PolyAI operates on an enterprise contract model with custom pricing. The company does not publish per-minute rates, platform fees, or plan tiers on its website. This article covers what buyers can expect in the sales process, typical cost drivers, and how to estimate a budget before the first call.
Major takeaways
How much does PolyAI cost?
PolyAI does not publish pricing. Enterprise contracts are quoted based on call volume, use case, and deployment complexity. Third-party sources estimate costs in the mid-to-high range for voice platforms.
What's included in the per-minute rate?
PolyAI reportedly bundles telephony, speech-to-text, LLM inference, and text-to-speech into its per-conversation pricing. The exact breakdown is not disclosed on the vendor's site.
What else should you budget for?
Integration work, custom flow development, ongoing QA, and compliance engineering (recording disclosures, data retention) are typically scoped separately or require internal resources.
Quick answer box
| Item | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Enterprise contract, custom quote | PolyAI website |
| Published starting price | Not publicly listed | PolyAI pricing page |
| Per-minute rate | Not disclosed; custom per deployment | PolyAI pricing page |
| Platform or subscription fee | Not specified; likely bundled into contract | PolyAI pricing page |
| Free trial / credits | Demo available; trial terms negotiated per contract | PolyAI website |
| Enterprise plan | All contracts are enterprise-tier | PolyAI pricing page |
| Contract terms | Typically annual; minimum commitment not disclosed | PolyAI pricing page |
What PolyAI is
PolyAI is an enterprise customer-service voice AI platform designed for contact centres, operations teams, and customer-support organisations that handle high inbound call volumes.
The platform builds conversational agents that answer customer questions, route calls, and handle transactions over the phone. PolyAI agents are trained on company-specific data and integrate with CRM, helpdesk, and order-management systems. The platform focuses on inbound customer service rather than outbound sales prospecting. PolyAI is deployed by brands in retail, hospitality, healthcare, and financial services, reportedly handling millions of calls per month across its customer base.
The company is headquartered in London. Backers include Khosla Ventures, Point72 Ventures, and Amadeus Capital Partners.
How PolyAI pricing works
The pricing model
PolyAI operates on a custom enterprise contract model. The company does not publish per-minute rates, monthly subscription tiers, or self-serve plans on its website.
Pricing is quoted after a discovery call in which the vendor assesses call volume, use case complexity, integration requirements, and compliance needs. Third-party sources estimate that PolyAI's pricing is structured around a per-conversation or per-minute rate bundled with a platform fee, but the exact structure is not disclosed.
Contracts are reportedly annual with volume commitments. Buyers typically negotiate a rate based on projected monthly call volume. The sales process includes a demo, a pilot phase, and a custom statement of work before pricing is finalised.
What the per-minute rate covers
PolyAI reportedly bundles telephony, speech-to-text, LLM inference, and text-to-speech into its per-conversation pricing. The vendor does not publish a breakdown of what is included in the rate.
Telephony costs (inbound and outbound call legs) are likely included, as the platform handles call routing and PSTN connectivity. Speech-to-text and text-to-speech are core to the product and are assumed to be bundled. LLM inference costs are not itemised separately on the pricing page, which suggests they are absorbed into the per-conversation rate rather than passed through as a variable cost.
The platform fee, if charged separately, is not disclosed. Buyers should confirm during the sales process whether premium voice models, advanced LLM tiers, or high-concurrency deployments incur additional charges.
Limits and add-ons
PolyAI does not publish concurrency limits, phone-number allocations, or add-on pricing. The platform is designed for high-volume deployments. Concurrency (the number of simultaneous calls the system can handle) is likely negotiated per contract based on peak call volume.
Phone numbers (local, toll-free, international) are presumably included or billed separately depending on the deployment geography. Premium voices, advanced language models, and custom integrations may be scoped as add-ons, but no public pricing exists for these features.
Support tiers (standard, premium, dedicated customer success) are not listed on the website and are likely bundled into enterprise contracts. Buyers should request a detailed scope of work that itemises what is included in the base contract and what requires additional budget.
Plan breakdown
PolyAI does not publish tiered plans. All contracts are enterprise-tier and custom-quoted.
The sales process typically begins with a discovery call to assess call volume, use case (customer service, order tracking, appointment scheduling, technical support), integration requirements (CRM, helpdesk, ERP), and compliance needs (PCI-DSS for payments, HIPAA for healthcare, GDPR for European deployments). The vendor then provides a proposal that includes a per-conversation or per-minute rate, a platform fee (if applicable), and a statement of work for custom flow development and integration.
Pilot deployments are common and allow buyers to test the platform on a subset of call volume before committing to a full rollout. Pricing for the pilot phase is negotiated separately and may be credited toward the annual contract if the buyer proceeds.
Buyers should expect a minimum annual commitment, though the exact threshold is not disclosed.
Estimate your monthly cost
Estimating a monthly cost for PolyAI requires assumptions about call volume, average call length, and the all-in per-conversation rate. The formula is:
monthly cost ≈ (calls per month × average minutes per call × all-in per-minute rate) + platform/subscription fees + phone-number fees + add-ons
Each input depends on the buyer's deployment. Call volume is the number of inbound calls the system answers per month. Average call length varies by use case (a simple order-status check may last 2 minutes; a technical-support call may run 8 minutes).
The all-in per-minute rate is the custom rate PolyAI quotes, which reportedly bundles telephony, STT, LLM, and TTS. Platform fees and phone-number fees are not disclosed and may be bundled or itemised separately. Add-ons include custom integrations, premium models, and dedicated support.
Because PolyAI does not publish a per-minute rate, the table below is omitted. Buyers should request a detailed cost estimate from PolyAI during the sales process, using their own call data (monthly volume, average handle time, peak concurrency) to generate an accurate quote. Third-party sources suggest that enterprise voice platforms in this category charge between $0.05 and $0.25 per minute all-in, but PolyAI's exact rate is not confirmed.
Hidden and adjacent costs
Telephony and phone numbers
PolyAI reportedly includes telephony in its per-conversation pricing. Buyers should confirm whether international numbers, toll-free numbers, or high-volume PSTN trunks incur additional charges.
Phone-number provisioning (local numbers in multiple markets, vanity toll-free numbers) may be billed separately. Outbound call legs (if the agent initiates calls for follow-ups or proactive notifications) may be priced differently than inbound legs.
Buyers deploying in multiple countries should ask for a breakdown of per-country telephony costs, as rates vary significantly by region.
LLM and voice model upgrades
PolyAI uses proprietary conversational models and does not disclose whether premium LLM tiers (GPT-4, Claude, or custom fine-tuned models) are available as upgrades. If the platform allows buyers to swap in a different LLM backend, the cost difference may be passed through.
Voice model upgrades (premium TTS voices, custom voice cloning) are likely available but not priced publicly. Buyers should ask whether the base contract includes access to the latest models or whether model upgrades require a contract amendment.
Engineering time to build and maintain flows
PolyAI agents are built using the vendor's flow-design tools, which require engineering or operations resources to configure.
Initial flow development (call routing, intent recognition, integration logic) is typically scoped in the statement of work and may be billed as a one-time implementation fee or included in the first year's contract. Ongoing maintenance (updating flows as business logic changes, adding new intents, refining prompts) requires internal resources or a retained services agreement with PolyAI.
Buyers should budget 20–40 hours per quarter for flow maintenance in a moderately complex deployment.
Integrations (CRM, calendar, helpdesk)
PolyAI integrates with CRM systems (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk), helpdesk platforms (Freshdesk, Intercom), and order-management systems via API. Standard integrations are reportedly included in the platform, but custom integrations (proprietary CRM, legacy ERP systems, multi-step workflows) may require professional services.
Integration work is typically billed as a fixed-fee project or included in the implementation phase. Buyers should confirm whether API rate limits, webhook quotas, or data-sync frequency are capped in the base contract.
QA and call review
Voice agents require ongoing quality assurance. PolyAI provides call transcripts, sentiment scores, and intent-recognition logs, but reviewing calls for accuracy, tone, and compliance is a manual process.
Buyers should budget for a QA analyst to review a sample of calls each week (10–20% of total volume is a common benchmark). Call-review tools (automated scoring, anomaly detection) may be available as add-ons.
Buyers in regulated industries (healthcare, finance) should confirm whether PolyAI's QA tools meet compliance requirements for call monitoring and audit trails.
Compliance work
Voice agents that handle customer data must comply with recording-disclosure laws, data-retention policies, and consent-capture requirements. PolyAI is SOC-2 Type II certified and GDPR-compliant, but buyers are responsible for configuring the platform to meet their specific regulatory obligations.
Recording disclosures (notifying callers that the call is recorded) must be scripted into the agent's flow. Data retention (how long call recordings and transcripts are stored) is configurable but may incur additional storage costs.
Buyers in PCI-DSS environments (handling payment card data) should confirm whether PolyAI supports PCI-compliant call flows and whether the platform is certified for payment processing.
Is PolyAI worth the price?
PolyAI delivers value for enterprises handling high inbound call volumes in customer-service use cases. Buyers in retail, hospitality, healthcare, and financial services report that the platform reduces hold times, deflects calls from human agents, and handles routine inquiries at scale.
The platform is strongest for organisations with complex call flows (multi-step troubleshooting, order tracking, appointment scheduling) that require deep integration with backend systems. PolyAI's custom pricing model suits buyers with predictable call volumes and annual budgets, but it creates friction for smaller teams or pilot projects that need transparent per-minute rates.
Public review volume for PolyAI is limited; the recurring themes below are drawn from the available G2 / Trustpilot / TrustRadius coverage. Reviewers note that the platform requires significant upfront investment in flow design and integration work, which may not be justified for low-volume deployments. Buyers with fewer than 10,000 calls per month may find better value in self-serve voice platforms with published per-minute rates.
PolyAI's lack of pricing transparency is a barrier for procurement teams that need to compare quotes across multiple vendors before engaging in a sales process.
PolyAI alternatives to price against
| Platform | Pricing model | Published starting price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bland AI | Per-minute, self-serve | $0.09/min (base tier) | Outbound sales calls, appointment setting |
| Retell AI | Per-minute, self-serve | $0.08/min (base tier) | Developers building custom voice agents |
| Vapi | Per-minute, self-serve | $0.05/min (base tier) | High-volume inbound customer service |
| 11x (Julian) | Custom quote; sold with 11x platform | Not publicly listed | Inbound sales speed-to-lead and qualification alongside outbound AI SDR |
| Synthflow | Per-minute, self-serve | $0.10/min (base tier) | No-code voice agent deployment |
Bland AI publishes per-minute rates starting at $0.09 and is designed for outbound sales calls and appointment setting. Buyers who need transparent pricing and self-serve deployment should compare Bland AI's published rates to PolyAI's custom quote.
Retell AI charges $0.08 per minute and targets developers building custom voice agents with full API control. Buyers with engineering resources who want to own the flow logic should evaluate Retell AI's developer-first model.
Vapi starts at $0.05 per minute and is optimised for high-volume inbound customer service. Buyers handling 50,000+ calls per month should compare Vapi's self-serve pricing to PolyAI's enterprise contract.
11x's Julian is an AI phone agent for inbound sales speed-to-lead and qualification, sold as part of the 11x platform alongside Alice (AI SDR for outbound). Pricing is custom and quoted per deployment. Julian suits revenue teams that need inbound voice alongside outbound email and LinkedIn prospecting in a unified system.
Synthflow charges $0.10 per minute and offers no-code voice agent deployment. Buyers without engineering resources who need a fast time-to-deployment should compare Synthflow's self-serve model to PolyAI's custom implementation process.
How to negotiate
Commit to volume for a lower per-minute rate
PolyAI's pricing is reportedly volume-based. Buyers who can commit to a minimum monthly call volume (e.g., 20,000 calls per month) may negotiate a lower per-conversation or per-minute rate. Ask the vendor to provide tiered pricing that scales down as volume increases.
Ask what's included in the per-minute rate
Confirm whether the quoted rate includes telephony, STT, LLM inference, TTS, and platform fees, or whether any of these components are billed separately. Request a line-item breakdown in the proposal to avoid surprise charges for premium models, international numbers, or high-concurrency deployments.
Cap overage charges
If the contract includes a volume commitment, ask for a cap on overage charges (the rate applied to calls beyond the committed volume). Uncapped overages can double the effective per-minute rate if call volume spikes unexpectedly.
Negotiate concurrency limits
Concurrency (the number of simultaneous calls the system can handle) is a key cost driver. Confirm the concurrency limit in the base contract and ask for pricing to scale up during peak periods (holiday seasons, product launches) without requiring a contract amendment.
Pilot before signing an annual commitment
Request a pilot phase (30–90 days) to test the platform on a subset of call volume before committing to an annual contract. Negotiate a pilot rate that is credited toward the full contract if the buyer proceeds.
Confirm data retention and recording terms
Ask how long call recordings and transcripts are stored, whether storage costs are included in the base contract, and whether the buyer can export data at the end of the contract. Confirm that the platform meets the buyer's regulatory requirements for call recording and consent capture.
Verdict
PolyAI's custom enterprise pricing suits large contact centres and customer-service organisations with high call volumes, complex integrations, and annual budgets. The platform delivers value for buyers handling 50,000+ calls per month in use cases that require deep CRM and helpdesk integration.
PolyAI is the stronger fit for enterprises in retail, hospitality, healthcare, and financial services that need a vendor-managed solution with dedicated support.
Buyers with fewer than 10,000 calls per month, or teams that need transparent per-minute rates for budget planning, should compare self-serve platforms (Vapi, Retell AI, Bland AI) before engaging in PolyAI's sales process. Revenue teams that need inbound voice alongside outbound prospecting should evaluate 11x's Julian as part of a unified platform.
Frequently asked questions
How much does PolyAI cost per minute?
PolyAI does not publish per-minute rates. Pricing is custom-quoted based on call volume, use case, and deployment complexity. Third-party sources estimate that enterprise voice platforms in this category charge between $0.05 and $0.25 per minute all-in, but PolyAI's exact rate is not confirmed. Buyers should request a detailed quote during the sales process.
Does PolyAI have a free trial?
PolyAI offers demos and may negotiate a pilot phase as part of the sales process. Trial terms (duration, call volume, pricing) are not published and are negotiated per contract. Buyers should ask for a 30–90 day pilot to test the platform on a subset of call volume before committing to an annual contract.
Is telephony included in PolyAI's pricing?
PolyAI reportedly includes telephony in its per-conversation pricing, but the vendor does not publish a breakdown of what is included. Buyers should confirm during the sales process whether international numbers, toll-free numbers, or outbound call legs incur additional charges.
Does PolyAI charge for failed or unanswered calls?
PolyAI's pricing page does not specify whether failed or unanswered calls are billed. Buyers should confirm with the vendor whether the per-conversation rate applies only to connected calls or whether the platform charges for ring-no-answer, busy signals, or voicemail detection.
Is there a minimum contract?
PolyAI operates on an enterprise contract model, and contracts are reportedly annual with volume commitments. The exact minimum commitment (call volume, contract value, or duration) is not disclosed. Buyers should ask for contract terms during the sales process and negotiate a pilot phase before signing a multi-year agreement.
How does PolyAI pricing compare to hiring a human receptionist or SDR?
A full-time receptionist or SDR costs $40,000–$70,000 per year in salary plus benefits, taxes, and overhead, which translates to roughly $3,300–$5,800 per month. A voice agent handling 10,000 calls per month at $0.10 per minute (assuming 3-minute average call length) costs approximately $3,000 per month, excluding platform fees and integration work. The break-even point depends on call volume, average handle time, and the complexity of the use case. Buyers should model their own call data using the formula in the "Estimate your monthly cost" section. For a detailed cost comparison, see the SDR cost calculator.
What's the cheapest alternative to PolyAI?
Vapi publishes a starting rate of $0.05 per minute and is the lowest-cost self-serve voice platform among the alternatives listed in this article. Bland AI and Retell AI start at $0.08–$0.09 per minute. Buyers should compare the all-in cost (per-minute rate plus platform fees, phone numbers, and add-ons) rather than the base rate alone.
How does PolyAI compare to 11x's Julian?
Julian is an AI phone agent for inbound sales speed-to-lead and qualification, sold as part of the 11x platform alongside Alice (AI SDR for outbound email and LinkedIn). Pricing is custom and quoted per deployment. Julian suits revenue teams that need inbound voice alongside outbound prospecting in a unified system. PolyAI is designed for customer-service use cases (order tracking, technical support, appointment scheduling) and is the stronger fit for contact centres handling high inbound call volumes outside of sales.
Last updated: October 2026.
