CHECKED OCT 10, 2026
GA Vapi

Vapi

Developer-first hosted voice-agent platform: configure transcriber, LLM, voice and tools per assistant (dashboard or API), connect phone numbers or web/SDK clients; Vapi charges a hosting fee and passes model and carrier costs through.

Est. per minute$0.09 - 0.15
2 high-severity warnings

Overview

Best for: Developers who want a hosted pipeline with full provider choice and an API-first workflow.

At a glance

Platform $/min$0.05
All-in priceNo
Entry plan $/mo$29
Free tierYes
Free credit $$5
Phone numbersYes
Own LLMYes
Own keysYes
RecordingYes
Latency ms500
Concurrency10
WebRTCYes
WebSocketYes
Phone / SIPYes
HIPAAYes
SOC 2Yes
EU dataYes
Self-hostNo
Open weightsNo

Latency is a vendor blog claim (sub-500 ms). Free tier 4 concurrent, Core $29 gives 10. Real all-in cost $0.08-$0.13/min before telephony. HIPAA is a $2,000/month add-on. SOC 2 confirmed via trust center listing.

Audio in

Phone (Vapi numbers, Twilio, Vonage, Telnyx, SIP), Daily WebRTC web SDK, WebSocket

Audio out

Same

Languages

Depends on transcriber/voice chosen.

Latency

No verified number.

Regions

Not verified.

Compliance

SOC 2 Type II per third-party trust listing (security.vapi.ai trust center); HIPAA via $2,000/mo add-on; GDPR page in docs.

Features

  • turn detection / endpointing
  • interruptions
  • tools/function calling
  • squads (multi-assistant)
  • telephony
  • multi-provider plug-ins
  • recording
  • web SDKs
  • HIPAA mode (hipaaEnabled)
  • zero data retention (Core+)

Pricing

WhatPriceUnitNotes
Vapi hosting$0.05per minutePlatform fee only.
Transcriber (Deepgram)$0.0095-$0.0099per minutePassed through at provider cost (no markup per Vapi), or bring your own key.
LLM (OpenAI)$0.0077-$0.0452per minutePass-through.
Voice (ElevenLabs)$0.0146-$0.0238per minutePass-through.
TelephonyTwilio $0.008 in / $0.014 out; Vonage $0.00814; Telnyx $0.0055per minuteCharged by the carrier, not Vapi. Vapi SIP/WebSocket/Daily WebRTC transport free.
HIPAA add-on$2,000per monthAny package.
Extra concurrency$10per line per month
How the per-minute estimate was worked out

Vapi's estimator: 1,000 minutes = $82-$129 including $50 hosting (so $0.082-$0.129/min before carrier), plus $0.008-$0.014 Twilio. Premium LLMs or voices push higher.

Free tier: $5 free credits and 1 phone number.

Source: vapi.ai

Setup

  1. Sign up, create an assistant in the dashboard (transcriber, model, voice, first message, tools).
  2. Web: npm i @vapi-ai/web and start a call with your public key and assistant ID.
  3. Phone: buy/import a number and attach the assistant, or create outbound calls with @vapi-ai/server-sdk (calls.create).
  4. Add server URL webhooks for tool calls and end-of-call reports.

Endpoint

https://api.vapi.ai

Authentication

Public key in browser; private API key server-side (Bearer token)

Quick start javascript

// Browser: talk to an assistant
import Vapi from "@vapi-ai/web";
const vapi = new Vapi(import.meta.env.VITE_VAPI_PUBLIC_KEY);
vapi.on("call-start", () => console.log("connected"));
vapi.on("message", (m) => console.log(m));      // transcripts, tool calls, status
vapi.on("call-end", () => console.log("ended"));
document.querySelector("#talk").onclick = () => vapi.start("YOUR_ASSISTANT_ID");

// Server: place an outbound phone call
import { VapiClient } from "@vapi-ai/server-sdk";
const client = new VapiClient({ token: process.env.VAPI_API_KEY });
await client.calls.create({
  phoneNumberId: "YOUR_PHONE_NUMBER_ID",
  customer: { number: "+15555550123" },
  assistantId: "YOUR_ASSISTANT_ID",
});

Written from the current docs. Check the vendor's SDK version before you ship.

Warnings

$0.05/min is about half the real cost

Vapi's own estimator lands at $0.082-$0.129/min before telephony. Always model the full stack.

HIPAA is a $2,000/month add-on

Turning on hipaaEnabled is not enough for PHI; budget the add-on and BAAs with each provider.

Free tier allows only 4 concurrent calls

Outbound campaigns need Core ($29) or extra lines at $10/line/month.

Pro is a $999/month minimum

The 10% of hosting fee pricing only makes sense at high volume.

Free numbers are US-only and limited

One included number on the free package; international numbers come from your own carrier.

Plus 12 warnings that apply to all platforms and telephony APIs. See category warnings.

Limits

  • Concurrency: 4 (free) / 10 (Core) / 30 (Pro), $10 per extra line/month
  • Phone numbers: 1 / 5 / 10
  • Log retention 14 / 30 / 180 days

Models and products

NameStatusNotes
No Success Package (pay as you go)GA$0 to start, $0.05/min hosting, $5 free credits, 1 phone number, 4 concurrent calls, 14-day retention.
CoreGA$29/month: 10 concurrent calls, 5 numbers, 30-day retention, zero data retention option.
ProGA10% of hosting fee with $999/month minimum: 30 concurrent calls, RBAC, 99% uptime SLA, 180-day retention.
PremierGACustom: SSO, dedicated SIP, 99.9% SLA.

Docs and sources

Docs

Sources used

Not fully verified

SOC 2 report type confirmed only via third-party listing; regions.

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