Retell alternatives if two agent IDs is the problem
Pick Guzli if website live chat and the phone must share one brain — not a Chat Agent ID plus a Voice Agent ID. Stay on Retell if developers will own prompts, SIP, IVR, DTMF, or live take-over. Guzli will not out-API Retell. Vapi is the BYOK assembler; Bland is Pathways on owned infrastructure. Hobby is $49 chat only; voice starts Standard $149 + 16¢/min. Retell’s own cards: https://www.retellai.com/pricing
Quick verdict: Stay on Retell when a latency-sensitive voice API, SIP, IVR, DTMF, or live take-over is the product you bought. Choose Guzli when the storefront widget and the forwarded number must share one knowledge base — keep Zendesk or HubSpot as the desk. Choose Vapi if you still want to assemble STT, LLM, and TTS yourself. Confirm Retell pricing at https://www.retellai.com/pricing
From $49/mo, flat — cancel anytime.
When a Chat Agent ID and a Voice Agent ID is the problem
Leave Retell if the widget and the phone must share one agent
- No engineer on the project to own prompts, tools, and telephony
- The widget and the inbound receptionist must share one knowledge base — not two agent IDs
- You do not want to assemble STT, TTS, and LLM keys or watch component meters
- You will keep Zendesk or HubSpot and only wanted one front line on chat and inbound
What Retell still wins for latency APIs
- + Latency-sensitive voice API with SDKs, webhooks, and simulation testing
- + SIP, bring-your-own carrier, IVR, and DTMF
- + Live call-center controls: warm transfer, listen-in, and take-over
- + The right meeting if you are shipping voice into your own product
Where two agent IDs hurt a storefront
- - Phone-first — Chat Agent plus widget is not one helpdesk-trained brain by default
- - Hybrid mode uses two agent IDs; confirm whether your agents share knowledge
- - Dashboard ¢/min can pick up an LLM token surcharge — confirm on retellai.com/pricing
- - Shopify on Retell’s site is a Zapier walkthrough, not a native storefront agent
What buyers complain about
Sourced Retell AI complaints and vendor docs, with links. These are not Guzli customers. Pair each with why someone should still stay on Retell AI.
“I have been testing my app but suddenly the price has gone up even though exact same LLM and voice. at top it says 13.6 cents but for example this less than 4 minute call was 76 cents.”
Kendall Stauffer (@ken2), Retell community · 22 Apr 2026 · Source
“The ‘13.6¢/min’ shown at the top of the dashboard is the base rate… Your two calls are hitting an additional LLM token surcharge. There’s no direct alert specifically for the 3,500-token threshold.”
Shah-Fazal (Retell moderator) · 22–23 Apr 2026 · Source
Shortlist beside Retell’s voice API
Stay on Retell for SIP, IVR, DTMF, or live take-over. Vapi is the BYOK assembler. Bland is owned infra. Guzli is one knowledge base on the widget and the forwarded number.
Guzli Recommended
One agent on the storefront widget and the inbound line. Train once on help articles and solved tickets from Zendesk, HubSpot, or Salesforce. Named tools only — Shopify, Stripe, Calendly, Slack, WhatsApp. Hobby is $49 chat only. Voice starts Standard $149 + 16¢/min. The front line, not a Retell replacement. Not an App Store listing.
Retell AI
Keep it. Voice API with SDKs, simulation, SIP, IVR, DTMF, and live take-over. Hybrid widget mode takes a chat agent ID and a voice agent ID. See https://www.retellai.com/pricing
Vapi
API-first assembler with bring-your-own keys. The default move if you are leaving Retell but still want to wire every layer. Decision page: /alternatives/vapi/. Cards: https://vapi.ai/pricing
Bland.ai
Owned infrastructure and Pathways. Not Guzli for VPC or a BAA — Bland is that meeting. Decision page: /alternatives/bland-ai/. Cards: https://www.bland.ai/pricing
Voice-API rows versus one storefront-and-phone agent
| Feature | Guzli | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|
| Latency-sensitive orchestration with SDKs and simulation | Partial | |
| IVR, DTMF, and live take-over | Partial | |
| Component meters plus optional LLM token surcharge | ||
| Separate Chat Agent ID and Voice Agent ID | ||
| Conversation-flow graphs for builders | ||
| Help articles on the widget and the forwarded number | Partial |
Retell dashboard ¢/min versus a printed talk rate
Confirm Retell at retellai.com/pricing. Guzli prints the talk rate on /pricing/.
Guzli pricing
From $49/mo
- Hobby is $49 chat-only — no per-seat fees
- Voice starts Standard at $149 + 16¢/min; Pro is $499 + 14¢/min
- Named tools: Shopify, Stripe, Calendly, Slack, WhatsApp, and the desks you keep
- Not a Shopify App Store app
Retell AI pricing model
Confirm current Retell pricing with Retell at https://www.retellai.com/pricing. Pay-as-you-go component meters for voice infrastructure, TTS, LLM, and telephony. This page does not invent Retell list prices.
What to model before committing
- • Your expected monthly conversations and calls
- • Seats or usage meters that grow with your team
- • Add-ons needed to match an all-in-one platform
Model summary based on published pricing at the time of writing — check Retell AI’s site for current numbers.
Keep Retell in the lab; publish a storefront agent
- 1Keep Retell if you still sell a voice API or still need SIP, IVR, DTMF, or live take-over
- 2Connect Guzli to the website, help articles, files, and solved tickets from Zendesk, HubSpot, or Salesforce
- 3Rebuild Retell tools as Guzli actions (Shopify, Stripe, Calendly) instead of cloning the conversation-flow graph
- 4Put Guzli on the site for chat and, on Standard or Pro, on the inbound number; auto-create tickets into the desk you keep
- 5Run a short parallel pilot, then switch front-line traffic once answers, bookings, and handoffs match
Explore Other Alternatives
Publish one agent on the widget and the forwarded number
Hobby is $49 chat-only. Voice starts Standard at $149 + 16¢/min.