The short answer
GoHighLevel vs Retell AI comes down to what you need to run. Retell AI is the better fit for builders and agencies who want to pick the exact LLM and voice for each agent and already run their CRM somewhere else. HighLevel is the better fit for agencies that want the phone agent, CRM, follow-up texts and booking calendar in one account, billed from one wallet per client. Retell AI's Pay as you go plan is $0.07 to $0.31/min; HighLevel starts at $97 a month with usage billed on top.
Retell AI is a voice agent platform for building phone agents that answer inbound calls, place outbound calls, qualify leads and book appointments. Developers get APIs and SDKs, and non-technical builders can use a drag-and-drop no-code studio. It is a voice specialist rather than a marketing suite: Retell does not list its own CRM, funnel builder or email tool, and instead connects to HubSpot, Make, n8n and GoHighLevel. Its site lists HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and ISO 27001, and billing is per minute with the model, voice and phone line priced as separate lines.
Independent comparison. We are a HighLevel affiliate, not HighLevel or Retell AI, and we do not speak for either company. Prices come from each vendor's own website, checked 2026-09-29.
At a glance
| Feature | HighLevel | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $97/mo (Starter) | $0.07 to $0.31/min (Pay as you go) |
| Pricing model | Flat plan plus usage for texts, calls, email and AI | Retell bills each minute in parts (voice engine $0.055, a voice, the chosen LLM and telephony) and adds monthly fees for numbers, SMS, extra concurrency and knowledge bases beyond the first 10. |
| CRM and pipelines | Yes | Not listed |
| Funnels | Yes | Not listed |
| Websites | Yes | Not listed |
| Email marketing | Yes | Not listed |
| Two-way texting | Yes | Add-on |
| Calling | Yes | Yes |
| AI voice agent | Yes, billed by use | Yes |
| Review requests | Yes | Not listed |
| Courses and memberships | Yes | Not listed |
| White label for agencies | Yes, from Unlimited | Not listed |
Retell AI pricing
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pay as you go | $0.07 to $0.31/min | Retell's published range for AI voice agents, depending on model and voice; $10 in free credits; first 20 concurrent calls free |
| Voice engine | $0.055/min | Retell Voice Infra, before the LLM, voice and telephony |
| Voices | $0.015/min or $0.040/min | $0.015 for Retell, Cartesia, OpenAI, Minimax, Fish or Inworld voices; $0.040 for ElevenLabs |
| LLM | $0.0016 to $0.32/min | Standard tier, for example GPT 5 mini $0.008, GPT 4.1 $0.045, Claude 4.5 sonnet $0.08; fast tier costs about double |
| Telephony and numbers | $0.015/min US, $2.00/mo per number | No charge for SIP trunking or your own telephony; Retell SMS $20.00/mo; extra concurrency $8 per call slot per month |
| Enterprise | Custom | Volume pricing and dedicated support |
Where Retell AI is stronger
Retell AI advantages
- Wide model menu: the pricing page lists more than 25 LLMs from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, each with its own per-minute rate.
- The first 20 concurrent calls are free on pay as you go, and bringing your own SIP trunk carries no Retell telephony charge.
- A native GoHighLevel integration lets the agent read contacts, add tags, move opportunities and book sub-account calendars.
- Compliance extras such as HIPAA with a BAA, SSO, role-based access and PII removal for regulated callers.
Where Retell AI falls short
- The voice engine is $0.055 a minute against HighLevel's $0.045, so a like-for-like standard voice costs about a cent more per minute before tokens and phone.
- Small per-minute add-ons stack up: knowledge base $0.005, denoising $0.005, safety guardrails $0.005 and PII removal $0.01.
- Retell does not list pipelines, email campaigns or funnels, so post-call follow-up runs in a separate system.
Where HighLevel is stronger
HighLevel puts CRM, funnels, websites, two-way texting, calling, review requests, courses and an AI phone agent in one login, and agencies can put their own brand on it from the Unlimited plan. The trade-off is a steeper learning curve and usage charges on top of the plan, which our cost calculator adds up. For the full picture read our GoHighLevel review.
Who should pick which
| Choose Retell AI | Builders and agencies who want to pick the exact LLM and voice for each agent and already run their CRM somewhere else. |
|---|---|
| Choose HighLevel | Agencies that want the phone agent, CRM, follow-up texts and booking calendar in one account, billed from one wallet per client. |
Switching
The two can run side by side. Retell's GoHighLevel integration connects to a sub-account with a Private Integration token and that location's ID, so a Retell agent can work HighLevel contacts, tags, opportunities and calendars. Moving fully to HighLevel Voice AI means rebuilding the prompt and actions in HighLevel's agent builder and pointing an LC Phone or Twilio number at it. Numbers bought through Retell would need to be ported or replaced, so check both vendors' porting steps first.
Verdict
Retell is the more flexible pure voice platform: a long model list, 20 free concurrent calls, a no-code studio beside the API, and detailed compliance options. HighLevel Voice AI is cheaper per engine minute ($0.045 against $0.055) and sits inside the CRM that sends the follow-up text, moves the deal and books the calendar without a connector. For an agency already on HighLevel, native Voice AI is the simpler build and gives one bill per client. Retell earns its place when a client needs a specific model or runs its CRM outside HighLevel, and its GoHighLevel integration covers the cases in between.
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