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Bland AI pricing for contractors

Short answer. Bland AI bills by the minute, and the rate covers the AI model, speech to text, and the voice. Start costs $0.14 a minute with no platform fee and no card to sign up. Build costs $0.12 a minute plus a $299 monthly platform fee. Enterprise is custom. Phone carrier costs bill on top at pass-through cost. We read the Bland pricing page on October 25, 2026.

Build voice agents for trades? Get your tool listed free.

Compare Bland. Vapi vs Bland AI and Bland AI vs Retell AI put the per-minute rates side by side, with costs for 1,000 and 5,000 minutes.

Alternatives. Vapi alternatives, Retell AI alternatives, and Synthflow alternatives price the other voice AI platforms side by side.

Cost per minute. checked October 25, 2026. Start comes with 2 credits and an inbound number that Bland values at $15 a month. All three plans list a 99.9% uptime SLA.

What is in the per-minute rate

The language model, with no token charges.
Real-time speech to text.
Premium text to speech voices.

Phone service is separate. You can use your own Twilio account or SIP trunk, or Bland's Twilio at pass-through cost. Bland says customers who bring their own carrier pay no transfer fees.

What a contractor would pay

Monthly minutes	Start	Build
500	$70	Not worth it
1,000	$140	$419 ($120 plus $299)

Build saves $0.02 a minute. The $299 fee pays off past 14,950 minutes a month. A small crew answering its own calls will stay on Start. The 100 calls a day cap on Start fits most shops. Build for a full year costs $3,588 in platform fees.

Our math from the prices above, before carrier costs and tax.

Bland vs Vapi and Retell

Vapi charges $0.05 a minute for hosting, then passes model, speech, and voice costs through at cost. Vapi's calculator shows $82 to $129 for 1,000 minutes. See Vapi pricing. Source: Vapi pricing.
Retell AI charges $0.07 to $0.31 a minute by model and voice, plus $2 a month per number. See Retell AI pricing. Source: Retell pricing.
Bland puts the model, speech, and voice in one rate, so the bill is easier to predict.

All three are build-it-yourself platforms. You write the call flow and connect your tools.

FAQ

How much does Bland AI cost per minute? $0.14 a minute on Start and $0.12 on Build. Transfer minutes cost $0.05 and $0.04. Enterprise is custom.

Does Bland AI have a monthly fee? Start has no platform fee. Build has a $299 monthly platform fee.

Can I try Bland AI for free? Yes. Start needs no card and comes with 2 credits and an inbound number.

Does the Bland per-minute rate include the AI model? Yes. The rate covers the model, speech to text, and the voice. Phone carrier costs bill on top.

When does the Bland Build plan pay off? Past 14,950 minutes a month, by our math. Below that, Start costs less.

Checked 2026-10-25. Prices and policies change. Confirm on the source before you buy.