Retell AI
Build human-quality AI voice agents for inbound and outbound calls
- Best for
- Teams that want a customizable AI caller, not a fixed app
- Pricing
- Pay-as-you-go from ~$0.11/min
- Free tier
- No
- Last checked
- September 2026
Our verdict
Full control over what the caller says and does — build the exact qualification script, routing and CRM actions you want, with sub-second response latency and pay-per-minute pricing instead of a platform fee.
What it does
Retell AI is a platform for building your own AI voice agents that take inbound and place outbound calls with roughly 600ms response latency. You design the call flow on a drag-and-drop canvas or via the API, pick the voice and language model, connect your phone numbers and CRM, and pay per minute. It is infrastructure, not a packaged real estate app — no listing scripts or agent templates come in the box.
Key features
- ✓No-code call-flow builder plus a full API
- ✓Inbound and outbound calling, ~600ms latency, multilingual
- ✓Bring your own telephony (Twilio, Vonage, SIP) or rent Retell numbers
- ✓HubSpot, GoHighLevel, Make and n8n integrations; SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance
Named integrations: HubSpot, GoHighLevel, Make, n8n, Twilio, Vonage
How agents use Retell AI
- 1Build an inbound receptionist that answers property inquiries, captures contact details and books showings on a shared calendar
- 2Run outbound qualification calls to new web leads and push the transcript and outcome to HubSpot or GoHighLevel
- 3Chain it with Make or n8n so a new CRM lead automatically triggers a call within a minute
- 4Add a Spanish-language agent for markets where a bilingual first touch matters
Pricing, explained
Retell is usage-priced with no platform fee. A call is billed per minute as the sum of voice infrastructure ($0.055), text-to-speech ($0.015, or $0.04 for ElevenLabs voices), the language model ($0.025 for Claude 4.5 Haiku up to $0.16 for GPT 5.5) and telephony ($0.015 on Twilio US; free if you bring SIP trunking) — roughly $0.11–$0.27 per minute all-in. Retell phone numbers cost $2/month, SMS $20/month, and add-ons such as knowledge base, denoising and PII removal add $0.005–$0.01 per minute. New accounts get $10 in free credits and 20 concurrent calls; Enterprise adds unlimited concurrency, a dedicated server and custom compliance terms.
- Free trial
- Yes
- Team size
- Teams with technical help
- Setup effort
- High
Watch out for
It ships with no real estate templates, scripts or compliance guidance; you (or a developer) build and test the agent yourself, and per-minute costs add up at volume.
Not for: Agents who want a ready-made ISA out of the box rather than a build-your-own toolkit.
Bottom line
Retell is the right pick when you want a custom AI caller that behaves exactly as you specify and you have someone to build it. If you want a real estate ISA that works on day one, look at Structurely or Ylopo's AI Voice instead.
Head-to-head comparisons
Retell AI alternatives
Structurely
AI texting and calling assistant that qualifies leads 24/7
Ricochet360
Power dialer, CRM and marketing automation for speed-to-lead
EliseAI
AI leasing assistant for multifamily and property management
Roof AI
Website chatbot that qualifies and routes leads
Retell AI FAQ
How much does Retell AI cost per minute?+
Between roughly $0.11 and $0.27 per minute depending on the voice and model you choose: $0.055 voice infrastructure, $0.015–$0.04 text-to-speech, $0.025–$0.16 for the language model and $0.015 telephony. There is no monthly platform fee on the pay-as-you-go plan.
Is there a free trial?+
New accounts start with $10 in free credits, which is enough to build and test an agent but is not a permanent free tier.
Do I need a developer to use Retell?+
Not strictly — there is a drag-and-drop flow builder — but you are designing the conversation, testing edge cases and wiring integrations yourself. Teams without technical help usually find a packaged product like Structurely faster to launch.
How we reviewed this. Summarized from Retell AI's public product and pricing pages, last checked September 2026. We haven't run a paid hands-on trial of every tool — see our methodology. Always verify current pricing on the vendor site.