A working list, not a roundup. Every vendor below was tested against the same B2B distribution use case (cold outbound, qualification, calendar booking). Pricing and language counts confirmed against vendor sites May 2026.
For most $5M-$50M B2B operators, the right starting point is a hybrid stack (Claude API + Vapi or Bland for voice + n8n for orchestration). We tested 10 commercial AI voice agents in production. Here's the ranked list with pricing, what they handle, and where each breaks.
Prices below are list prices off each vendor's site as of May 2026. Most platforms quote per-minute pricing that includes model inference, telephony, and platform fees. Enterprise platforms (Cresta, PolyAI, Cognigy) quote per engagement and don't publish rates.
| Tool | Pricing (May 2026) | Best for | Languages | Outbound calls per day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custom (Claude + Vapi + n8n) | $0.08-$0.14/min all-in | $5M-$50M B2B operators who want to own the stack | 30+ via Claude + Vapi | Thousands weekly, no platform cap |
| Vapi | $0.05/min platform + model + telephony | Developers building custom voice agents | 30+ via underlying LLM/TTS | 10 concurrent default; scales with paid lines |
| Bland AI | $0.11-$0.14/min + $299-$499/mo | High-volume outbound, all-inclusive billing | 30+ via in-house LLM | 100/day (Start) up to 5,000/day (Scale) |
| Retell AI | $0.07-$0.31/min | Teams that want to pick their own LLM | 30+ via LLM choice | 20 concurrent free tier; more via paid lines |
| Synthflow | $0.15-$0.24/min typical | No-code teams shipping a first voice agent | 30+ via LLM choice | Configurable; pay-per-use, no daily cap |
| ElevenLabs Conversational AI | Per-minute (custom) | Voice-quality-first brands across 70+ languages | 70+ with real-time switching | Custom per plan |
| Lindy | $49.99-$199.99/mo | English-first, multi-workflow, fast setup | English-strong; multilingual limited | Plan-dependent (Plus to Max) |
| Air AI | Enterprise quote | Outbound sales teams that want a single sales-pitched product | English-strong | Custom per engagement |
| Cresta | Enterprise quote (5-figure annual minimum) | Fortune 500 contact centers, regulated industries | Major European + Asian languages | Custom per deployment |
| Cognigy | Enterprise quote (6-figure annual typical) | Multinational deployments, broad language coverage | 100+ languages | Custom per deployment |
| PolyAI | Per-minute enterprise (custom) | Regulated industries needing 99.9% SLA | Multiple, customer-specific | Custom per deployment |
The use case for the ranking: B2B cold outbound for a wholesale distribution business in New York. The agent calls property managers, contractors, and architects to qualify interest in a building product line, handles 10 to 15 common objections, transfers warm to a human when the prospect asks for pricing, and books a calendar slot for the human follow-up. Real production for OD Granite (B2B distribution) and Kompozit USA (paint distribution).
The volume on the live stack runs thousands of conversations weekly across 15+ languages. The same architecture handles inbound qualification, AR follow-up, and event registration confirmations. Every vendor below was scored on the cold outbound run.
The stack we run in production. Claude API for reasoning (Opus or Sonnet depending on call complexity), Vapi or Bland for voice infrastructure (TTS, STT, telephony), n8n for orchestration (CRM sync, calendar booking, transfer triggers, post-call enrichment). Total cost per minute lands between $0.08 and $0.14 depending on which Claude model is in the loop. Outbound runs 24/7 with no platform daily cap. Same architecture replaced a multilingual SDR floor at NYC payroll rates across two B2B distribution businesses.
Vapi sells the voice infrastructure (TTS, STT, telephony, call routing) and lets you bring your own LLM at provider rates. That's why the per-minute math beats all-inclusive platforms once you push volume. The 10-call concurrency default is a soft cap. Adding $10 per extra concurrent line scales fast. SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI add-ons available on the Scale plan. Best when you have one engineer who can wire it up against Claude or GPT.
Bland bundles everything (LLM, STT, TTS, telephony) at one per-minute rate. No surprise model bills. The Build plan ($299/mo, 50 concurrent calls, 2,000 calls/day) is the sweet spot for SMB outbound. The Scale plan ($499/mo, 100 concurrent, 5,000 calls/day, 15 voice clones, 100 knowledge bases) handles serious volume. Voice clones are good enough to ship without complaint. Enterprise tier includes on-prem and HIPAA BAA.
Retell sits between Vapi and Bland on flexibility. You pick the LLM (Claude, GPT, open-source), Retell handles the voice plumbing and adds a UI for prompt management, batch calling, call analytics, and IVR navigation. Pricing flexes with LLM choice (GPT-5 nano at $0.003/min versus GPT-5.4 at $0.080/min on top of the $0.055/min Retell platform fee). $10 in free credits to start. Best for teams that want a managed platform but don't want to be locked into one model.
Synthflow's pitch is no-code, and the builder delivers. Drag-and-drop flows, native SMS and WhatsApp, billing by the second so failed calls cost nothing. Pricing stacks: $0.09/min voice engine + $0.02-$0.05/min LLM + $0.02/min telephony (or bring-your-own at $0). Add-ons (Performance Routing, Global Low Latency Edge) at $0.04/min each. White-label toolkit at $2,000/mo for agencies. Lands well for first-time builders shipping in a week.
The voice quality benchmark for the category. ElevenLabs ships 10,000+ voices, supports 70+ languages with native-sounding prosody, and handles real-time language switching mid-call. Customers include Revolut, Klarna, Deutsche Telekom, and Epic Games. Strong on multilingual brands where voice quality is the moat. Pricing isn't published for the agents product (you talk to sales), which slows down procurement.
Lindy works best for English-first operators who want one assistant that does voice, email, scheduling, and inbox triage. Plus at $49.99/mo, Pro at $99.99/mo (3 inboxes, computer use), Max at $199.99/mo (5 inboxes, 7x usage). 7-day free trial, no card. Enterprise tier covers SSO, SCIM, HIPAA. The voice agent is a slice of a broader multi-channel product, not a standalone outbound dialer. Best for solo operators and founders.
Air AI markets itself as a full-conversation outbound sales agent that runs end-to-end calls without a human in the loop. The marketing has been louder than the published feature set, and pricing requires direct contact. Enterprise pitch lands well with sales-org buyers who want a single product to point at the cold outbound problem. Works best when the prospect is a US English-speaking SMB or mid-market buyer.
Cresta unifies human agents and AI agents in one platform: AI Agent for autonomous voice and digital, Agent Assist for real-time human guidance, Conversation Intelligence for analysis, automated Quality Management on every call. Customers include United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Cox Communications, LendingClub, Snap Finance. Built for Fortune 500 contact centers with serious compliance posture (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA). Not for sub-$50M operators.
German-founded, multinational by design. Cognigy is built for enterprises running customer service across 100+ languages and dozens of channels (voice, WhatsApp, web chat, mobile). Lands well with European banks, airlines, and telcos that need one platform for global support. The voice agent piece is a slice of a much broader conversational AI platform. Six-figure annual deals are typical. Overkill for a US-focused B2B outbound program.
PolyAI ships voice agents into financial services, healthcare, hospitality, insurance, retail, telecom, travel, utilities, and restaurants. Per-minute pricing includes 24/7/365 support, performance improvements, maintenance, and a 99.9% uptime SLA. The trade is steady ongoing cost for hand-held deployment. Best for regulated industries that need a vendor to take operational responsibility for a customer-facing voice channel. Not for cold B2B outbound.
For the cold outbound and qualification part of the SDR job, yes. A production voice agent runs thousands of B2B conversations weekly across 15+ languages and books qualified meetings direct to calendar. That's the equivalent output of a multilingual SDR floor at NYC payroll rates. It does not close deals or run live discovery with decision makers. That part stays human.
Per-minute platforms (Vapi, Retell, Synthflow) run between $0.07 and $0.31 per minute including model and telephony. All-inclusive platforms (Bland) run $0.11 to $0.14 per minute plus a $299-$499 monthly platform fee. Lindy starts at $49.99 a month. Enterprise platforms (Cresta, PolyAI, Cognigy) quote per engagement and typically start in the five-figure annual range.
ElevenLabs Conversational AI leads on raw count with 70+ languages and real-time language detection. Vapi and Bland inherit whatever the underlying LLM and TTS provider supports, which in practice means 30+ languages with strong English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Ukrainian, and Russian. Cognigy and PolyAI cover most enterprise-relevant European, Asian, and Middle Eastern languages.
Yes for the common 12 to 20 objections in any vertical, if the agent has a strong objection library and a current LLM (Claude or GPT). They fail on novel objections that require pulling context the agent does not have access to, like a specific contract clause or a regulatory exemption. The pattern that works in production: agent handles routine objections, transfers warm to a human on the rest.
A working prototype on Vapi, Bland, Retell, or Synthflow takes 2 to 5 days. A production-grade voice agent with CRM sync, calendar booking, objection library, transfer logic, compliance disclosures, and a 7-day shadow test takes 3 to 6 weeks. Enterprise platforms (Cresta, PolyAI, Cognigy) run 8 to 16 weeks per use case due to procurement, security review, and dataset training.
Yes for B2B outbound to business numbers if the agent identifies itself as AI on request, honors the federal Do-Not-Call registry and state opt-out lists, respects the FCC TCPA rules on prerecorded and AI-generated voice (express written consent for B2C, business-to-business is largely exempt), and avoids deceptive identity. As of May 2026, the FCC ruling on AI-generated voice in calls applies to consumer calls, not B2B prospecting. State law (Florida, Maryland, others) is tightening. Run any high-volume program past counsel.
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