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Rank #3 of 9 in Voice Agent Platforms

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npmnpm install retell-sdk
pippip install retell-sdk
clinpm install -g @retell-ai/retell-cli

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Try itExperimental

See what an agent can do with Retell AI before you ever sign up. Pick a story: recorded sessions replay real probe-harness transcripts; the live MCP handshake runs real requests from our edge, right now — including, where the server allows it, one real read-only tool call (bring your own key for auth-gated servers); sandboxed self-drive sessions are designed and gated (docs/TRY-IT.md).

$npx -y @retell-ai/retell-cli --versionrecorded session — replayed, not live
recorded 2026-09-05 · exit 0 · captured verbatim by our probe harness, secrets redacted

Verified integrations

Connections to other tracked products — hover a chip for the verbatim evidence quote behind it.

By theme — the product's score on each story themeBy theme

Agent building — building agents — abstractions, tool wiring, control flowAgent buildingevidence →

Building agents — abstractions, tool wiring, control flow

39.3/100

Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticnessevidence →

How well agents can access and operate the product

52.1/100

Automation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depthevidence →

How much of the product can run unattended

22.5/100

Compliance trust — stories about compliance trust in this arenaCompliance trustevidence →

Stories about compliance trust in this arena

15.0/100

Deployment scale — stories about deployment scale in this arenaDeployment scaleevidence →

Stories about deployment scale in this arena

12.0/100

Latency turntaking — stories about latency turntaking in this arenaLatency turntakingevidence →

Stories about latency turntaking in this arena

10.0/100

Openness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpennessevidence →

Open source, data portability, and self-hosting stories

16.0/100

Pricing plans — plan structure and value — what each tier costs and what it unlocksPricing plansevidence →

Plan structure and value — what each tier costs and what it unlocks

80.0/100

Privacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy postureevidence →

Data-handling and privacy stories

3.3/100

Telephony — stories about telephony in this arenaTelephonyevidence →

Stories about telephony in this arena

44.8/100

Testing analytics — stories about testing analytics in this arenaTesting analyticsevidence →

Stories about testing analytics in this arena

46.9/100

Tools function calling — stories about tools function calling in this arenaTools function callingevidence →

Stories about tools function calling in this arena

58.3/100

Transcription recording — stories about transcription recording in this arenaTranscription recordingevidence →

Stories about transcription recording in this arena

30.0/100

Voices tts — stories about voices tts in this arenaVoices ttsevidence →

Stories about voices tts in this arena

50.0/100

Story verdicts — every judged story with its evidenceStory verdicts

What’s free: 4 free · 1 paid · 0 enterprise · 35 not stated in evidence

?

Sorted by importance (agentic first) (high → low) · 61/61 stories · click a row’s chevron for the rationale and evidence

Connect an agent via an official MCP server G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3full9/10T

Drive the product through a documented public API G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3full9/10T

Plug MCP servers into this product so it can use their tools G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3full8/10C

Delegate tasks to a built-in AI assistant inside the product G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3partial3/10C

Build against official SDKs G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2full9/10T

Point an agent at llms.txt or agent-oriented docs G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2full9/10T

Use an official CLI G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2full9/10T

Subscribe to events via webhooks G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2full8/10C

Operate the product with natural-language commands G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2full7/10T

Run the product headlessly / in CI for automation G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial7/10T

Get AI-generated insights and suggestions from my data inside the product G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial6/10C

Set up automations that run autonomously in the background G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial6/10X

Download a machine-readable API spec (OpenAPI or equivalent) G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2none0/10

Explore an interactive API reference with runnable examples G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2none0/10

Issue scoped/least-privilege API credentials for an agent G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2none0/10

Rely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policy G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2noneuntestednone yet

Test against a sandbox environment without touching production data G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness1partialfree4/10C

Build a working phone voice agent — prompt, voice, and phone number — and take my first live call within an hour C

Build

developerAgent building — building agents — abstractions, tool wiring, control flowAgent building3fullfree8/10X

Provision phone numbers and run both inbound and outbound calls through the platform's API C

Numbers

developerTelephony — stories about telephony in this arenaTelephony3fullpaid8/10T

Define rules that trigger actions automatically on events G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth3partial6/10C

My agent can call external APIs and custom functions mid-conversation and speak the result without awkward dead air C

Tools

developerTools function calling — stories about tools function calling in this arenaTools function calling3partial6/10T

My coding agent can provision a complete voice agent end to end — create the agent, attach a number, and place a call — through the API, CLI, or MCP without touching the dashboard C

Agent ops

ai-native userAgent building — building agents — abstractions, tool wiring, control flowAgent building3partial6/10T

See documented end-to-end voice latency numbers or tuning guidance backing the platform's speed claims C

Latency

platform-engineerLatency turntaking — stories about latency turntaking in this arenaLatency turntaking3partial5/10C

Export all of my data in open formats and leave G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness3none0/10

Prevent my data from being used to train AI models G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture3none0/10

Self-host the core product G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness3none0/10

Self-host the voice agent runtime from open-source code on my own infrastructure C

Self host

platform-engineerDeployment scale — stories about deployment scale in this arenaDeployment scale3none0/10

Rely on the agent to handle interruptions (barge-in) gracefully — stopping speech, updating context, and recovering the turn C

Turn taking

developerLatency turntaking — stories about latency turntaking in this arenaLatency turntaking3noneuntestednone yet

Connect my own carrier or PBX via SIP trunking (or import Twilio/Telnyx numbers) instead of being locked to bundled telephony C

Sip

platform-engineerTelephony — stories about telephony in this arenaTelephony2full8/10C

Do everything through the API that I can do in the UI G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness2full8/10T

My voice agent can plug in MCP servers as tool sources so one integration grants it whole toolsets mid-call C

Tools

ai-native userTools function calling — stories about tools function calling in this arenaTools function calling2full8/10C

See call analytics — success rates, durations, outcomes, sentiment — in dashboards without building my own C

Analytics

founderTesting analytics — stories about testing analytics in this arenaTesting analytics2full8/10C

See published per-minute or usage pricing and estimate cost per call before committing G

Pricing

founderPricing plans — plan structure and value — what each tier costs and what it unlocksPricing plans2fullfree8/10X

Choose from a broad voice library or plug in multiple TTS providers to get the voice I want C

Voices

developerVoices tts — stories about voices tts in this arenaVoices tts2full7/10X

Design multi-step conversation flows in a visual builder with branching, states, and handoffs without writing code C

Build

founderAgent building — building agents — abstractions, tool wiring, control flowAgent building2full7/10C

Extract structured data from every call — outcomes, entities, dispositions — delivered via API or webhook after the call C

Post call

developerTools function calling — stories about tools function calling in this arenaTools function calling2full7/10C

Ground the agent on my documents with a built-in knowledge base or RAG so it answers from my content C

Personalization

developerAgent building — building agents — abstractions, tool wiring, control flowAgent building2partial6/10C

Retrieve full call recordings and transcripts programmatically for every call C

Recording

platform-engineerTranscription recording — stories about transcription recording in this arenaTranscription recording2partial6/10C

The platform's AI reviews my calls for me — scoring quality, flagging failures, and analyzing resolution automatically C

Analytics

ai-native userTesting analytics — stories about testing analytics in this arenaTesting analytics2partial6/10C

Clone a custom brand voice and use it for my agents, with a documented consent process C

Voices

founderVoices tts — stories about voices tts in this arenaVoices tts2partial5/10C

Control data retention and deletion G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture2disputed5/10D

Meet call-recording consent and disclosure obligations with per-call recording controls and configurable data retention C

Compliance

founderCompliance trust — stories about compliance trust in this arenaCompliance trust2partial5/10C

See documented concurrency limits and scale to many simultaneous calls without manual capacity begging C

Scale

platform-engineerDeployment scale — stories about deployment scale in this arenaDeployment scale2partial5/10C

Test agents with simulated conversations or evals before putting them on real phone calls C

Testing

developerTesting analytics — stories about testing analytics in this arenaTesting analytics2partialfree5/10C

Escalate a live call to a human with warm or blind transfer, passing context along C

Call control

developerTelephony — stories about telephony in this arenaTelephony2partial4/10C

Get accurate real-time transcription with control over the STT provider, language models, or key terms C

Transcription

developerTranscription recording — stories about transcription recording in this arenaTranscription recording2partial4/10X

Perform bulk operations across many items at once G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth2partial4/10T

Choose where my data is stored (region/residency) G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture2none0/10

Run batch outbound call campaigns with scheduling and throughput controls C

Campaigns

founderTelephony — stories about telephony in this arenaTelephony2none0/10

Run conversations in multiple languages, including detecting and switching language mid-call C

Build

developerAgent building — building agents — abstractions, tool wiring, control flowAgent building2none0/10

Run regulated workloads with HIPAA/BAA support, SOC 2, and data-residency options C

Compliance

platform-engineerCompliance trust — stories about compliance trust in this arenaCompliance trust2none0/10

Use model-based end-of-turn detection beyond simple VAD silence timeouts so the agent doesn't talk over slow speakers C

Turn taking

developerLatency turntaking — stories about latency turntaking in this arenaLatency turntaking2none0/10

Inject dynamic variables and per-caller context at call time so each conversation is personalized C

Personalization

developerAgent building — building agents — abstractions, tool wiring, control flowAgent building2noneuntestednone yet

Opt out of telemetry and usage tracking G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture2noneuntestednone yet

Read the product's source under an open license G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness2noneuntestednone yet

Schedule recurring jobs or workflows G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth2noneuntestednone yet

Monitor live calls in production and get alerts when agents misbehave or error rates spike C

Monitoring

platform-engineerTesting analytics — stories about testing analytics in this arenaTesting analytics1partial6/10C

The platform's own AI helps me author agents — generating or improving prompts, flows, and test cases from a description C

Agent ops

ai-native userAgent building — building agents — abstractions, tool wiring, control flowAgent building1partial5/10C

Version, review, and roll back my automations G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth1partial4/10C

Enable noise suppression or audio filtering so the agent stays coherent on noisy real-world calls C

Turn taking

developerLatency turntaking — stories about latency turntaking in this arenaLatency turntaking1noneuntestednone yet

My agent can send DTMF keypresses, navigate IVR menus, and detect or leave voicemail C

Call control

developerTelephony — stories about telephony in this arenaTelephony1noneuntestednone yet

Opportunities — the stories that would move this product's scores, from its own judged verdictsOpportunitiestop 8 of 42 stories with headroom

What would move Retell AI’s scores — derived from its own judged verdicts, biggest headroom first. Each line quotes what the judge found missing; shipping it (or evidencing it publicly) is the fix.

  1. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productDelegate tasks to a built-in AI assistant inside the product

    partialq3/10moves Built-in AIimpact 31.5

    Missing: documentation of Conductor's full capabilities/limits, evidence of delegating other tasks (not just agent drafting) to a built-in assistant, and independent/hands-on corroboration of Conductor actually working.

  2. Latency turntaking — stories about latency turntaking in this arenaRely on the agent to handle interruptions (barge-in) gracefully — stopping speech, updating context, and recovering the turn

    nonemoves PA Scoreimpact 30

    The evidence pack covers transcription latency/accuracy trade-offs (retell-docs-9, retell-docs-39, retell-docs-48) but nowhere describes explicit barge-in/interruption handling — stopping agent speech, updating context, and recovering the turn when a caller interrupts.

  3. Openness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesExport all of my data in open formats and leave

    nonemoves PA Scoreimpact 30

    Docs describe API/SDK/CLI access, data retention (auto-deletion) and analytics dashboards, but nowhere document a data-export or portability feature that would let a user pull all call/chat data, transcripts, and recordings in an open format to leave the platform; retention docs only cover automatic deletion, not export.

  4. Openness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesSelf-host the core product

    nonemoves PA Scoreimpact 30

    Retell AI is presented entirely as a hosted SaaS (cloud dashboard, hosted APIs, hosted MCP server, usage-based pricing) with no mention anywhere in docs of a self-hosted or on-prem deployment option; all evidence points to a fully managed cloud product.

  5. Privacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrevent my data from being used to train AI models

    nonemoves PA Scoreimpact 30

    The evidence only covers configurable data retention (auto-deleting transcripts/recordings/logs after a set period) for compliance, not an explicit opt-out or guarantee against using customer data for AI model training.

  6. Deployment scale — stories about deployment scale in this arenaSelf-host the voice agent runtime from open-source code on my own infrastructure

    nonemoves PA Scoreimpact 30

    Retell AI is a hosted SaaS voice-agent platform; all evidence points to cloud-hosted APIs, SDKs, CLI, and MCP server that call Retell's own servers, with no mention of open-source runtime code or self-hosting instructions.

  7. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productIssue scoped/least-privilege API credentials for an agent

    nonemoves agent-readyimpact 30

    The evidence pack documents API key auth, SDKs, CLI, and an MCP server, but nowhere describes scoped, role-based, or least-privilege API key/credential issuance (e.g., per-agent or per-permission keys) for Retell.

  8. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productExplore an interactive API reference with runnable examples

    nonemoves API qualityimpact 30

    Evidence shows Retell has API reference doc pages (e.g., api-references/clone-voice.md) and SDKs/CLI/MCP tooling, but no evidence of an interactive, runnable API reference (e.g., embedded 'try it' console or Swagger UI).

Showing the top 8 of 42 — every none/partial verdict in the story verdicts table is headroom.

Think a verdict is wrong? Every verdicts-table row has a Flag link — see the methodology.

Coverage map — which docs area, API section, or community source covers which judged storiesCoverage map12 surfaces · 41 covered stories

Where the cited evidence behind each covered verdict came from — the same citations the verdicts table shows, no extra judging.

Get started docs21 stories

Probe proofs — replayable recordings from the probe harnessProbe proofs

Replayable recordings from our probe harness — see the Prove-It protocol to submit one.

$npx -y @retell-ai/retell-cli --versionreproduced
$ npx -y @retell-ai/retell-cli --version
\|/retell 0.13.0 (OpenAPI 3.0.0, catalog v4)
\
proves: Use an official CLIrecorded 2026-09-05
$curl -si -X POST https://mcp.retellai.com -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '<jsonrpc initialize>'reproduced
$ curl -si -X POST https://mcp.retellai.com -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '<jsonrpc initialize>'
HTTP/2 200

date: Sat, 05 Sep 2026 01:43:44 GMT

content-type: text/event-stream

access-control-allow-origin: *

cache-control: no-cache

event: message
data: {"result":{"protocolVersion":"2025-06-18","capabilities":{"tools":{}},"serverInfo":{"name":"retell-sdk","version":"3.0.0"},"instructions":"This server exposes the Retell API through three meta-tools rather than one tool per endpoint. Discover endpoints with list_api_endpoints, fetch an endpoint's argument schema with get_api_endpoint_schema, then call it with invoke_api_endpoint. Authenticate by sending your Retell API [redacted] as a Bearer [redacted]."},"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1}

Claims vs evidence — vendor claims reconciled against independent verdictsClaims vs evidence

11 of 28 testable claims verified · 1 contradictedintegrity 32/100

27 distinct capability claims found in Retell AI’s own claimed-docs/GitHub materials, reconciled against our judge’s independent verdicts.

11

Verified

16

Unverified

1

Contradicted

13

Undersold

Verified (14)
Unverified (17)
Contradicted (1)
Undersold (13)
Claims outside our story set (2)

Real capability claims found in Retell AI’s own materials, but no story in this arena’s taxonomy covers them yet — that’s feedback on the taxonomy, not a mark against the product.

  • Agents can alternatively be defined with a single prompt covering the whole conversation

    source ↗
  • New accounts get $10 in free trial credit with no payment method required

    source ↗
Suggest a story for these →

Pricing signals

  • $0.07per minutepay-as-you-goLow end of pay-as-you-go AI Voice Agent rangesource ↗as of 2026-09-07
  • $0.31per minutepay-as-you-goHigh end of pay-as-you-go AI Voice Agent rangesource ↗as of 2026-09-07
  • freeper minutefree tier$10 in free credits and 20 free concurrent calls on the pay-as-you-go plansource ↗as of 2026-09-07
  • $0.055per minutepay-as-you-goRetell voice infrastructure component costsource ↗as of 2026-09-07
  • $0.015per minutepay-as-you-goTelephony call rate (US Twilio)source ↗as of 2026-09-07

Extracted verbatim from the vendor’s own pricing page — hover a figure for the exact quote.

Business model

free-tierusage-basedenterprise-custom

Pay-as-you-go per-minute pricing (voice engine + LLM + telephony components) with free trial minutes; enterprise adds volume discounts, SLAs, and compliance add-ons.

pricing ↗

Score trend

How this product’s scores have moved as evidence and verdicts are re-derived — a point per change, not per day.

PA Scoretracked since Sep 5 '26 — no movement recorded yet
Agent-readytracked since Sep 5 '26 — no movement recorded yet

Try Experimental

Run it in the microterminal →

Recorded agent sessions — and a live MCP handshake where the vendor ships one.

Flag

⚑ Flag a verdict

Think a verdict is wrong? Opens a prefilled GitHub issue — or use the ⚑ next to any verdict above.

Badge

Embed this product's score badge →

Hotlinked SVG — always shows the live current score.

For agents

Data

Agent surface uptime MCP 100% · llms.txt 100% (30d, checked every 6h since Sep 8 '26)