Trillet vs Retell vs Vapi: Which Voice AI Platform Should Agencies Choose in 2026?
Trillet offers agencies a native white-label platform at $0.09/min with no coding required, while Retell ($0.12-0.15/min) and Vapi ($0.15-0.25/min) are developer-focused infrastructure requiring engineering resources.
The choice between these platforms depends on whether you're building a voice AI agency business or staffing an engineering team. Trillet is purpose-built for agencies reselling to clients. Retell and Vapi are raw infrastructure designed for developers building custom applications. This distinction matters because it affects your margins, setup time, and operational complexity.
Which Trillet product is right for you?
Small businesses: Trillet AI Receptionist - 24/7 call answering starting at $29/month
Agencies: Trillet White-Label - Studio $99/month or Agency $299/month (unlimited sub-accounts)
What Are Retell and Vapi?
Retell and Vapi are voice AI infrastructure platforms designed for developers building custom voice applications from scratch.
Both platforms provide APIs, SDKs, and modular pricing where you pay separately for each component: voice synthesis, language models, telephony, and transcription. This gives engineering teams maximum flexibility but requires technical expertise to implement and maintain.
Retell positions itself as an "AI Phone Agent Platform" with transparent modular pricing. A typical deployment costs $0.12-0.15/min when you combine voice engine ($0.07-0.08/min), LLM ($0.05-0.08/min), and telephony ($0.015/min). Enterprise deployments start at $3,000/month minimum.
Vapi calls itself "Voice AI for Developers" with an API-first architecture. Pricing is complex with up to five separate invoices per deployment. Total costs typically range from $0.15-0.25/min, though some users report effective rates of $0.23-0.33/min after all components are tallied.
How Does Trillet Compare for Agency Use Cases?
Trillet is a native voice AI platform built specifically for agencies reselling to clients, not a developer tool requiring engineering resources.
The key differences for agencies:
No coding required: Trillet's website scraping creates trained AI agents in 5 minutes. Paste a client's URL, and the agent is ready to deploy. Retell and Vapi require developers to build custom integrations.
All-in pricing: Trillet charges $0.09/min with everything included. No separate bills for voice synthesis, LLMs, telephony, and transcription. You know your costs upfront.
Agency-specific features: Sub-account management, white-label branding, client dashboards, and billing automation come built-in. Retell and Vapi provide none of these.
Native integrations: Meta/Facebook lead forms, Google Calendar, HubSpot, and GoHighLevel work out of the box. Developer platforms require custom integration work.
What Are the Real Costs for Agencies?
Understanding true costs requires looking beyond advertised per-minute rates.
Cost Component | Trillet | Retell | Vapi |
Platform fee | $99-299/month | None | ~$0.05/min |
Voice synthesis | Included | $0.07-0.08/min | Variable |
LLM processing | Included | $0.05-0.08/min | Variable |
Telephony | Included | $0.015/min | Variable |
Transcription | Included | Included in voice | Variable |
Total per-minute | $0.09/min | $0.12-0.15/min | $0.15-0.25/min |
Engineering required | No | Yes | Yes |
Sub-account management | Included | Build yourself | Build yourself |
White-label branding | Included | Build yourself | Build yourself |
Hidden costs for developer platforms: If you use Retell or Vapi, you need engineers to build client dashboards, billing systems, onboarding flows, and white-label interfaces. A single developer costs $8,000-15,000/month. This overhead makes developer platforms impractical for agencies serving SMB clients.
Why Do Agencies Need Different Features Than Developers?
Developer platforms solve engineering problems. Agency platforms solve business problems.
What developers need:
APIs and SDKs for custom builds
Flexibility to choose components
Low-level control over voice synthesis and LLMs
Ability to build proprietary features
What agencies need:
Client sub-accounts with isolated billing
White-label branding (logos, domains, colors)
No-code agent creation for fast client onboarding
Pre-built integrations with CRMs and calendars
Playbooks for selling and pricing services
Support for non-technical staff
Trillet provides everything agencies need. Retell and Vapi provide what developers need. Using a developer platform to run an agency means building all agency features from scratch.
What About Latency and Voice Quality?
Voice quality and response latency affect caller experience and conversion rates.
Trillet: 2.1-second average response latency (tied for fastest in agency platform benchmarks). Uses optimized voice models tuned for conversational flow.
Retell: Claims sub-600ms latency for the voice component alone. Total end-to-end latency varies based on LLM choice and integration quality. ElevenLabs and PlayHT voice options available.
Vapi: Latency varies significantly based on component selection. Maximum flexibility means maximum variability in performance.
For agencies, Trillet's optimized defaults deliver consistent quality without requiring technical tuning. Developer platforms can achieve excellent results but require engineering expertise to optimize.
Which Platform Offers Better Compliance?
Compliance matters when serving healthcare, legal, and financial clients.
Compliance | Trillet | Retell | Vapi |
HIPAA | Included | Available | Available |
SOC 2 Type II | Yes | Yes | Yes |
GDPR | Yes | Yes | Yes |
TCPA | Built-in tools | Build yourself | Build yourself |
ACMA (Australia) | Built-in tools | Build yourself | Build yourself |
DNCR compliance | Built-in tools | Build yourself | Build yourself |
Trillet includes compliance tooling for call recording consent, do-not-call list management, and regulatory requirements. Retell and Vapi provide the infrastructure to build compliant systems, but agencies must implement compliance logic themselves.
What Is the Setup Process for Each Platform?
Time-to-first-client deployment differs dramatically.
Trillet setup for a new client:
Paste client's website URL
Agent is trained automatically (5 minutes)
Configure phone number and forwarding
Test and launch
Total time: Under 30 minutes per client.
Retell/Vapi setup for a new client:
Design conversation flows in code
Configure voice synthesis parameters
Set up LLM prompts and context
Integrate telephony provider
Build client dashboard access
Configure billing and usage tracking
Test and iterate
Total time: Days to weeks per client, plus ongoing engineering maintenance.
When Should Agencies Choose Retell or Vapi?
Developer platforms make sense in specific scenarios:
Choose Retell if:
You have in-house engineers and want modular pricing
You're building a proprietary voice application
You need maximum control over voice synthesis
Your use case requires custom LLM integrations
Choose Vapi if:
You need maximum flexibility in provider selection
You're building highly custom voice experiences
Your engineering team prefers API-first architecture
You're willing to manage complex billing across providers
Choose Trillet if:
You're running an agency serving multiple clients
You don't have engineering resources to dedicate
You need white-label branding and sub-accounts
You want predictable costs and fast client onboarding
You're focused on selling and servicing clients, not building infrastructure
You want to earn referral income from other agencies (40% recurring commissions via trillet.firstpromoter.com —the only voice AI platform with a GHL-style agency referral program)
What Do Agency Profit Margins Look Like?
Margins determine whether your agency business is sustainable.
Trillet margin calculation:
Platform cost: $299/month (unlimited sub-accounts)
Per-minute cost: $0.09/min
Typical client usage: 500 minutes/month
Your cost per client: ~$45/month
Charge client: $297-497/month
Margin: 85-91%
Retell margin calculation (if you built the agency layer):
Per-minute cost: $0.12-0.15/min
Engineering overhead: $10,000+/month
With 20 clients: $500/month engineering overhead per client
Your cost per client: ~$575/month
Charge client: $297-497/month
Margin: Negative until scale
Developer platforms require significant scale (100+ clients) before engineering overhead becomes manageable. Most agencies can't reach that scale before running out of capital.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I white-label Retell or Vapi for my agency?
No, neither platform includes white-label features. You would need to build custom client dashboards, branding systems, and sub-account management. This requires engineering resources and ongoing maintenance. Trillet includes complete white-labeling with custom domains, logos, and branded client access.
Which Trillet product should I choose?
If you're a small business owner looking for AI call answering, start with Trillet AI Receptionist at $29/month. If you're an agency wanting to resell voice AI to clients, explore Trillet White-Label—Studio at $99/month (up to 3 sub-accounts) or Agency at $299/month (unlimited sub-accounts).
Is Trillet's $0.09/min rate really all-inclusive?
Yes. Trillet's per-minute rate includes voice synthesis, LLM processing, telephony, and transcription. There are no hidden component fees. Compare this to Retell's modular pricing where you pay separately for each component, or Vapi where five separate invoices are possible.
What if I need custom integrations not available in Trillet?
Trillet provides full API access for custom integrations. You get the convenience of no-code setup for standard use cases plus API access when you need custom functionality. This differs from developer platforms where everything requires API integration.
How do I migrate from Retell or Vapi to Trillet?
Migration involves recreating your agent configurations in Trillet (typically 30 minutes per agent using website scraping) and porting phone numbers. Trillet's support team assists with migrations for agencies moving multiple clients. No engineering work is required on your end.
Conclusion
For agencies building voice AI businesses, Trillet offers the fastest path to profitability with $0.09/min pricing, no-code setup, and built-in white-label features. Retell and Vapi serve different use cases: engineering teams building custom voice applications who need maximum flexibility and are willing to invest in development resources.
The math is straightforward. Trillet lets you onboard clients in 30 minutes and achieve 85%+ margins from day one. Developer platforms require engineering investment that only makes sense at significant scale.
Start building your voice AI agency with Trillet White-Label - Studio plan at $99/month for up to 3 sub-accounts, or Agency plan at $299/month for unlimited sub-accounts.
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