15 · voice-agent · 07 systems # Voice & phone agentsAgents that answer the phone — and make calls. Voice agents handle real-time spoken conversations: inbound reception and support, outbound reminders and qualification, scheduling, intake, and surveys. The category is mostly developer platforms (Vapi, Retell, Bland, Deepgram, ElevenLabs Agents) that orchestrate speech-to-text, a model, and text-to-speech over telephony — plus no-code products (Synthflow) that ship a ready receptionist. SEC.01 ## Systems in this category [Vapi Vapi · voice-agent Vapi is the developer platform for voice agents: API-first orchestration of STT, LLM, TTS, and telephony so you can put an agent on a phone number in minutes — and swap every layer. api/voice · cloud · Usage-based: ~$0.05/min platform fee + model/telephony costs](https://www.agentlist.io/systems/vapi) [Bland AI Bland AI · voice-agent Bland AI is the enterprise phone-agent platform: autonomous inbound/outbound calls at scale with an emphasis on security, compliance, and call-center-grade throughput. api/voice · cloud · Usage-based per-minute; enterprise plans](https://www.agentlist.io/systems/bland) [Retell AI Retell AI · voice-agent Retell AI is a voice-agent platform focused on production call quality: fine-grained latency tuning, interruption handling, and both API and no-code agent building for phone agents. api/voice · cloud · Usage-based (~$0.07+/min); enterprise plans](https://www.agentlist.io/systems/retell) [Synthflow Synthflow · voice-agent Synthflow is the no-code voice-agent product: agencies and SMBs build receptionist, intake, and outbound agents from templates without touching telephony or APIs. api/voice · cloud · Plans from ~$29/mo; per-minute overages](https://www.agentlist.io/systems/synthflow) [ElevenLabs Agents ElevenLabs · voice-agent ElevenLabs Agents is the voice agent platform built on the industry's best-known TTS: conversational agents with top-tier voices, phone and web deployment, and model-agnostic reasoning. api/voice · cloud · Included in ElevenLabs plans; per-minute credits](https://www.agentlist.io/systems/elevenlabs-agents) [Deepgram Voice Agent Deepgram · voice-agent Deepgram Voice Agent is the speech-native API: a single endpoint that combines Deepgram's STT/TTS with an LLM loop for real-time voice agents, priced per minute. api/voice · cloud · Pay-as-you-go per-minute (~$0.08/min) — verify](https://www.agentlist.io/systems/deepgram-voice-agent) [Grok Voice Agent API xAI · voice-agent Grok Voice Agent API is xAI's speech-to-speech platform for production voice agents — full-duplex turns under ~700ms, tool calling and live search mid-conversation, telephony via SIP or a provisioned number, plus a no-code Voice Agent Builder in beta. api/voice · cloud · $0.08/min agent audio; telephony +$0.01/min; STT $0.10-0.20/hr; TTS $4.20/M chars](https://www.agentlist.io/systems/grok-voice) SEC.02 ## Who it's for Teams with real call volume — clinics, home services, logistics, restaurants, sales floors — plus developers embedding voice into a product that would otherwise need a call center. SEC.03 ## Tradeoffs Latency and barge-in handling separate demos from production; per-minute pricing stacks (platform + telephony + STT + LLM + TTS) and scales badly at volume; and disclosure/consent rules for automated calls vary by jurisdiction. FAQ ## Frequently asked ### What is a voice agent? An agent that conducts live phone or audio conversations — transcribing speech, reasoning over it, and speaking back in a few hundred milliseconds. Unlike IVR trees, these hold open-ended conversations and take actions (booking, lookup, escalation) mid-call. ### Who should use a voice agent? Teams with real call volume — clinics, home services, logistics, restaurants, sales floors — plus developers embedding voice into a product that would otherwise need a call center. ### What are the tradeoffs of voice agents? Latency and barge-in handling separate demos from production; per-minute pricing stacks (platform + telephony + STT + LLM + TTS) and scales badly at volume; and disclosure/consent rules for automated calls vary by jurisdiction. ### Which voice agents are in the catalog? 7 as of 2026-09-25: Vapi (Vapi), Bland AI (Bland AI), Retell AI (Retell AI), Synthflow (Synthflow), ElevenLabs Agents (ElevenLabs), Deepgram Voice Agent (Deepgram), Grok Voice Agent API (xAI). ### Build on a platform or buy a product? Platforms (Vapi, Retell, Deepgram) give you API control over the whole stack — pick your STT, model, voice, telephony — and suit teams shipping voice as a feature. Products like Synthflow package the receptionist end-to-end for businesses that just want calls answered. ### Why is per-minute pricing stacked? A voice call consumes several metered services at once: telephony minutes, speech-to-text, LLM tokens, text-to-speech characters, and the platform's orchestration fee. The headline rate (e.g., Vapi's ~$0.05/min) is only the orchestration layer — the real cost is the sum. Other categories - [01AI IDEs06](https://www.agentlist.io/categories/ai-ide) - [02IDE extensions & copilots10](https://www.agentlist.io/categories/ide-extension) - [03CLI & terminal agents15](https://www.agentlist.io/categories/cli-agent) - [04Cloud & autonomous agents05](https://www.agentlist.io/categories/cloud-agent) - [05Platforms & harness multiplexers01](https://www.agentlist.io/categories/platform) - [06Model routers & gateways02](https://www.agentlist.io/categories/model-router) - [07Bridges, brokers & protocols02](https://www.agentlist.io/categories/bridge) - [08Agent communication & collaboration13](https://www.agentlist.io/categories/agent-communication) - [09Agent services15](https://www.agentlist.io/categories/agent-services) - [10Personal & always-on agents06](https://www.agentlist.io/categories/personal-agent) - [11AI employees & digital coworkers10](https://www.agentlist.io/categories/digital-employee) - [12On-call & ops agents07](https://www.agentlist.io/categories/ops-agent) - [13Browser & computer-use agents06](https://www.agentlist.io/categories/computer-use) - [14Research & analyst agents07](https://www.agentlist.io/categories/research-agent) Examples: Vapi · Bland · Retell · Synthflow · ElevenLabs Agents · Deepgram. Entries are editorial records from seed 2026-09-25, not endorsements. --- Source: [Voice & phone agents — 7 compared | agentlist.io](https://www.agentlist.io/categories/voice-agent). This is the public page rendered as Markdown; interactive controls require the website.