Bland AI has positioned itself as the most affordable AI phone agent platform. Their headline: $0.09/minute for an AI that makes and receives phone calls. We put it to the test across 4 client projects over 3 months. The $0.09 figure is real for basic calls, but most production deployments land higher. Here is exactly what to expect.
Bland AI Pricing Structure (February 2026)
Bland AI does not have traditional "plans." Instead, they charge per-minute with optional add-ons. This is refreshingly simple compared to Synthflow's tiered subscription model.
Base Rate: $0.09/minute
- AI phone agent (inbound and outbound)
- GPT-4o mini LLM included
- Standard voice (Bland's built-in voices)
- Telephony included (US numbers)
- Basic webhook integrations
- Call transcription
- No minimum commitment
- Pay only for connected call time
Honest take: The $0.09/minute base rate is legitimate and includes everything needed for a functional voice agent. No hidden platform fees, no separate LLM charges. This is the simplest pricing in the voice AI space. The standard voices are decent -- not ElevenLabs quality, but natural enough for most business calls.
Common Add-Ons
- Custom/cloned voice: +$0.02/minute (uses ElevenLabs under the hood)
- Knowledge base: +$0.01/minute (RAG-powered answers from your documents)
- Call recording: +$0.01/minute
- GPT-4o upgrade: +$0.03-0.05/minute (vs default GPT-4o mini)
- International numbers: varies by country ($0.01-0.05/minute additional)
- Warm transfer to human: included in base rate
A typical production deployment with custom voice + knowledge base + recording costs $0.13/minute. With a GPT-4o upgrade, it hits $0.16-0.18/minute. Still cheaper than any Synthflow plan and competitive with Vapi's standard stack.
Volume Discounts
Bland offers volume pricing for high-usage accounts:
- Under 10,000 minutes/month: $0.09/minute (standard)
- 10,000-50,000 minutes/month: ~$0.07-0.08/minute (negotiated)
- 50,000+ minutes/month: ~$0.05-0.06/minute (enterprise contract)
These discounts require contacting Bland sales and signing a monthly minimum commitment. For most small businesses doing under 5,000 minutes/month, the standard $0.09 rate applies.
Monthly Cost Projections
- Light usage (250 min/month, ~12 calls/day): $22-35/month
- Medium usage (1,000 min/month, ~50 calls/day): $90-140/month
- Heavy usage (5,000 min/month): $450-700/month
- Enterprise (50,000 min/month): $2,500-3,000/month (with volume discount)
Bland AI vs Competitors: Cost at 1,000 Minutes
- Bland AI: $90-140 (depending on add-ons)
- Retell AI: $70-150 (depending on plan)
- Vapi (budget stack): $150 (platform + providers)
- Vapi (standard stack): $250
- Synthflow Growth: $449 (includes 1,000 min)
Bland is the cheapest or second-cheapest at every volume level. Retell AI is the closest competitor on price. The difference is in the builder: Bland's is simpler and more opinionated, Retell's offers more customization.
Strengths and Limitations
Where Bland excels
- Simplest pricing in the market -- no surprises
- Fastest setup for basic use cases (live in 15-30 minutes)
- Built-in telephony (no separate Twilio account needed)
- Good outbound calling features (batch dialing, campaign management)
- Warm transfer to humans works reliably
Where Bland falls short
- Voice quality below ElevenLabs-powered competitors (unless you add the $0.02 upgrade)
- Limited LLM options (GPT-4o mini or GPT-4o only, no Claude or open-source)
- Less flexible conversation design than Vapi
- Smaller integration ecosystem (CRM integrations are basic)
- International coverage is more limited than Twilio-based platforms
Our Experience with Bland AI
We deployed Bland for 4 clients in Q4 2025 and Q1 2026:
- HVAC company (appointment booking): 400 min/month, $0.12/min (custom voice + knowledge base). Total: $48/month. Replaced a $150/month answering service.
- Dental office (appointment reminders): 600 min/month outbound, $0.10/min. Total: $60/month. Reduced no-shows by 35%.
- Real estate (lead qualification): 800 min/month, $0.13/min. Total: $104/month. Qualified 65% of leads before human handoff.
- E-commerce (order status): 200 min/month, $0.09/min (base only). Total: $18/month. Handled 80% of order inquiries.
All 4 deployments had positive ROI within the first month. Bland works well for straightforward call flows. When we needed more complex conversation logic or premium voice quality, we used Vapi instead.
We deploy Bland AI, Vapi, and Synthflow depending on the use case. See our Bland AI vs Vapi comparison or explore our voice AI services.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Bland AI have a free plan?
Bland offers free trial credits (typically $2-5, enough for 20-50 minutes of testing). There is no permanent free tier. You pay per minute from the start.
Is Bland AI good for outbound calling?
Yes, outbound is one of Bland's strengths. They have batch dialing, campaign management, and scheduling features built in. Many users actually prefer Bland for outbound over inbound because the simpler conversation flow plays to Bland's strengths.
Can I use Bland AI internationally?
Yes, but international numbers and calling have additional per-minute charges that vary by country. US and Canada are the cheapest. European numbers add $0.01-0.03/minute. Availability varies -- check with Bland for specific country support.