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Retell AI uses modular per-minute pricing with three mandatory components: voice infrastructure ($0.055/min), TTS ($0.015-$0.040/min depending on provider), and LLM ($0.003-$0.16/min depending on model). Add optional extras like knowledge base (+$0.005/min), denoising (+$0.005/min), or PII removal (+$0.01/min). SIP trunking telephony is free; phone calls add ~$0.015/min. Realistic total: $0.10-$0.25/min for most production setups.
No, Retell AI is cloud-hosted only. The real-time voice orchestration runs on Retell's infrastructure. For HIPAA compliance, the Enterprise plan offers BAA agreements and data controls. For self-hosted alternatives, LiveKit provides open-source real-time audio infrastructure, though replicating Retell's turn-taking requires significant engineering.
For most use cases, GPT-4.1 ($0.045/min) or GPT-4.1 Mini ($0.016/min) paired with Retell Platform Voices ($0.015/min) offers the best balance. This gives you total costs of $0.115-$0.13/min with strong conversation quality. For budget agents handling simple tasks, GPT-5 nano ($0.003/min) brings total costs to ~$0.073/min.
Pay-as-you-go includes 20 concurrent calls, with additional capacity at $8/month per concurrent slot. Enterprise plans have no cap on concurrent calls and include dedicated server infrastructure for consistent performance under load.
Yes, Retell AI offers chat agents with per-message pricing separate from voice. Chat pricing ranges from $0.001/message (GPT-5 nano) to $0.03/message (Claude 4.5 Sonnet). Chat agents support SMS at $0.01/message and can share the same knowledge base and function calling setup as voice agents.
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Last verified March 2026