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AI voice agents · October 2026 Edition

Retell AI vs CloudTalk

Five of fourteen models named Retell AI first on the direct prompt; eight named CloudTalk. Retell AI was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and CloudTalk by eleven and Retell AI carries 58 labels and CloudTalk 24, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Retell AI

accepted challenger

Named in two categories this edition.

CloudTalk

accepted challenger

Named in thirteen categories this edition.

First-choice share27%19%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate16%8%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#2A position in a field of 8; printed, not drawn.
Labels5824A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Retell AI reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Retell AI vs Vapi · Retell AI vs Bland AI · Retell AI vs Synthflow

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the AI voice agents page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Retell AIFirst choices, of fourteen modelsCloudTalk
Direct58
Paraphrase341 against CloudTalk
Comparative60
Budget-constrained70
Scale-constrained20
Negative109 against Retell AI · 1 against CloudTalk
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, Retell AI and CloudTalk were named in the same answer forty-three times, of the 158 answers naming Retell AI and the 358 naming CloudTalk. In those answers CloudTalk took the first choice fourteen times and Retell AI ten.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Retell AI and CloudTalk stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.1 Fast
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
Retell AI CloudTalk first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Retell AI on the left and CloudTalk on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Retell AI and CloudTalk stood in it.

Both were the first choice

1 of 14 modelsThe answer named them together, and the judge labeled each a first choice.
Mistral SmallCloudTalk, Retell AI alternatives: ElevenLabs Conversational AI, Leaping AI

Retell AI first, CloudTalk an alternative

4 of 14 modelsCloudTalk was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Claude Haiku 4.5Aloware, Retell AI alternatives: Synthflow, Vapi
Grok 4.1 FastRetell AI alternatives: Bland AI, CloudTalk, Regal, Synthflow
DeepSeek V4 FlashRegal, Retell AI alternatives: CloudTalk, Synthflow AI
GPT-6 LunaRetell AI alternatives: PolyAI, Synthflow, Vapi

CloudTalk first, Retell AI an alternative

7 of 14 modelsRetell AI was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Perplexity SonarCloudTalk alternatives: Retell AI, Salesforce Agentforce Voice, Synthflow AI
Llama 4 MaverickAloware, CloudTalk alternatives: GetVoIP, Plivo
Qwen 3.7 FlashCloudTalk alternatives: Bland AI, Retell AI, Rezora IO
Kimi K2CloudTalk alternatives: Aloware, Retell AI, Synthflow
GLM 4.7 FlashXCloudTalk alternatives: Bland AI, Retell AI, Synthflow, Vapi.ai
MiniMax M2.5CloudTalk, Synthflow alternatives: Retell AI
Muse Glimmer 30BAloware, CloudTalk alternatives: HubSpot Breeze AI, Retell AI, Synthflow

Neither was the first choice, one was named

1 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Gemini 3.5 FlashAloware, Synthflow AI alternatives: Bland AI, Retell AI, Vapi

Neither was named

1 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
GPT-5.4 miniTwilio alternatives: Deepgram Voice Agent API, OpenAI Realtime / Voice agents

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Retell AI leads by five points.
Retell AI20%#1 of 7
CloudTalk15%#2 of 7
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Retell AI leads by eight points.
Retell AI27%#1 of 8
CloudTalk19%#2 of 8
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
Retell AI leads by fourteen points.
Retell AI14%#2 of 11
CloudTalk0%#– of 11
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Retell AI

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.

“some specific products (for example Synthflow, ElevenLabs, Retell AI, Deepgram) have recurring complaints about cost or credit limits” GPT-5.4 mini · negative prompt · soft negative
“Both Vapi.ai and Retell AI can suffer from latency and reliability issues due to reliance on external API providers” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“While popular among developers, there is significant frustration in the community regarding its operational setup.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Best all-around voice AI platform for production call automation... "best overall — lowest effective cost, highest voice quality, full API and no-code in one platform"” Muse Glimmer 30B · comparative prompt · first choice
“Strong all-around balance of latency, price, and accessibility; often described as a fast, transparent usage-based option with native telephony and quick setup.” Perplexity Sonar · comparative prompt · first choice
“*Developer-first / Infrastructure:* Vapi, Retell AI, Vocode, or Bland.ai. (Excellent for high customization, low latency, and BYO keys).” Gemini 3.5 Flash · scale prompt · first choice

What the models said about CloudTalk

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Two of two in this category shown.

“Billing disputes and auto-renewal complaints on Trustpilot ... not for standalone AI voice agent use.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“CloudTalk is called an "ideal voice agent solution for SMBs and mid-market sales teams that need an all-in-one platform for sales calls, follow-ups, and analytics"” Muse Glimmer 30B · direct prompt · first choice
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.