Vanie AI vs Retell AI: pricing compared (2026)

The short answer: Vanie AIcharges a flat ₹7.5/min all-in, billed in INR, with TRAI compliance and Indian carriers built in. Retell AI charges an unbundled base of about $0.07/min (as of June 2026) and meters the LLM, the voice, and telephony as separate line items on top — in USD — so the real all-in cost typically lands higher and varies with the stack you assemble. One is a single predictable number; the other is a build-your-own bill.

Both are good products for different buyers. This is a pricing teardown, not a takedown — for a feature-level view see the Vanie AI vs Retell comparison. Retell’s rates below are from their published pricing as of June 2026; confirm the current numbers before you commit.

The core difference: all-in vs unbundled

This is the whole story in one line. Vanie AIgives you one rate that already includes the model, the voice, and the conversation engine. Retell gives you a low-looking base rate and then bills the expensive parts — the LLM and the TTS voice — separately, as pass-through. Neither is dishonest; they are different philosophies. But they make “the price” mean very different things.

What Retell AI actually costs (June 2026)

Per Retell’s pricing page and independent component breakdowns, the bill is assembled from:

• Voice infrastructure: ~$0.07/min headline (the conversation/orchestration layer, including transcription).
• LLM tokens: separate — roughly $0.003/min on the smallest models up to $0.16/min (and higher on heavy prompts) for advanced ones.
• TTS voice: separate — about $0.015/min standard, ~$0.04/min for premium voices.
• Telephony: ~$0.015/min via managed (US) numbers, or $0 if you bring your own SIP, plus ~$2/month per number.
• Add-ons: knowledge base, advanced denoising, and PII removal each add a few tenths of a cent per minute.

Retell starts at $0 with $10 in free credits and 20 free concurrent calls; extra concurrency is about $8 per concurrent call per month, and enterprise volume discounts begin around $3,000/month of spend. Stack the components and the real-world rate generally sits around $0.13–$0.31/min. At roughly ₹85 to the dollar that is about ₹11–₹26/min (a derived conversion, before FX and India telephony markup).

What Vanie AI costs

Vanie AI bills in credits where 1 credit = ₹1, at a flat 7.5 credits/min all-in— 5 for the call, 0.5 for recording, and an optional 2 for post-call extraction (summary, structured fields, sentiment). So it is ₹7.5/min with everything on, ₹5.5/min without extraction, and it does not change with the model underneath. Bring your own Gemini key and the per-minute rate drops further. Plans run from Starter (₹999) through Growth (₹1,999), Business (₹4,999), and Scale (₹9,999); full detail is on the pricing page.

Side by side

Retell figures are from its published pricing as of June 2026 and are shown as ranges because the model is unbundled; the USD→INR figure is a derived conversion at an assumed rate. Verify current pricing on each provider’s site before deciding.

Which one should you pick?

Pick Retell if you are a developer (likely in the US), you want to hand-pick your LLM and TTS, you are comfortable assembling and metering each component, and INR billing and TRAI compliance are not on your list.

Pick Vanie AI if you are running calls in India, you want one all-in rupee rate you can forecast, and you need Indian-language coverage plus TRAI/DLT compliance and Indian carriers working out of the box. If cost is your main question, the full cost breakdown and the India calling-agent guide go deeper.

The bottom line

Retell’s base rate is lower on paper, but it is a floor you build on; Vanie AI’s ₹7.5/min is a ceiling you can budget against. For an Indian operation that values a predictable INR bill and built-in compliance, all-in wins on simplicity; for a US developer who wants maximum control over the stack, unbundled wins on flexibility. Price the way you actually run calls, not the way the headline number reads.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Retell AI cost per minute?

As of June 2026, Retell AI’s pricing page lists a voice-infrastructure base of about $0.07/min, but that excludes the LLM, the TTS voice, and telephony — which are billed separately. Once you add those, independent breakdowns put the real all-in cost around $0.13–$0.31/min depending on the models and add-ons you pick. Always check retellai.com/pricing for current rates.

How much does Vanie AI cost per minute?

Vanie AI bills a flat ₹7.5/min all-in (1 credit = ₹1) — 5 credits for the call, 0.5 for recording, and an optional 2 for post-call extraction. There is no per-seat fee, and the rate does not change with the model underneath. Bringing your own Gemini API key lowers the per-minute rate further.

Is Retell AI or Vanie AI cheaper?

It depends on how you count. Retell’s headline base looks low, but it is unbundled — you stack LLM, TTS, and telephony on top, in USD. Vanie’s ₹7.5/min is all-in and in INR. For an Indian buyer who wants one predictable number and rupee billing, Vanie is simpler to forecast; for a US developer who wants to hand-pick every component, Retell’s à la carte model offers more control.

Does Retell AI support TRAI / India compliance?

Retell is US-based infrastructure and does not ship TRAI/NCPR/DLT-specific compliance tooling; calling Indian numbers through its managed telephony also carries US-provider markup. Vanie AI is India-first, with a TRAI/DLT compliance gate on the dial path and native Indian carrier support (Exotel, plus your own SIP).

Can I bring my own keys or carrier on either platform?

Both support a bring-your-own approach but differently. Retell lets you zero out telephony with your own SIP trunk while still metering its infrastructure, LLM, and TTS. Vanie offers a bring-your-own Gemini API key option that lowers the all-in per-minute rate, plus bring-your-own number/SIP.