7 Best Bland AI Alternatives for Superior AI Calling 2025

There’s a problem with Bland AI. And you’ve already spotted it.

Or, perhaps, you’re conducting due diligence and have found your way here. Either way, we applaud you for a thorough evaluation. What follows is a comprehensive look at the Bland AI alternatives on the market and a dive into why customers and prospects are moving on to other Voice AI solutions.

If you’ve been looking into or even using Bland to make AI calls, you’ll have found that it’s grown adoption for outbound calling and voice automation over the last few years. However, many users are now looking for tools that offer more customization and do more without complicated onboarding.

Sure, Bland offers human-like voice quality, transparent pricing model, and easy setup. But these have become very entry-level requirements in the modern day AI agent. Users, admins, and customers are demanding more. Failure to meet these customer expectations can have business-impacting repercussions. So it’s only natural to want the best AI technology for the job.

Why Users Move Away from Bland AI in Favor of Better Alternatives

Even with the state-of-the-art technology, Vapi AI comes with its set of flaws that push its users to make a switch. Here are our top four reasons:

Tendency to drift away from human conversation

Bland AI promises to provide humanlike conversational AI. This is a promise any vendor can fulfill as we’re only using the term, humanlike. The definition is literally, having characteristics or qualities similar to those of a human.

But, and you might argue this is the case for unengaged contact center agents, Bland’s voice agent has a tendency to become robotic and emotionless during longer calls.

Sure, it’s a voice bot. Of course, it’s going to sound like a robot. Only, that’s not why you’re investing in the technology. You paid for conversational AI. Other solutions are doing this better.

Lag and unnatural pauses

Again, the playful cynics among us could argue that Bland is trying to emulate real conversations by including what feels like packet loss or gaps for thinking about an answer. But, in reality, some users have reported experiencing latency or unnatural pauses in responses.

This isn’t the anticipated experience when using any form of AI — let alone one marketed as conversational. Sure, agents do have to search for documentation on calls or ask for help. But this AI phone agent has no colleagues and can cross-reference your knowledge base in milliseconds.

Lack of customization

“Good for simple automations, but once we scaled, we needed something easier to manage with more control over voice tone and cost.”

Multiple reviews cite that customization options for branding or call flow logic are limited. To achieve more than the basic setup, you must engage in-house or paid-for developer services to integrate or automate advanced AI actions.

Now, if you have your own engineering team and want to build and deploy AI calling, this isn’t so bad. But you’re likely building your own tool and not shopping around for something pre-built. Even if you do end up with a large-scale internal implementation, there are unanswered questions around read/write access to multiple systems. Now, we may really be in the weeds here, but it’s the reality of enterprise deployments. If you’re using a CRM, a scheduler, a payment system, and a voice agent, who’s responsible for the setup and maintenance?

This rather large problem stems from the lack of built-in integrations with CRMs and scheduling tools, often viewed as vital for a streamlined workflow. If you want to integrate Bland to other solutions, there’s often a stumbling block. Some customers are reporting that Bland’s AI ability (or lack of) when it comes to scaling with their integration needs is forcing them to look elsewhere.

Scaling breaks the bank

The pricing structure can cause a problem for growing teams. Pricing can increase quickly for teams scaling usage. While the “from” prices are widely cited at $0.09/min, plus $0.015 for short/failed calls; SMS at $0.02/msg, there are some hidden fees you won’t come across until you’re there:

• Failed-call fees
• Failed SMS
• Warm-transfer billing

While the allure of Bland’s “cheaper” per minute billing is shiny and effective marketing, you only have to compare the total costs to get a view of where these unexpected charges creep in.

Example: Total cost: $0.09/min + $0.015 failed calls, SMS $0.02, warm-transfer mechanics, plus engineering time Vs. An all-encompassing plan that comes with caps or predictable CPM regardless of the scale.

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What Actually Matters in AI Voice Platforms (Bland AI Alternatives)

Before we dive into alternatives to Bland AI, it’s important to understand what we can now achieve from a voice agent. What were once deemed as blue sky requirements are now very possible thanks to the rapid acceleration of AI agent’s development.

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The Best Bland AI Alternatives Right Now in 2025

In this section, we include the top 10 Bland AI alternatives for 2025 based on performance, usability, integrations, and overall value. Each is included on its own merit and features pros, cons, and real world reviews.

Synthflow

Synthflow provides enterprise-ready Voice AI agents that can automate your entire phone call process. With its own proprietary telephony solution (both the underlying AI and the calling infrastructure), easy-to-use flow designer, and comprehensive support framework, you can finally deploy an end-to-end agent solution without tons of upfront fees and a delayed path to a return on investment.

You can dispatch and receive AI phones calls, ideal for those looking to automate the entire process. You get a multi-agent system and AI sandbox for testing for optimum go-live. Once live, you get  real-time monitoring and data fine-tuning for continuous optimization.

Key Strengths:

• 99.99% uptime
• Manage AI phone calling with sandbox testing
• Add AI phone calling in a number of dialects and languages using voice cloning
• Manage AI agents via continuous optimization tools
• Provides AI voice in-house or bring your own carrier/SIP trunk
• SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and GDPR compliant
• Direct connects with Cisco, Avaya, Genesys, RingCentral
• Supports omnichannel like voice, SMS, chat, email, and WhatsApp
• Owns its own network so has total control over quality and reliability

Where It Falls Short:

• Yet to offer multi-speaker handling
• No option for on-premises deployment

Pricing: Pro plan starts at 2,000 mins per month for $375. Grow plan introduces 10% discount starting at 4,000 mins per month for $750 per month.

Full Synthflow pricing available here.

Free trial? Yes.

Best for: BPOs and call centers, retail, financial services and insurance, real estate, technology and consulting, healthcare, software, telecom.

G2 Rating: 4.5 starts out of 5.

“Synthflow makes it remarkably simple to create and deploy professional AI voice agents, even if you don't have a technical background. I appreciate the user-friendly interface, the straightforward conversation flow builder, and the speed with which you can turn an idea into a functioning phone agent. The voice quality is impressively natural and responsive, and the integrations with CRMs and telephony tools work smoothly.”

Jorge Luis A., Small Business CEO.

Retell AI

Retell AI’s voice agent platform focused on building basic workflows at scale. You can use Retell for PSTN calls, web calls, SMS, and chat then apply artificial intelligence to track success rates, latency, and sentiment during interactions.

While this looks like a solid solution for basic call center functionality, the real roadblock was trying to test the service. If the “Try Our Live Demo” functionality doesn’t work on the website, there’s little faith to proceed much further. Granting a small leap of faith, there are some standout strengths of Retell…

Key Strengths:

• 99.99% uptime
• Built-in appointment booking
• Auto-sync knowledge base
• Branded caller ID
• Voicemail detection
• Batch AI phone calling without concurrency limit
• SIP Connect to RingCentral, Twilio, Vonage, Telnyx, and Plivo

Where It Falls Short:

• No ISO 27001
• No on-premises option
• Retell AI doesn’t support PCI-DSS Level 1
• Live demo on website promises a test call but none received

Pricing: Retell AI’s pricing comes in two flavors. You get pay as you go that starts at $0.07+/minute for AI Voice Agents and $0.002+/msg for AI chatbots. There is a “white glove” option for large enterprises spending over $3k/month.

Free trial? Yes.

Best for: Receptionists, appointment setters, lead qualification, customer service, outbound surveys, and debt collection.

G2 Rating: 4.8 stars out of 5.

Read More: Honest Retell AI Review 2025: Pros, Cons, Features & Pricing

Vapi

Vapi is a platform built for developers by developers. On the front of its website, there’s a shiny test button. On experimenting with this platform for AI phone calls, the sound quality was poor, like it was a recording on a poor device. When questioning the poor quality, the suggestion was that my name was Charlie (it’s not) and that my device was the problem.

All in all, a negative experience that would push prospects away. Yet, there must be a much better product hiding under the surface if you put enough effort in as some user reviews and customer logos reflect a superior experience.

Key Strengths:

• Back end options for developers
• Easy to scale if you have the developer resource
• Usage calculator to calculate total cost of ownership

Where It Falls Short:

• 99.9% uptime
• Poor test experience
• Multiple user reviews cite negative customer support
• Self-service support for non-enterprise plans
• Multiple user reviews suggest problems with pricing/payment

Pricing: Pay as you go from $0.05/min and $0.005/msg. Customized enterprise option that includes named account manager and priority customer support.

Free Trial? Start with $10 free.

Best for: Developers with time and patience to play around and build their own bit-part solution.

TrustPilot Rating: 2.9 stars out of 5.

Read More: Honest Vapi AI Review 2025: Pros, Cons, Features & Pricing

PolyAI

PolyAI boasts on its home page that it’s the most lifelike AI agent. Yet the case study videos displayed right next to this statement sound like a robot — or at best someone with poor mobile signal persevering through a tough call.

If the audio quality isn’t your top concern, the automation and workflows are impressive. Metrics suggest one health insurance provider increased its customer satisfaction score by 15 points. Another retail clothing brand saw a 60% reduction in seasonal hiring spend.

Key Strengths:

• No scaling limit for number of agents
• No scaling limit for number of calls
• Omnichannel offering including voice, AI chatbot, SMS, email WhatsApp
• Agent Studio “command center” for management and measurement
• Support for 45 languages

Where It Falls Short:

• Case study videos show poor audio quality
• No PCI-DSS Level 1
• No HIPAA compliance
• No GDPR compliance
• No on-premises option
• Lack of full whitelabelling

Pricing: Described as simple but not available to the public.

Free trial? Unknown.

Best for: Delivery services, hotel and casino brands, healthcare providers, retail.

G2 Rating: 5 stars out of 5 (only 12 reviews).

Read More: Honest PolyAI Review: Pros, Cons, Features & Pricing

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Replicant

Replicant’s AI agents are designed for human-like conversations. So that’s what I tried to test on the website. You get offered a test call or a test chat via your browser. Immediately, the audio quality is representative of a call in the 80s or 90s.

The conversation, however, was seamless. I continued to ask about the audio issues and had a conversation as if I was talking to a peer about a complex problem.

Key Strengths:

• Highly thought of support teams
• Ability to hold highly technical conversational voice and web chats
• Positioning as an AI partner for complex implementations
• Continuous learning from live and test interactions
• 99.99% uptime

Where It Falls Short:

• Poor audio quality in test environment
• Self-service setup seems out of the question
• Deployment in weeks, not minutes or days

Pricing: No public pricing.

Free trial? Unknown.

Best for: Delivery tracking, retail.

G2 Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.

Read More: Top 7 Replicant Alternatives Competitors

Goodcall

Goodcall answers and automates customer service and sales requests via voice calls. It can even route calls directly to your Slack workspace.

With a focus on voice rather than multichannel, this may be a good option for small businesses. That said, the starting price of $66 per agent seems off-putting.

Key Strengths:

• Setup in minutes
• Integration with tools like Zapier, Microsoft Teams, Dynamics, etc.
• Automates lead capture details and shares via SMS/email
• Performance dashboard with automation rate, call duration, return caller breakdown, etc.
• Full AI agent customization

Where It Falls Short:

• Customer reviews suggest voicemail access revoked
• Customer reviews suggest poor customer service
• Pricing works out expensive for low call volumes
• Lack of omnichannel support.

Pricing: From $66 per agent per month, inclusive of one form, one logic flow, three team members, three directory contacts, seven days of call and customer details, 100 unique customers monthly.

Free trial? Yes.

Best for: In-house call centers.

TrustPilot Rating: 2.9 out of 5 stars.

Read More: Honest Goodcall Review 2025: Pros, Cons, Features & Pricing

If you’re looking for a genuine alternative to conversational AI, Talkie AI generates an animated character you can use for a number of use cases like therapy, fitness, and personal training — while still functioning as a voice assistant. While this side to the business is fairly untested, there has been a lot of success in the “Play and Fun” section. Here, users of any type can create their character and play their own online games. AI

If you’re looking for genuine alternatives for conversational AI, Talkie AI generates an animated character you can use for a number of use cases like therapy, fitness, and personal training — while still functioning as an AI voice assistant. While this side to the business is fairly untested, there has been a lot of success in the “Play and Fun” section. Here, users of any type can create their character and play their own online games.

This may be suited to more adventurous businesses trying to do something different. However, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. The adverts on the site don’t exude business calling tool. But it’s fun, nonetheless.

Key Strengths:

• Unique animation approach
• Easy to setup in minutes
• Readymade characters

Where It Falls Short:

• Lack of business focus
• Very small target audience for businesses

Pricing: Free to use then $9.99 per month for advanced features like multilingual support and digital channel support.

Best for: Businesses looking for an edge with low-sensitivity customers.

TrustPilot Rating: 2.9 stars out of 5.

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Comparing the Top Bland AI Alternatives in 2025

FAQs

1. What are the main drawbacks of Bland AI compared to its alternatives?

Bland AI has low ratings and is developer-centric. Alternatives like Synthflow offer superior voice quality, better user experience, and more sophisticated features with multi-prompt functionality and mid-call actions

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2. How does Synthflow compare to other Bland AI alternatives like Vapi and Retell AI?

Synthflow offers no-code interface for all users, 30+ languages with voice cloning, native CRM integrations, and real-time actions. It's more flexible and user-friendly than developer-focused Vapi or healthcare-specific Retell AI.

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3. How does pricing compare between Bland AI and Synthflow?

Bland AI charges $0.09/minute plus hidden fees for voice cloning, transcription, and advanced features. Synthflow costs $0.08/minute with everything included; voice cloning, GPT-4 LLM, real-time analytics, and multi-language support transparent in one monthly subscription, making it significantly more cost-effective.

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4. Can Synthflow integrate with existing business systems and CRM platforms?

Yes, Synthflow integrates with 200+ platforms including HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho, GoHighLevel, Zapier, and Make. It automatically logs call details, schedules follow-ups, qualifies leads in CRM, and syncs customer data in real-time, enabling seamless workflow automation without manual data entry