---
title: "Speko vs Retell AI"
description: "A sourced comparison of Speko Router and Gateway with Retell AI across product scope, telephony, routing, runtime ownership, observability and pricing."
canonical: "https://speko.ai/speko-vs-retell"
last-updated: "2026-08-24"
---

> ## Speko page index
> The complete index of every page on this site is at: https://speko.ai/llms.txt
> Read it before exploring further. It lists the exact Markdown URL for every canonical HTML page.

# Speko vs Retell AI

Comparison

Speko offers a hosted Router and an open customer-side Gateway for STT, LLM and TTS workloads; Retell AI is a hosted phone-agent platform that runs the agent for you, so the useful comparison is which boundary your team wants to own.

Short answer

Choose Retell when the requirement is a managed phone-agent product. Choose Speko when your runtime owns the conversation loop and model selection is the boundary to make interchangeable.

Author

Speko engineering

Reviewed by

Speko engineering

Published

August 7, 2026 Last reviewed August 7, 2026

## How do Speko and Retell AI compare?

Retell AI category, scope and billing statements were checked against the official sources below on July 31, 2026. The table compares product boundaries, not overall quality. A dash means this site publishes no sourced statement for that cell.

| Dimension | Speko Router + Gateway | Retell AI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Category | Voice model router. | Hosted phone-agent platform. |
| Scope | Compatible model calls for STT, LLM and TTS. It does not run the conversation loop. | Managed phone agents assembled from Retell-supported infrastructure and model components. |
| Telephony | Not included in the Router or Gateway boundary. Telephony and WebRTC remain with the application runtime. | Published options include Retell carrier service and custom SIP, priced as separate components. |
| Model routing | The application can pin a model or request measured automatic selection from eligible routes. | The agent uses model and infrastructure choices supported by the Retell configuration surface. |
| Runtime ownership | Speko operates the routing API; the customer keeps LiveKit, Pipecat or a custom runtime. | Retell operates the phone-agent platform and runtime; the customer configures the agent. |
| Observability and failover | Route, reason, failover-count and first-byte headers. Failover is pre-response only, not mid-stream. | Call operations and logs are platform-managed within the supported component boundary. |
| Benchmark transparency | Public voice benchmark boards at benchmarks.speko.ai; automatic selection ranks over the published snapshot. | - |
| Pricing model | USD 0.09 per minute all-in on Speko infrastructure; current terms are kept on the pricing page. | Component pricing: voice infrastructure plus selected TTS, LLM, telephony and optional features. |

Retell AI sources:

[Retell AI pricing](https://www.retellai.com/pricing) [Retell AI documentation](https://docs.retellai.com/)

Checked 2026-07-31

## When to choose Retell AI

- The requirement is a managed phone-agent product rather than a standalone model-routing API.
- Telephony and agent operations should live in one hosted workflow.
- A component-based configuration and pricing surface fits how the team buys.

## When to choose Speko

- Automatic routing considers only models in the published benchmark snapshot. If the request constraints leave no eligible candidate, the router returns no_candidate rather than selecting outside that snapshot.
- The route is decided when your session opens, not while you speak.
- A preview endpoint returns the provider Speko would pick for a language and objective, with its runners-up, before you send a request.

## Method and provenance

Every Retell AI cell is copied from the sourced comparison this site maintains on the [voice agent platforms page](https://speko.ai/voice-agent-platforms), where each statement carries its official source and check date. Speko cells are verified against the public contracts and claim ledger this site builds from; the benchmark snapshot behind routing is published at [benchmarks.speko.ai/data.json](https://benchmarks.speko.ai/data.json).

Choose the layer first. Compare products inside that boundary second.

Related pages

- [Voice agent platforms, runtimes and model routers](https://speko.ai/voice-agent-platforms)
- [Speko vs Vapi](https://speko.ai/speko-vs-vapi)
- [Speko vs Bland AI](https://speko.ai/speko-vs-bland)
- [Vapi alternatives](https://speko.ai/vapi-alternatives)
- [Current model catalog](https://speko.ai/models)
- [Speko pricing](https://speko.ai/pricing)