Alternatives
Best Retell AI alternatives in 2026
Data compiled by Toolradar Updated How we rate
Cite this list: Toolradar, best Retell AI alternatives 2026, toolradar.com/alternatives/retell-ai
7 direct alternatives to Retell AI, compared on pricing, features, and best-for use cases. Pick the right replacement without the marketing fluff.
Quick answer
- Dialpad is the top alternative to Retell AI on our list, followed by Five9 and Observe.ai.
- 2 of the 7 alternatives have a free plan, starting with Yellow.ai.
- Highest rated: Observe.ai, 4.6 out of 5 from 264 ratings, Aug 2026.
- 7 alternatives
- 2 with a free plan
Top 3 alternatives to Retell AI
Dialpad
#1 Top pickAI-powered Contact Center and Unified Communications platform for customer service and sales.
Starting price
From $15 /mo
Cheapest paid plan, monthly, as of October 2026
4.2 /5 across G2, Capterra and Trustpilot · 7,931 ratings, Sep 2026
Our take
Best overall
Five9
#2Intelligent cloud contact center
Starting price
From $119 /mo
Cheapest paid plan, monthly, as of October 2026
4.1 /5 across G2 and Capterra · 1,109 ratings, Sep 2026
Observe.ai
#3AI Agents for customer experience: Automate interactions, augment agents, and analyze conversations.
Pricing
Contact sales
4.6 /5 on G2 · 264 ratings, Aug 2026
Our take
Highest rated
Retell AI vs 7 alternatives
| Tool | Starting price (Oct 2026) | Free plan | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Price: Free + paid | Free plan: Yes | 4.5 out of 5, from 2,640 ratings across G2 and SourceForge (2,640) |
| Price: $15/mo | Free plan: No | 4.2 out of 5, from 7,931 ratings across G2, Capterra and Trustpilot (7,931) |
| Price: $119/mo | Free plan: No | 4.1 out of 5, from 1,109 ratings across G2 and Capterra (1,109) |
| Price: Contact sales | Free plan: No | 4.6 out of 5, from 264 ratings on G2 (264) |
 | Price: Free + paid | Free plan: Yes | 4.4 out of 5, from 107 ratings on G2 (107) |
 | Price: $99/mo | Free plan: No | n/a |
 | Price: Free | Free plan: Yes | n/a |
 | Price: Contact sales | Free plan: No | n/a |
Why people consider alternatives to Retell AI
Retell AI is an advanced conversational AI platform designed to automate customer interactions across phone calls, chat, and SMS.
Teams most often switch away when one of these starts to bite:
- Pricing at scale as usage or premium tiers add up.
- Missing integrations with the rest of your stack.
- Performance or scale limits as your needs grow.
- A specific feature gap you have hit in ai agents.
The 7 alternatives below cover the same core job (AI agents) with different trade-offs.
Retell AI by the numbers
| Metric | Retell AI | Peer median | Position (1 is best) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | 57% have one | n/a |
| Listed as an alternative to | 11 tools | 2 | #17 of 92 (joint) |
| User rating | 4.5/5 (across the web, 2,640 ratings) | 4.5/5 | #18 of 43 (joint) tools with 20+ reviews |
| Compare-page visits, last 30 days | 35 visits | 34 | #15 of 30 tools with 20+ compare-page visits |
Listed as an alternative to: #18 on 2026-10-16 to #17 on 2026-10-31 (rank among 92 tools, 1 is best).
Each position is counted among the tools that have data for that row, as noted under it. All Chatbots data · How we compute this. Advertising and placement fees are not inputs to any position. Visit counts include visits from every source.
Cite this: Toolradar, “Retell AI by the numbers”, Oct 2026.
AI Agents leaderboards from Toolradar data
Toolradar ranks AI Agents tools on one measure at a time, only where at least 8 tools have data. As of Oct 2026.
Lowest entry price, plans with no stated unit
Cheapest standard paid plan per month (annual prices divided by 12), read on vendor pages and compared only with tools priced on the same basis.
Counted among 308 tools with no stated price unit, verified price.
| # | Tool | Entry plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plivo | $0.50/mo, billed monthly |
| 2 | Scout by Fini | $0.69/mo |
| 3 | Murmell | $0.99/mo, billed monthly |
| 4 | Tencent EdgeOne Makers | $1.40/mo, billed monthly |
| 5 | AppFolio Property Manager | $1.49/mo, billed monthly |
Lowest entry price, per-user plans
Cheapest standard paid plan per month (annual prices divided by 12), read on vendor pages and compared only with tools priced on the same basis.
Counted among 44 tools priced per user, verified price.
| # | Tool | Entry plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agent Browser Shield | $4/user/mo, billed monthly |
| 1 | Bodhiorchard | $4/user/mo, billed monthly |
| 1 | Google Workspace CLI | $4/user/mo, billed monthly |
| 1 | Heron | $4/user/mo, billed monthly |
| 1 | Joanium | $4/user/mo, billed monthly |
Lowest entry price, per-seat plans
Cheapest standard paid plan per month (annual prices divided by 12), read on vendor pages and compared only with tools priced on the same basis.
Counted among 9 tools priced per seat, verified price.
| # | Tool | Entry plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sanity MCP | $15/seat/mo, billed monthly |
| 2 | Maxim AI | $29/seat/mo, billed monthly |
| 3 | Port | $30/seat/mo, billed monthly |
| 4 | Jitera | $32/seat/mo, billed monthly |
| 5 | LangSmith | $39/seat/mo, billed monthly |
Most visited, last 30 days
Distinct visitor sessions on the tool's Toolradar page over the last 30 days, with bots excluded by our analytics. A session counts once however many times it reloads the page.
Counted among 8 tools with 50+ visits.
| # | Tool | Visits |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kick | 121 visits |
| 2 | Passionfroot | 113 visits |
| 3 | ZenGRC | 106 visits |
| 4 | Meta Muse | 89 visits |
| 5 | OpenClaw | 81 visits |
Most media coverage, last 30 days
Number of distinct articles published in the last 30 days by independent press, blogs and newsletters that mention the tool. A story carried by several outlets counts once; the vendor's own blog, review sites, forums and republishing sites do not count.
Counted among 24 tools mentioned in the last 30 days.
| # | Tool | Articles |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DeepSeek | 93 articles |
| 2 | Character.AI | 59 articles |
| 3 | Grok Bot | 16 articles |
| 4 | Meta Muse | 15 articles |
| 5 | Google Gemini | 13 articles |
A position exists only when at least 8 tools have data for that metric. 373 of 1028 AI Agents tools have a verified price; the others publish none we could read (often "contact sales"). Advertising and placement fees are not inputs to any position. Visit counts include visits from every source. How we compute this. Cite this: Toolradar, “AI Agents leaderboards”, Oct 2026. Data licensed CC BY 4.0. All AI Agents statistics.
7 alternatives to Retell AI
Ranked by G2 and Capterra ratings, media mentions, and editor review, plus how directly they replace Retell AI.
- 1
Dialpad
Free plan Battle-tested at scaleAI-powered Contact Center and Unified Communications platform for customer service and sales.
4.2 /5 across G2, Capterra and Trustpilot · 7,931 ratings, Sep 2026
From $15/user/mo, billed monthly; free plan available
- 2
Five9
Paid Battle-tested at scaleIntelligent cloud contact center
4.1 /5 across G2 and Capterra · 1,109 ratings, Sep 2026
From $119/mo, billed monthly
- 3
Observe.ai
PaidAI Agents for customer experience: Automate interactions, augment agents, and analyze conversations.
4.6 /5 on G2 · 264 ratings, Aug 2026
Price not published
- 4
Yellow.ai
Free planTransform CX & EX with AI agents that think, act, and resolve autonomously.
4.4 /5 on G2 · 107 ratings, Sep 2026
Free plan available; paid prices not published
- 5
AppEQ.ai
PaidAI Voice Platforms for automated customer engagement and lead qualification.
From $99/mo, billed monthly
- 6
NVIDIA PersonaPlex
100% freeCreate natural, full-duplex conversational AI with customizable voices and roles.
Free
- 7
Bland AI
PaidAutomate phone calls, SMS, and chat with conversational AI for enterprise customer interactions.
Price not published
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to Retell AI?
Based on real-signal scoring (G2 and Capterra ratings, media mentions, and editorial review), the top alternatives to Retell AI are Dialpad, Five9, Observe.ai. Each solves the same core job with different trade-offs on pricing, features, and integrations.
Is there a free alternative to Retell AI?
Yes. NVIDIA PersonaPlex is 100% free (no paid upgrade path) (Create natural, full-duplex conversational AI with customizable voices and roles). Freemium tools on this list offer a free tier with paid upgrades; they are not the same as fully free.
Why do people look for Retell AI alternatives?
Common reasons teams switch away from Retell AI: pricing that scales aggressively, missing integrations with the rest of their stack, performance or scale limits, or a specific feature gap in ai agents. The alternatives on this page solve the same core problem with different trade-offs.
Side-by-side comparisons
In-depth comparison pages for Retell AI versus each alternative.
Review Retell AI, get a free AI guide
Share your experience and we will send you Improve Your Thinking Patterns Using ChatGPT, free.
Still considering Retell AI?
See the full review, pricing breakdown, and community feedback before you decide.