Retell AI vs Vapi
Four of fourteen models named Retell AI first on the direct prompt; zero named Vapi. Both were named by all fourteen models and Retell AI carries 55 labels and Vapi 52, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in one category this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the AI voice agents page.
By framing
Retell AIFirst choices, of fourteen modelsVapi
Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, Retell AI and Vapi were named in the same answer 120 times, of the 152 answers naming Retell AI and the 135 naming Vapi. In those answers Vapi took the first choice four times and Retell AI twenty-six.
Every model, every framing
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | | ||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | | |
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | |||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | ||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | ||
| Kimi K2 | | | | |||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | ||||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | | | |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | |
Retell AI Vapi first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Retell AI on the left and Vapi on the right.The direct prompt
Retell AI first, Vapi an alternative
4 of 14 modelsVapi was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Neither was the first choice, one was named
8 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Neither was named
2 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
Retell AI15%#1 of 11Vapi4%#6 of 11What the models said about Retell AI
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Not recommended if you need a no-code launch or a predictable flat monthly bill.” Mistral Small · negative prompt · hard negative
“Cautious on data privacy if integrating deeply with CRMs/APIs (extra attack surfaces). Hallucinations remain a core issue.” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · soft negative
“strong overall reviews, but users mention higher cost per call, missing features, and setup complexity in some cases” GPT-5.4 mini · negative prompt · soft negative
“Excellent for production-scale support automation; reliable for regulated industries; good balance of ease and power.” Grok 4.20 · comparative prompt · first choice
“Choose Retell AI if you want to build complex, multi-step workflows ... Their visual editor is superior here.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · comparative prompt · first choice
“Currently a market leader in this space... Choose Retell AI or Vapi if you are building a product feature” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
What the models said about Vapi
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Multiple AI model reviews flag Vapi with a high negative share (43% negative labels in one analysis).” Mistral Small · negative prompt · hard negative
“Vapi - 43% of labels are negative, and 8 out of 14 models have negative sentiments.” Llama 4 Maverick · negative prompt · hard negative
“Vapi, if you want a turnkey, low-maintenance setup or maximum control over the whole stack. Its docs say recordings, logging, and transcription are enabled by default” GPT-6 Luna · negative prompt · soft negative
“Choose Vapi or Retell AI if you are a developer or team building a scalable, customized phone agent” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“Vapi offers the most flexibility—you can swap speech-to-text, LLM, and TTS providers” MiniMax M2.5 · comparative prompt · first choice
“Often cited as having the most flexible infrastructure... Choose Retell AI or Vapi” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.