Retell AI vs Ruby
Ruby publishes its pricing; Retell AI does not.
Both pages checked by August 19, 2026
- Retell AIAI only
- Pricing not published
- no published plan
- Developer-oriented platform to build, test, deploy and monitor AI voice and chat agents, billed a la carte per minute: a Retell voice-infrastructure rate plus a separately priced text-to-speech voice, a separately priced LLM and separately priced telephony.
- RubyHuman agents
- $115/mo
- Bundled chat add-on — 10 chats plan
- Ruby is a US-based live virtual receptionist and website chat service for small businesses, sold in monthly buckets of receptionist minutes and chats, where AI is used only to assist its human receptionists rather than to answer calls.
The differences that matter
- Retell AI is ai only; Ruby is human agents. That is the real decision here, not the price.
- Ruby can put a human on the line; Retell AI is bot-only.
- Ruby publishes prices. Retell AI makes you ask.
Feature by feature
| Capability | Retell AI | Ruby |
|---|---|---|
| Live transfer | Yes | Yes |
| Books appointments | Yes | Yes |
| Text follow-up | Yes | Yes |
| Outbound calls | Yes | Yes |
| Spanish | Yes | Yes |
| Human backup | No | Yes |
| Call recordings | Yes | unstated |
| Transcripts | Yes | Yes |
| Spam screening | unstated | Yes |
| Custom voice | Yes | unstated |
| API | Yes | unstated |
"unstated" means the vendor doesn't claim it in their own documentation. It is not the same as no — it means nobody will put it in writing.
Retell AI plans
| Plan | Published price | Includes | Over that |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go | $0.07-$0.31/min for AI Voice Agents | — | — |
| Enterprise | Custom Pricing for AI Voice Agents | — | — |
Ruby plans
| Plan | Published price | Includes | Over that |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual receptionist — 50 minutes | $250 /month | 50 min | — |
| Virtual receptionist — 100 minutes | $395 /month | 100 min | — |
| Virtual receptionist — 200 minutes | $720 /month | 200 min | — |
| Virtual receptionist — 500 minutes | $1,725 /month | 500 min | — |
| Live chat — 10 chats | $143 /month | — | — |
| Live chat — 30 chats | $335 /month | — | — |
| Live chat — 50 chats | $520 /month | — | — |
| Bundled chat add-on — 10 chats | Up to 10 chats for $115 (a 20% savings) | — | — |
| Bundled chat add-on — 30 chats | Up to 30 chats for $268 (a 20% savings) | — | — |
| Bundled chat add-on — 50 chats | Up to 50 chats for $416 (a 20% savings) | — | — |
Retell AI sources
- Pricing page (voice infra, TTS, LLM standard/fast tiers, speech-to-speech, telephony, add-ons, monthly subscription items, billing mechanics FAQ)retellai.com · read August 19, 2026
- Docs: Build your first phone agent in 15 minutes ($10 free trial credits, no payment method required; build-from-scratch vs template; free web-call testing)docs.retellai.com · read August 19, 2026
- Docs: Introduction (platform description, agent types, CRM/Cal.com tools, SDKs and MCP server)docs.retellai.com · read August 19, 2026
- Docs: Billing (credit-based vs legacy monthly billing, $10 free trial credits, which items are metered vs subscription)docs.retellai.com · read August 19, 2026
- Docs: Supported languages by provider (TTS and ASR coverage tables)docs.retellai.com · read August 19, 2026
- Docs index (transfer call cold/warm/agentic warm, Cal.com check-availability and booking, SMS node, batch calls, custom voices and voice clones, call recordings and transcripts, data retention, Twilio/Telnyx/Vonage SIP import, international calling)docs.retellai.com · read August 19, 2026
- Homepage (positioning, target industries, "Try For Free" with $10 of free usage)retellai.com · read August 19, 2026
- Terms of Service (entity and address: Retell AI Inc., 540 Price Avenue, Redwood City, CA 94063; Delaware jurisdiction)retellai.com · read August 19, 2026
Ruby sources
- Plans and pricing (receptionist minute tiers, chat tiers, bundled chat pricing, included features); canonical URL is https://www.ruby.com/plans-and-pricing/ruby.com · read August 19, 2026
- Plans and pricing (canonical URL, same tiers)ruby.com · read August 19, 2026
- FAQs — money-back guarantee, no long-term contract, 60-second rounding statement, Spanish, scheduling, transfers, porting/forwarding, HQ in Portland OR, service arearuby.com · read August 19, 2026
- Ruby billing FAQs PDF (first-party asset host) — 30-second increments, hold time billable, no rollover, overage billed in arrearsassets.ruby.com · read August 19, 2026
- AI at Ruby — Call Nav, transcripts, sentiment analysis, robocall filtering; AI included at no extra cost; explicitly not used to replace human receptionistsruby.com · read August 19, 2026
- Integrations directory (CRM, calendars, legal software, Zapier)ruby.com · read August 19, 2026
- About Ruby — "In 2003, Ruby started as a small business"ruby.com · read August 19, 2026