The Retell AI alternative
with one price per minute.
Retell adds up infrastructure, voice, LLM, telephony and every add-on separately. 008 Agent charges one price per minute with voice and LLM inside, and connects to your PBX as an extension.
One price
No infrastructure, voice, LLM and add-ons to add up: the minute includes everything but your telephony.
Just another extension
The agent registers on your PBX like a desk phone: your numbers and your carrier stay the same.
Scale without limits
Every call spins up its own pod: it scales horizontally and call 1,000 sounds just like the first.
Read-out data, right first time
IDs, order numbers and phone numbers: the agent writes them down, validates them and confirms.
Talk to our agent on WhatsApp right now.
008 Agent vs Retell AI, point by point.
Retell is a mature platform for technical teams. These are the differences that matter most when the agent goes on a company's phone line.
| Criterion |  |  008 Agent |
|---|---|---|
| How it bills | By component: infrastructure, voice, LLM, telephony and add-ons | One per-minute price with voice and LLM |
| Price per minute | $0.07 to $0.31 by model and voice | $0.20 to $0.39 on the plans; big discounts at volume |
| Concurrent calls | 20 free; then $8 a month each | No limit: scales horizontally, one pod per call |
| Connecting to your telephony | SIP trunk or dial to a SIP URI | PBX extension or SIP trunk |
| Add-ons | Knowledge base, denoising, guardrails and PII, each extra | Unlimited tools and webhook outputs on every plan |
| Data read out over the phone | Down to your prompt | Built-in spelling and validation |
| Compliance | SOC 2 Type 1 and 2; HIPAA with a free BAA | We walk you through it for your security review |
Retell AI data taken from its public pages in October 2026; sources are listed at the bottom of the page. Prices exclude tax and may change.
A Retell minute, piece by piece.
With Retell, the final price depends on the model, the voice and the add-ons you switch on. With 008, the minute costs the same for the whole call.
- Voice infrastructure$0.055/min
- Voice (TTS)From $0.015/minExtra
- LLM$0.0016 to $0.384/minExtra
- Telephony on Retell numbers$0.015/minExtra
- Each concurrent call above 20$8/month
008 Agent- High volumeBig discounts, custom pricing
- Voice and LLMInside the minuteIncluded
- Published plans$0.20 to $0.39/min
- TelephonyYour carrier, at its ratesExtra
Retell's page estimates $0.11/min by default; with premium models and voices it reaches $0.31. On 008's published plans, a minute ranges from $0.20 (Elite, with a $549/month instance fee) to $0.39 with no fee, voice and LLM included. At high volume, Enterprise applies big custom discounts.
Where Retell AI still wins.
Technical teams rate Retell highly, and with good reason.
20 free concurrent calls
You can start with plenty of concurrency without paying for it.
Compliance
SOC 2 Type 1 and 2, plus HIPAA with a free BAA.
Developer tooling
APIs, SDKs, a flow builder and AI-powered quality checks.
If your team wants to pick every component and pay for each one, Retell lets you. If you'd rather have a flat price and the agent inside your PBX, look at 008.
It plugs into your phone system as it is.
Bring your SIP trunk or your PBX and connect it straight to the pods. No need to change carriers or numbers.
Your trunk, your numbers
Connect your current carrier over SIP.
Works with your PBX
The agent joins as just another extension.
Transfers to your team
Hands the call to a person when needed.
Integrated with your stack
CRM, helpdesk and calendar, no code.
500, 1,000… as many as you need.
Every new call spins up its own pod. No matter how many run at once, none takes resources from another.
It slows down, whispers and even laughs.
It doesn't just understand what you say: it adjusts pace, volume and emotion the way a person would. Ask it to slow down and it does. If you're in a library, it lowers its voice.
Pace on request
Slower for reading out numbers, quicker when you're in a hurry.
Volume and whisper
Lowers its voice when the moment calls for it.
Real emotion
It laughs, empathizes and sounds warm, not robotic.
Matches your tone
It adapts to the way each customer talks.
Sorry, could you say that again more slowly?
Sure. Your order number is… four… seven… two… nine.
«Forty-seven, eighty-one, twenty-two, zero five, N as in Nancy»
008 AgentIDs, orders and phone numbers, right the first time.
It's where almost every voice agent fails: ID numbers, order numbers, phones or emails read out over the phone. Ours captures them, repeats them back to confirm and validates them before saving.
Understands how people dictate
Groups, pauses, «double zero», «N as in Nancy».
Validates before saving
ID check letter, phone format, order length.
Confirms it with you
Repeats the data out loud before moving on.
Emails without typos
Dots, dashes and at signs in the right place.
From Retell AI to 008 Agent, without downtime.
- 01
Bring your instructions
Your prompts, knowledge base and tools move from Retell to 008 as they are.
- 02
Connect your PBX
The agent joins as an extension or over your SIP trunk: numbers and carrier stay put.
- 03
Run both side by side
Route part of your calls to 008 and compare on your own data before moving anything else.
- 04
Move the rest
Once you're sure, switch all traffic over. No lock-in.
Because it's built from components: $0.055 for infrastructure, the voice you choose, the LLM, telephony and add-ons like the knowledge base or PII removal. Changing model or voice changes the minute.
A 008 minute includes voice and LLM; only telephony is extra.
With 008, yes: it registers on your PBX like any extension. Retell connects over a SIP trunk or by dialing a SIP URI.
Yes. The agent registers as an extension on your PBX or connects to your SIP trunk, so you change neither carrier nor numbers.
Handing a call to your team is a transfer to another extension, just like with a person.
No. You set language, voice, instructions and tools from the dashboard, then publish on your extension.
Compare 008 with other platforms.
Put an agent to the test.
Request a demo or talk to our agent on WhatsApp right now.
Sources
- Retell AI · Pricing
- Retell AI · Custom telephony (docs)
- Retell AI · Compliance (docs)
- Retell community · SIP registration as an extension (January 2026)
- 008 Agent · Pricing
Retell AI and its logo are trademarks of their owner. 008 is not affiliated with or endorsed by Retell AI; we name it only for comparison, using public information.