per-minute price stacks several fees (platform, model, voice, telephony, add-ons), so the real cost depends on choices a business owner may not understand
   • Silence and hold time are billed, and numbers, SMS and extra concurrency cost extra each month
   • Retell's own pages disagree on details such as the free allowance (60 minutes or $10 in credit)
   Visit Retell AI
2. 2

   Bland AI

   Bland

   ★★★★★

   $19.99/mo

   An enterprise voice AI platform running on its own models, with one per-minute rate that covers the AI; self-serve plans start at $0.14 a minute.

   Strengths

   • One per-minute rate covers the AI, so there are no separate model, voice or transcription bills
   • Free Start plan with an inbound number and no card required
   • Runs on its own models, with on-premises or VPC deployment for enterprise customers
   • Speaks 40+ languages and can switch language mid-call
   • HIPAA with a BAA, SOC 2 Type II and GDPR for regulated businesses

   Weaknesses

   • Pitched at enterprises: the receptionist is yours to build, and hands-on help from Bland's engineers comes with Enterprise
   • Texting, warm transfers and the HIPAA BAA are Enterprise-only (texting also comes with the Agent Phone plan)
   • The Start plan caps you at 100 calls a day, and transferred minutes cost extra
   • Lower rates need the $299-a-month Build plan
   • Booking is documented only for Cal.com
   Visit Bland AI
3. 3

   Synthflow

   Synthflow

   ★★★★★

   –

   An enterprise voice AI platform for contact centers and multi-location brands, sold only as a custom annual contract with no per-minute rate or trial.

   Strengths

   • Synthflow's engineers can build and launch the agents for you
   • Connects to contact-center phone systems (Five9, RingCentral, 8x8, Zoom) and CRMs such as Salesforce and HubSpot
   • Keep your current carrier or phone system over SIP, or use your own Twilio account
   • HIPAA with a BAA, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and US or EU data hosting
   • Agents speak 30+ languages and can switch language mid-call

   Weaknesses

   • Enterprise only: an annual contract with no published price, no trial and no self-serve signup
   • Built for contact centers and multi-location brands rather than a single small business
   • Launch takes weeks, depending on integrations, phone system and security review
   • Choosing OpenAI models requires an Enterprise plan; Claude and custom models aren't supported
   Visit Synthflow
4. 4

   Rosie

   Rally Commerce, Inc. (dba Rosie)

   ★★★★★

   $49/mo

   A self-serve AI answering service for small businesses that answers calls in English and Spanish, from $49 a month for 250 minutes.

   Strengths

   • Published, self-serve prices from $49 a month for 250 minutes, with a 7-day free trial
   • No per-minute overage: going over your minutes moves you to the next plan's flat price
   • No contract or cancellation fee; cancel from the admin anytime
   • Trains itself from your Google Business Profile and website, with setup in as little as 10 minutes
   • English and Spanish, call recordings, transcripts and summaries on every plan, plus iOS and Android apps

   Weaknesses

   • Calendar booking and live call transfers start on the $149 Scale plan; Professional only texts a booking link
   • Direct calendar integrations are limited to Google Calendar and Calendly
   • CRMs connect only through Zapier for now; direct CRM integrations are still in the works
   • Call recordings are deleted automatically after 30 days
   Visit Rosie
5. 5

   Upfirst

   Upfirst, Inc.

   ★★★★★

   $24.95/mo

   An AI receptionist that answers calls and texts 24/7, books appointments and blocks spam, from $24.95 a month for 30 calls.

   Strengths

   • Cheap entry point: $24.95 a month for 30 calls, or $20 billed annually
   • Every feature on every plan, including booking, warm transfers, texting, recordings and 35+ languages
   • Spam, robocalls and calls under 15 seconds don't count toward your calls
   • 14-day trial (up to 100 calls) with no credit card, and month-to-month plans
   • Books into Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Square and Clio Manage, with Zapier and Make for the rest

   Weaknesses

   • Small plans fill up fast: 30 calls on Starter, then $1.50 per extra call
   • No refund if you prepay a year and cancel
   • BAAs for compliance are only on the custom Enterprise plan
   • No native mobile app; the web app can be saved to a phone's home screen
   • Each extra agent, for another location or business line, adds $9.95 a month
   Visit Upfirst
6. 6

   NextPhone

   Pure Labs Inc.

   ★★★★★

   $199/mo

   An AI receptionist for law firms and service businesses with unlimited calls at a flat $199 a month, no per-minute fees and a 7-day free trial.

   Strengths

   • Flat $199 a month for unlimited inbound calls, with no per-minute charges, overage fees or setup fee
   • Self-serve signup with a 7-day free trial, month-to-month with no contract
   • Answers in 14 languages, switching when the caller does, with 30 voices to choose from
   • Books into Google, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Cal.com and OnceHub and texts the caller a confirmation
   • Says it never trains AI on your calls and has opted out of training with every AI provider it uses

   Weaknesses

   • Doesn't sign BAAs, and its terms forbid use with protected health information
   • Hasn't completed a SOC 2 audit of its own
   • CRM updates and Zapier, Make and API access start at the $299 Growth plan
   • 2-way texting and calling from your business number need the $599 Scale plan
   • No toll-free numbers
   Visit NextPhone

Features

Features

	Vapi	Retell AI	Bland AI	Synthflow	Rosie	Upfirst	NextPhone
Starts at	$29/mo	–	$19.99/mo	–	$49/mo	$24.95/mo	$199/mo
Billing	Per minute	Per minute	Per minute	Custom quote	Flat rate	Per call	Flat rate
Free plan	✕No	✕No	✓Yes	✕No	✕No	✕No	✕No
Free trial	$5 in free credits and a free US number for inbound calls	$10 in free credits	Free Start plan with 2 credits and an inbound number, no card required	✕No	7 days on every plan; cancel before it ends to avoid being charged	14 days or 100 calls, whichever comes first, plus 25 texts; no credit card	7 days, cancel before it ends and you aren't charged
Month to month	✓Yes	✓Yes	?Not stated	✕No	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes
Setup fee	None	None	?Not stated	?Not stated	?Not stated	?Not stated	None
Phone number included	✓Yes	✕No	✓Yes	✕No	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes
Keep your number	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes
Transfers live calls	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes
Books appointments	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes
Texts callers	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes
Call summaries	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes
Call recording	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes
Outbound calls	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	?Not stated	?Not stated	?Not stated
Spam filtering	?Not stated	?Not stated	?Not stated	?Not stated	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes
Human backup	?Not stated	?Not stated	?Not stated	?Not stated	?Not stated	?Not stated	?Not stated
HIPAA	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	✓Yes	?Not stated	✓Yes	✕No
Languages	?Not stated	Afrikaans, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Kazakh, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Marathi, Nepali, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Welsh	English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Greek, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Romanian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Turkish, Hindi, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malay	English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Catalan, Welsh, Greek, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish, Hebrew, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Hindi, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian	English, Spanish	English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Korean, Russian, Vietnamese	English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese
Calendars	Google Calendar, GoHighLevel	Cal.com, Calendly, GoHighLevel, Google Calendar, Squarespace Scheduling	Cal.com	Cal.com, GoHighLevel	Google Calendar, Calendly	Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity Scheduling, Square, Clio Manage	Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Calendly, Acuity Scheduling, Cal.com, OnceHub
Integrations	GoHighLevel, Twilio, Telnyx, Vonage	HubSpot, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Zoho CRM, GoHighLevel, Zendesk, Jobber, QuickBooks, Zapier, Make, n8n, Twilio, Vonage, Telnyx	Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Twilio	Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Zendesk, Freshworks, GoHighLevel, Twilio, Telnyx, Vonage, RingCentral, Five9, 8x8, Zoom	Zapier, Shopify	Zapier, Make, Clio, Custom API actions, MCP server	Clio Manage, Clio Grow, MyCase, Lawmatics, PracticePanther, HubSpot, Salesforce, GoHighLevel, Jobber, ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Zapier, Make, Slack, Webhooks
Industries	Any business	Any business	Healthcare, Insurance, Financial services, Utilities, Government	Healthcare, Legal, Real estate, Home services	Any business	Real estate, Law firms, Property management, Chiropractors, Contractors, Emergency restoration, Financial services, Franchises, HVAC, Insurance, Landscaping, Pest control, Plumbing, Restaurants, Salons, Towing, Veterinary	Legal, Financial services, Professional services, Real estate, Construction and trades, Home services, Beauty and personal care, Wellness and fitness, Food and dining, Automotive