AI Voice & Audio
Vapi Review
Build voice agents on a developer platform with a per-minute hosting fee and models at cost.
The most flexible voice-agent platform for developers: a $0.05/min platform fee with speech, model and voice providers passed through at cost (Vapi estimates $82–129 per 1,000 minutes). Needs real technical work, and HIPAA costs $2,000 a month.
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| Best for | Developers who want full control of the voice stack, Agencies building agents for many clients, Prototyping voice agents cheaply |
|---|---|
| Pricing model | usage |
| Starting price | $0.05/min + models |
| Free plan | No |
| Last verified | October 17, 2026 |
Vapi pricing (2026)
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| No Success Package | $0 to start; $0.05/min hosting, prepaid Usage | $5 free credits; 1 phone number; 4 concurrent calls |
| Core | $29/month | 5 phone numbers; 10 concurrent calls |
| Pro | 10% of hosting fee, $999/month minimum | 10 phone numbers; 30 concurrent calls |
| Premier | Custom Custom, direct sales | Custom numbers and concurrency |
Billed separately at cost: STT (Deepgram) $0.0095-$0.0099/min, LLM (OpenAI) $0.0077-$0.0452/min, TTS (ElevenLabs) $0.0146-$0.0238/min. Telephony: Vapi telephony/SIP, WebSockets and Daily WebRTC free; Twilio inbound $0.008, outbound $0.014; Vonage $0.00814; Telnyx $0.0055/min. Vapi's own estimate for 1,000 min/month: $82-$129 total. Extra concurrency $10/line/month. HIPAA add-on $2,000/month (DPA + BAA).
Is Vapi free?
No free plan: new accounts get $5 in free credits, then pay per minute.
Prices in USD, last checked October 17, 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm on the official Vapi pricing page.
What Vapi does
- Plug in any STT, LLM and TTS provider
- Free Vapi telephony and SIP
- API-first agent building
- Concurrency add-ons
- HIPAA add-on with BAA
What it gets right
- Low $0.05/min platform fee
- Models passed through at cost
- Published all-in estimate ($82-$129 per 1,000 min)
Where it falls short
- Requires technical setup; not a ready receptionist
- HIPAA costs $2,000/month
- Only 4 concurrent calls on the free tier
Vapi alternatives
Not sure Vapi fits? These do the same job, scored on the same scale:
ElevenLabs
AI Voice & AudioGenerate lifelike voiceovers, clone a voice and dub content into dozens of languages.
Suno
AI Voice & AudioGenerate full songs with vocals and instruments from a text prompt.
Retell AI
AI Voice & AudioBuild voice AI agents on a developer platform billed per minute by component.
Upfirst
AI Voice & AudioNever miss a call: an AI receptionist priced per answered call, with summaries, transfers and scheduling on every plan.
Questions people ask
Is Vapi free?
No free plan: new accounts get $5 in free credits, then pay per minute.
How much does Vapi cost?
Vapi plans: Core $29/month; Pro 10% of hosting fee, $999/month minimum; Premier Custom. Billed separately at cost: STT (Deepgram) $0.0095-$0.0099/min, LLM (OpenAI) $0.0077-$0.0452/min, TTS (ElevenLabs) $0.0146-$0.0238/min. Telephony: Vapi telephony/SIP, WebSockets and Daily WebRTC free; Twilio inbound $0.008, outbound $0.014; Vonage $0.00814; Telnyx $0.0055/min. Vapi's own estimate for 1,000 min/month: $82-$129 total. Extra concurrency $10/line/month. HIPAA add-on $2,000/month (DPA + BAA).