Air AI is a popular platform for AI phone calls, enabling operators to handle multiple calls simultaneously, from 10 to 40 minutes each, without needing a human assistant. While it’s a fast-growing service, many users have reported serious issues, such as poor call quality, hidden fees, and unreliable performance, that make Air AI fall short of their business needs.
If you’re searching for a more dependable solution, this guide will help you explore the best alternatives to Air AI. We’ll compare core features, pricing, scalability, and more to help you find the most advanced AI phone agent to meet your unique requirements.
Reasons Why Air AI Should Stay in Your Past
Even with its promises of advanced capabilities, Air AI has a range of shortcomings that have led users to look for better alternatives. Here are our top reasons:
Inconsistent Call Quality
Air AI users have consistently reported issues with call quality, which can negatively impact business operations. Many users have left negative reviews on Trustpilot, giving Air AI a rating of just 1.5/5 stars. Complaints frequently mention poor call quality and hidden fees that catch users off guard.
Problematic Voice Agent Behavior
Users have noted that Air AI’s voice agent often begins speaking before the customer has even picked up the call, resulting in confusion and dropped calls. This flaw has been highlighted as a significant problem for maintaining smooth customer interactions.
Lack of Transparent Pricing
Air AI has been criticized for its lack of pricing transparency, which has caused financial issues for some users. Clients have been surprised by costs that were far higher than the rates advertised on the Air AI pricing page.. For instance, in May 2024, a user reported, “I nearly faced a lawsuit with a client because Air AI charges approximately 30 cents per outbound call, not the 11 cents they claim.”
High Costs
Air AI can become very expensive, especially when making outbound calls. Users are charged significantly more than what is initially advertised, which can lead to unexpected expenses and frustration.
What Should The Best Air AI Alternatives Include?
Most competitors and alternatives to Air AI come with features like automatic calls, chatbots, and basic text-to-speech.
Keep an eye out for the below to differentiate the good artificial intelligence from the great:
Conversational AI Phone Agents
The best AI-powered agents have natural language processing (NLP) capabilities. This means they can follow human-like speech, paying attention to inflection and tone. AI answering services use these agents to handle customer queries, improving response time and efficiency.
Responding in a human manner, conversational agents are better for companies looking to improve their customer experience and digital marketing.
Intelligence that uses NLP doesn’t sound robotic – you can have a live chat, get questions answered and set appointments with real-sounding agents, not just text-based bots.
Quality Voice AI
Nobody wants to talk to a robot. Investing in quality voice is crucial for seeing results. Some tools use OpenAI voices, which are avAIlable in male and female voices with a couple of accents to choose from.
Others, like Synthflow, have OpenAI voices as well as the ability to record your own voice and have the AI mimic it. Synthflow can replicate your speech and create new calls without the need to record every word and sound you make.
External Integrations (ChatGPT, Hubspot, WhatsApp etc)
You should be able to flexibly integrate with other tools like chatbots, customer relationship management (CRM) systems and marketing automation. You’ll save time, be able to action tasks instantly and schedule appointments right into your calendar with external integrations.
Customizability of AI Agent
At a minimum, you should be able to change the voice, pace, and what the agent is saying. AI receptionists, like those offered by Synthflow, provide advanced customization. You can even train the AI to respond in specific ways and take actions automatically during calls; all without needing to code.
Free Trial & Demo
Getting to test any platform before you invest is important. If the intelligence works, the developers would love for you to see it in action.
If no demo is available? Red flag – the program might not be as good or as complete as they want you to think.
Best Alternatives to Air AI in 2024
Best Overall: Synthflow AI
Synthflow provides an alternative that delivers streamlined, no-code, bug-free ai voice bots that will transform your customer service operations.
Autonomously dispatch and receive calls and utilize a suite of mid-call APIs that allows users to charge payment information, automate data analysis, generate reports and send them live. All while having access to excellent customer support systems.
Synthflow allows you to train your intelligence to pick up specific stages of a conversation and take action using stage recognition. Generate more leads using a human-sounding, emotionally engaging intelligence that can answer questions as well as dispatch calls in an instant.
Early-stage companies looking for an end-to-end solution that can scale seamlessly over time will find Synthflow’s pricing system highly cost-effective, even with a high volume of calls.
The whole team can try it for free – you upgrade for the features you need when you need them. Top LLM like GPT4 and GPTo are included in all pricing tiers.
Features
- Incredible call quality & voice personalization
- Best AI for lead generation thanks to advanced outbound call features.
- High scalability – white-labelling available
- Multi-prompt calling
- Configurability – flexibly integrate with thousands of external platforms
- Comprehensive customer support
Price – $29/month (Starter Plan)
Synthflow opts for a streamlined pricing approaching, allowing you to pay once for a turnkey service.
| Plan | Price | Features |
| Starter | $29/month |
|
| Pro | $450/month | Everything on Starter, plus:
|
| Growth | $900/month or Custom pricing | Everything on Pro, plus:
|
| Agency | $1400/month or Custom pricing | Everything on Growth, plus:
|
Reviews – 3.5/5
User reviews on Trustpilot praise Synthflow’s functionality and ease of use, with one reviewer describing the platform as “more extensive and easier to use than any other product.”
Ultimately, that is where Synthflow shines, as it keeps things simple and streamlined.
Bland AI
Bland’s discord community touts it as the best AI in 2024, with features like prompt filtering, call monitoring, live transfers, and advanced conversational capabilities.
Other reviews are mixed, some users struggle with low latency and lacklustre call quality.
Regardless, Bland offers no-code, automatic phone calling that can be plugged straight into your website. Bland delivers better voice quality than Air AI and is also stronger at single-prompt calling.
Features:
- Prompt filtering, call monitoring & other features
- Live call transfers
- External API integrations
- Human-like, personalized voices
Price – $0.09/min
Bland’s pricing structure is more nuanced, guiding the user to their sales team. This approach is designed to allow their sales team to have control over the package used by each user. You will end up with a tailored package, but you will not know what other users pricing models are.
Reviews – 3.2/5
Users have expressed frustration with the using Bland, highlighting issues like “non-existent customer support.” With one user describing their experience: “I’ve been trying to contact customer support by email for over a week, and I’ve never heard anyone yet.”
This is a common complaint for Air AI and alternatives, with Synthflow as the only option with excellent customer service reported.
Vapi
Streamline operations, improve sales processes, and enhance customer engagement using Vapi. Use Vapi AI to enhance all stages of your customer journey thanks to its advanced call analysis and optimization features.
Like Synthflow, you can take live call notes, automatically route calls to available agents, and get detailed analytics on conversations. Both platforms outperform Air AI in terms of voice quality, and Vapi is a great option if you’re looking for multi-platform support and a variety of natural, human-like voices.
Features:
- Dynamic feature set – low latency optimization, function calling etc
- Multi-platform support
- Natural, human-like voices
- In-house multi-lingual support team
Price – $5¢/min (Calls)
Vapi’s pricing model uses a modest $0.05 per minute charge for its platform fee, with added fees directly from providers. The cost breakdown looks like the following:
| Service | Price | Description |
| SST | $0.01/per minute | STT: Speech-to-text |
| LLM | $0.01/per minute | LLM: LLM inference |
| TTS | $0.05/per minute | TTS: Text-to-speech |
| Vapi | $0.01/per minute | Vapi: The cost to use Vapi’s service |
| Transport | $0.01/per minute | Transport: telephony costs (Inbound/outbound phone calls to/from a phone number) |
| Total | $0.13/per minute | The 1st minute’s cost will be the same as the 10,000th minute, allowing predictable scaling for businesses. |
Reviews – 3.2/5
User reviews have expressed frustration with Vapi’s customer service, with one user describing it as “absolutely awful support, which is run by bots.” This should be noted, as other alternatives are known for offering excellent customer support.
Retell
Like Air AI, Retell’s SaaS platform delivers scalable, cost-effective AI-driven voicebots. HIPAA-compliant, Retell can securely handle sensitive data collection like patient information, and it uses powerful NLP to provide empathetic, human-sounding assistants.
While Air AI provides a solid foundation for voicebots, Retell’s zero-code interface allows for easier implementation and customization, making it a more appealing solution for businesses seeking flexibility and efficiency in their AI-driven communication. In combination with their Openai voice-cloning capabilities, it delivers more natural and engaging interactions than Air AI.
Features:
- 800ms latency, back-channelling and incorruptibility
- Voice-cloning & Openai voices
- Zero-code interface
Price – PAYG & Enterprise plans
Retell.ai offers a “Pay as you go” model with a $0 entry point, or an enterprise plan that includes the following:
| Plan | Price | Features |
| PAYG (Pay As You Go) | $0.11/per minute (minimum) |
|
| Enterprise | $0.05/per minute (minimum) |
|
Reviews – 3.2/5
User reviews note that while Retell offers an appealing alternative, they can be unreliable – with one reviewer stating “That company can’t be used for anything, it’s quite untrustworthy.” A contrast to other alternatives that do not struggle for positive feedback.
Good call
Goodcall is easy to use. The dashboard is like ChatGPT, and you use the chatbot to build your business profile and receive instant telephony AI tools like SMS and calling. Early-stage startups and larger enterprises alike will appreciate the simplicity of Goodcall’s API, features and pricing.
While Goodcall offers an intuitive dashboard and customizable voice options,it lacks Air AI’s extensive suite of features, including advanced analytics and machine learning capabilities tailored for larger enterprises.
Startups looking for fast, simple deployment may prefer Goodcall’s simplicity and ease of use, as without the complexity of more robust systems it can be setup quickly and easily.
Features:
- Live call dialer, instant SMS, call recordings, automatic calendar scheduling, and more
- Large language models – natural-sounding intelligence
- 6 customizable voices
Price – $59/month, unlimited minutes.
Good Call offers a flat $59 per month fee for their entire package. You can also pay annually for a slightly cheaper rate. Their features include:
- Unlimited Minutes and Call Recordings
- Local Phone Number with 24/7 Availability and No Busy Signals
- Custom Flows & Skills, including 6 Voices and Custom Skill Creation
- Lead Capture, Appointment Booking, and SMS Text-back Links
- Integrations with Zapier & Google Sheets, Multi-user Support, and Daily Reports via SMS & Email
Reviews – 3.2/5
Although Good call may look appealing, it appears to often fall short of expectations. One reviewer stated they feel it’s “a company that has broken their word.” This was in regards to promised features and discounts, again referring to poor customer service that we have seen available in other alternatives.
Vocode.dev
Vocode is an open-source voice assistant platform that enables building customizable voice agents using large language models (LLMs). It allows for creating systems that handle phone calls, act as personal assistants, and integrate with tools like Zoom.
Vocode.dev is a good alternative for developers looking for a cost-effective, flexible solution to build and scale voice agents directly within their product. However, it lacks the infrastructure and optimization of platforms like Synthflow, which may affect call quality at high volumes.
Features:
- Handles complex conversations (interruptions, slang, endpoints).
- Automates inbound/outbound calls via API.
- Multi-language support and integration with leading AI models.
- Cross-platform compatibility (telephony, web, Zoom).
Pricing:
| Plan | Price | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/month | Basic voices and models, API access, conversation analytics, inbound calls only |
| Pro | $25/month | Advanced voices and models, 100 minutes of premium conversation time/month, and 3 included phone numbers |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | Custom minutes, custom phone numbers, inbound/outbound calls, 24/7 dedicated support, enterprise SLAs |
Reviews: 3.0/5
Limited reviews, but users appreciate its flexibility and ease of setup. One user noted, “Vocode.dev is stable and easy to set up for local use.”
Conclusion – Finding The Right AI Voice Agent:
Choosing the right AI solution for your business is key. It’s important to consider factors such as latency, customization options, and ease of use when choosing a platform like Air AI. All of the above are great alternatives to Air AI, offering automatic voice calling and chatbot features.
Overall, Synthflow continues to shine as one of the best phone agent AI solutions on the market, with its advanced AI and customizable voice options. Get started for free here.
FAQ
Can Synthflow Be Customized to Suit Any Business Needs?
Yes. Our drop-and-drop-like builder makes it easy to customize your voice assistant in minutes. With Synthflow, you have the power to create a unique and efficient voice agent that meets your specific business needs.
How Does Synthflow Ensure Data Security and Compliance?
We follow strict security protocols and are compliant with all necessary regulations for data privacy. Visit our Privacy Policy to find out more.
Can Synthflow Be Integrated With Existing Systems?
Synthflow’s integrations allow you to connect with your favorite platforms, making it easier for you to manage your business. We have partnerships with major CRMs, messaging services, and more.
