What is Vapi?
Vapi is a developer platform for building, testing and deploying AI voice agents that answer and make phone calls for businesses. Vapi says more than 1 million developers use the platform, over 2.5 million agents have been launched, and average latency is under 500 milliseconds. Customers named on its site include Amazon Ring, Intuit and ServiceTitan.
Vapi handles the hard parts of real-time voice: it orchestrates speech-to-text, the language model and text-to-speech, manages telephony and interruptions, and lets you swap providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Deepgram and ElevenLabs. Developers use it for customer support lines, appointment booking, lead qualification and outbound calls, and enterprises get SOC 2, HIPAA and PCI compliance options.
Main Features
- Builds voice agents through a dashboard, API or SDKs.
- Lets you choose and swap LLM, transcription and voice providers.
- Connects to phone numbers through Twilio, Telnyx and other carriers.
- Calls external tools and APIs during a conversation.
- Tests agents with simulated calls before going live.
- Monitors calls with logs, transcripts and performance metrics.
- Integrates with CRMs such as Salesforce, HubSpot and Zendesk.
How to Get Started with Vapi
- Sign up at vapi.ai to get $5 in free starter credits.
- Create an assistant and pick a model, voice and transcriber.
- Write the system prompt and add any tools the agent should call.
- Attach a phone number and place a test call.
Vapi Pricing
The free plan includes $5 in starter credits, then hosting costs $0.05 per minute plus pass-through fees for the transcription, model and voice providers you choose. The Core package costs $29 per month for more phone numbers and concurrency, and Pro starts at $999 per month. Premier enterprise pricing is custom, and HIPAA compliance is a $2,000 per month add-on.
Who Should Use It?
- Developers building voice products on top of LLMs.
- Startups launching AI receptionists or call center agents.
- Agencies that build voice agents for clients.
- Enterprises automating support and scheduling calls.
- Healthcare and finance teams that need compliance options.
Vapi Alternatives
- Retell AI: similar voice agent builder with simpler setup
- Bland AI: focused on high-volume enterprise phone calls
- Goodcall: no-code AI receptionist for small businesses
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Vapi free?
Partly. New accounts get $5 in free credits, then you pay per minute. Hosting is $0.05 per minute plus provider costs.
What is Vapi used for?
Vapi is used to build AI voice agents that handle phone calls. Common uses are support lines, appointment booking and lead qualification.
Vapi vs Retell AI: which is better?
Vapi offers more developer control and provider choice. Retell AI is often easier for teams that want a simpler builder.
Is Vapi HIPAA compliant?
Yes, on request. HIPAA compliance is available as a paid add-on at $2,000 per month.