Retell AI is an AI call center platform for automating support and sales calls; Dial gives an AI agent its own number with voice, SMS, WhatsApp, and iMessage in one API. A factual look at pricing, channels, and setup.
TL;DR
Retell AI is built to automate a call center: no-code conversation flows, branded caller ID, TCPA tooling, and a strong compliance baseline (SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA on every plan). Its pricing is a component menu — voice infrastructure, LLM, TTS, telephony, and add-ons each billed per minute. Dial is built for the opposite direction: not humans operating an AI phone system, but AI agents that need their own phone. One number carries voice, SMS, WhatsApp, and iMessage at an all-in rate, provisioned by the agent itself in seconds. Operations teams replacing a call center should look hard at Retell; developers giving agents real-world reach should start with Dial.
| Dial | Retell AI | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Communication stack for AI agents — number, voice, SMS, WhatsApp, iMessage in one API | AI call center platform for automating support and sales calls |
| Voice pricing | $0.13/min with your own LLM · $0.22/min managed — all-in | ~$0.07–$0.31/min composed: $0.055 infra + LLM + TTS + $0.015 telephony |
| Phone numbers | $3/mo pay-as-you-go, or $20/mo flat-rate with US calls + SMS included | $2/mo US/Canada · $5/mo toll-free (+$0.06/min inbound surcharge) |
| SMS | $0.02/msg US, 200+ countries — ready when the number is provisioned | $20/mo add-on · US standard numbers only · requires approved A2P 10DLC campaign |
| Included — same number, 180+ countries | Not native — only via third-party automation platforms | |
| iMessage / RCS | $250/mo iMessage number, messages free, automatic RCS/SMS fallback | Not supported |
| International reach | SMS to 200+ countries in 7 price tiers; WhatsApp in 180+ | US/Canada numbers; managed outbound calling to ~15 countries, beyond that BYO SIP |
| Bring your own LLM | Yes — text over WebSocket at $0.13/min | Choose from hosted models billed per minute; custom LLM via API |
| MCP server | Yes — remote MCP with OAuth; agents can self-provision | Yes — official MCP server, plus MCP tool nodes inside flows |
| Free tier | $5 credit, no credit card | $10 credit · 20 concurrent calls included |
| Compliance baseline | No paid gates on core platform features | SOC 2 Type II + HIPAA BAA on every plan · TCPA tooling · Branded Call ID $0.10/call |
Based on each product's public documentation and published pricing as of July 5, 2026. Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected] and we'll fix it.
Retell AI (retellai.com) positions itself as an AI call center platform for automating support and sales calls. You assemble agents with a drag-and-drop Conversation Flow builder or its API (Node.js and Python SDKs), buy US/Canada numbers at $2/month, and pay per component: $0.055/min voice infrastructure plus LLM ($0.006–$0.16/min by model), TTS ($0.015–$0.04/min), telephony ($0.015/min), and optional add-ons like Branded Call ID and AI QA. SMS is a $20/month add-on gated on A2P 10DLC approval. SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA with self-serve BAA are included on every plan.
Dial is the communication stack for AI agents: provision a real phone number in about 10 seconds and your agent can place and receive voice calls, send and receive SMS in 200+ countries, message on WhatsApp, and reach iMessage with automatic RCS/SMS fallback — all through one REST API, CLI, or MCP server. Pricing is all-in: $3/month per number pay-as-you-go (or $20/month flat-rate with US calls and SMS included), $0.13/min for calls with your own LLM, $0.22/min fully managed. $5 free credit, no credit card.
Retell is a serious product with a clear customer: an operations team replacing or augmenting a human call center. Call quality is its most-cited strength in reviews, the Conversation Flow builder lets non-developers ship real agents, and its compliance posture is genuinely strong — SOC 2 Type II and a self-serve HIPAA BAA on every plan, published TCPA playbooks, and productized trust tooling like Branded Call ID and carrier-verified numbers.
If the job is "our support line should be answered by AI," Retell is one of the best-fitted tools on the market. The comparison matters when the job is the reverse — giving an autonomous agent its own phone.
Retell prices like a bill of materials. Voice infrastructure is $0.055/min, then the LLM adds $0.006–$0.16/min depending on the model, TTS adds $0.015–$0.04/min, telephony adds $0.015/min, and optional add-ons stack further — knowledge base, PII removal, denoising, AI QA at $0.10/min. Reviewers' most common complaint isn't quality; it's discovering the true per-minute cost on the first invoice.
Dial collapses the menu. $0.22/min managed is the entire voice price — model, speech, telephony, number infrastructure. If you bring your own LLM over the WebSocket, it's $0.13/min. Numbers are $3/month, or $20/month flat-rate with unlimited US calls and US SMS.
| Cost item | Dial (managed) | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|
| Voice infrastructure | Included in $0.22/min | $0.055/min |
| LLM | Included ($0.13/min with your own) | $0.006–$0.16/min by model |
| TTS | Included | $0.015–$0.04/min |
| Telephony | Included | $0.015/min |
| Phone number | $3/mo | $2/mo (US/Canada) |
| SMS capability | Included with every number | $20/mo add-on + 10DLC approval |
At 10,000 minutes a month, a mid-range Retell stack lands around $1,200–$1,800; Dial managed is a flat $2,200 with SMS, WhatsApp, and global reach already inside — and $1,300 if you bring your own model. Which is cheaper depends on your stack choices; which is *predictable* doesn't.
Retell's channel model is voice-first with SMS bolted on: texting is a $20/month add-on, works only on US standard numbers (no toll-free SMS), and requires an approved A2P 10DLC campaign before the first message — users report friction even after approval. WhatsApp isn't native (only reachable through third-party automation platforms), and iMessage/RCS don't exist on the platform.
Dial treats channels as one identity. The number your agent provisions can take a call, send a cold outbound SMS, continue on WhatsApp in 180+ countries, and reach iPhone users over iMessage with automatic RCS/SMS fallback. No add-on fees, no per-channel registration projects.
The deepest difference is the assumed operator. Retell assumes a human team: dashboards, flow builders, QA scoring, agent monitoring. That's the right shape for a contact center.
Dial assumes the operator might be the agent itself. Signup, OTP verification, number provisioning, and sending the first message are all a single CLI or MCP flow — an agent reading getdial.ai/skills.md can give itself a phone number in seconds with no human in the loop. Events arrive over one unified webhook or a long-poll (dial wait-for), so the same agent that answers calls also reacts to inbound texts.
Both platforms ship official MCP servers, so both plug into Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients — the difference is whether MCP is a management surface (Retell) or the agent's own phone line (Dial).
It depends what you're building. For automating a human call center, Retell is purpose-built. For giving an AI agent its own phone — voice plus SMS, WhatsApp, and iMessage on one number at one all-in price — Dial is the platform designed for exactly that, and agents can provision themselves via CLI or MCP.
Retell bills per component: $0.055/min voice infrastructure, plus an LLM at $0.006–$0.16/min depending on the model, TTS at $0.015–$0.04/min, and telephony at $0.015/min — typically $0.07–$0.31/min all-in before add-ons. Dial is a single rate: $0.22/min managed or $0.13/min with your own LLM.
Yes, as a $20/month add-on — on US standard numbers only (no toll-free SMS), and only after an A2P 10DLC campaign is approved. Dial numbers send and receive SMS immediately on provisioning, at $0.02 per US message, with cold outbound supported.
Not natively. WhatsApp is only reachable by wiring Retell to third-party automation platforms, and iMessage/RCS aren't offered. Dial includes WhatsApp in 180+ countries and offers dedicated iMessage numbers with automatic RCS/SMS fallback.
For voice alone it depends on your Retell stack choices — a budget model stack can beat $0.22/min, a premium one can double it. Dial's advantage is that the rate is flat and complete, and the number already includes SMS, WhatsApp, and iMessage capability that Retell either charges extra for or doesn't offer.
Voice, SMS, WhatsApp, and iMessage through one API. $5 free credit, no credit card required.