LiveKit vs Retell AI: voice AI pricing compared
Updated 2026-11-10 · listed A to Z, not ranked
LiveKit Cloud runs real-time voice and video AI agents (WebRTC, telephony and model inference). Plans set the features; usage is billed per minute.
Retell AI is a platform for building AI voice and chat agents. Public pricing is usage-based (per minute / per message) with an optional Enterprise plan.
Listed A to Z, from livekit.com and retellai.com. Every figure below is quoted from those pages.
- Main price table
- Build, Ship, Scale, Enterprise
- Free option
- Build: $0/mo, no credit card required
- Published prices
- Build $0/mo, Ship from $50/mo, Scale from $500/mo; agent sessions $0.0100/min plus inference per model.
- Main price table
- AI Voice Agents (pay as you go), AI Chat Agents, Free credits, Enterprise, Example stack total (page calculator)
- Free option
- AI Voice Agents (pay as you go): $0.07–$0.31 per minute
- Published prices
- Voice agents $0.07–$0.31/min, $10 free credits; chat from $0.002+/msg; Enterprise custom.
How we checked: Prices quoted from each official pricing page: LiveKit checked Nov 10, 2026, Retell AI checked Nov 10, 2026. Taxes, usage overages and promotions can change what you pay; confirm with each provider before you buy.
How they compare
- Main price table. LiveKit lists 4 entries (Build, Ship, Scale, Enterprise); Retell AI lists 5 (AI Voice Agents (pay as you go), AI Chat Agents, Free credits, Enterprise, Example stack total (page calculator)).
- Free option. LiveKit: Build: $0/mo, no credit card required. Retell AI: AI Voice Agents (pay as you go): $0.07–$0.31 per minute.
- How prices are quoted. LiveKit: “Plans”. Retell AI: “Published entry prices”.
LiveKit plans and prices
| Plan | Price | For |
|---|---|---|
| Build | $0/mo, no credit card required | Starting a project: agent deployment, observability and simulations |
| Ship | Starting at $50/mo | Shipping to real users: team collaboration, custom voices, instant rollback |
| Scale | Starting at $500/mo | Scaling: role-based access, metrics export APIs, region pinning, private links, HIPAA |
| Enterprise | Custom | Volume pricing, shared Slack channel, SSO, support SLA |
LiveKit says its plans include monthly allotments for agent session minutes, inbound calling minutes (for US local phone numbers) and inference credits.
| Item | Rate |
|---|---|
| Agent session | $0.0100/min |
| Telephony, LiveKit US local number | $0.0100/min |
| Observability (enabled) | $0.0100/min |
| LLM example: Gemma 4 31B | $0.0014/min |
| STT example: AssemblyAI Universal-3.6 Pro Streaming | $0.0075/min |
| STT example: Deepgram Nova-3 (Monolingual) | $0.0048/min |
| TTS example: Fish Audio S2.1 Pro | $0.0090/min |
The page lists many more LLM, STT and TTS models, each with its own per-minute price; the calculator's default phone-call example totals $0.0479/min.
From livekit.com, checked Nov 10, 2026. Full breakdown: LiveKit pricing.
Retell AI plans and prices
| Line | Price on retellai.com/pricing |
|---|---|
| AI Voice Agents (pay as you go) | $0.07–$0.31 per minute |
| AI Chat Agents | From $0.002+ per message |
| Free credits | $10 in free credits to start |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing |
| Example stack total (page calculator) | About $0.11 per minute in one sample breakdown when we checked |
Retell Voice Infra is listed around $0.055/min with separate TTS/LLM/telephony lines on the same page (Nov 6, 2026).
From retellai.com, checked Nov 10, 2026. Full breakdown: Retell AI pricing.
FAQ
How much does LiveKit cost?
Build $0/mo, Ship from $50/mo, Scale from $500/mo; agent sessions $0.0100/min plus inference per model. (checked Nov 10, 2026).
How much does Retell AI cost?
Voice agents $0.07–$0.31/min, $10 free credits; chat from $0.002+/msg; Enterprise custom. (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Do LiveKit and Retell AI have a free option?
LiveKit: Build: $0/mo, no credit card required. Retell AI: AI Voice Agents (pay as you go): $0.07–$0.31 per minute.
Which is better, LiveKit or Retell AI?
We do not pick a winner. The two price and package their products differently; the tables above quote each official pricing page so you can match a plan to your own usage.
Where do these prices come from?
Each vendor's own pricing page: livekit.com (checked Nov 10, 2026) and retellai.com (checked Nov 10, 2026). Prices change; confirm on the vendor's page before you buy.
Sources (official pages, read 2026-11-10)
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