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Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support

Close vs Lightfield vs Retell AI

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Close

4.1

From $9/user/mo

Lightfield

3.7

From $89/user/mo

Retell AI

4.1

From About $0.07–$0.31/min

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Pick it if: Small sales teams and solo sellers who call and email a lot of leads and want it all in one tool.

Pick it if: Founders and small B2B sales teams who hate updating a CRM and want one that keeps itself current from their email and meetings.

Pick it if: Service businesses and agencies that want an AI receptionist or phone agent without hiring developers.

Overview

AttributeCloseLightfieldRetell AI
In one lineSales CRM with calling, texting and email built in, plus an AI agent that calls leads.A CRM that fills itself in from your emails, calls and meetings, and drafts follow-ups.AI phone agents that answer calls, book appointments and make outbound calls.
Pricing modelPaidPaidPaid
Starting price$9/user/mo$89/user/moAbout $0.07–$0.31/min
Free plan No No No
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeCloseLightfieldRetell AI
Overall rating4.13.74.1
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.0
4.0
3.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.5
4.0
4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.0
4.0
4.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
4.0
3.0
4.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.0
3.5
4.0

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeCloseLightfieldRetell AI
Access & platform
Free plan No No No
Mobile app Yes No–
Desktop app Yes––
Browser extension No No–
API access Yes Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO No Yes Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted No No No
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes Yes Yes
Understands images–––
Makes images No No No
Makes video No No No
Writes code No No–
Runs agents or automations Yes Yes Yes
Learns your brand or style No No–
Works in many languages No No Yes
Capabilities score7/ 176/ 177/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeCloseLightfieldRetell AI
Plans

Solo

$9/user/mo billed yearly, or $19 monthly

One person selling on their own.

StarterOur pick

$89/user/mo

A founder or small team getting started.

Pay as you goOur pick

About $0.07–$0.31/min

Most small businesses and agencies.

Essentials

$35/user/mo billed yearly, or $49 monthly

Small teams sharing leads.

Pro

$999/mo billed yearly

Small customer-facing teams.

Enterprise

Custom

High call volumes and compliance needs.

GrowthOur pick

$99/user/mo billed yearly, or $109 monthly

Teams that want follow-ups and AI on autopilot.

Growth

$1,999/mo billed yearly

Companies scaling outbound sales.

Scale

$139/user/mo billed yearly, or $149 monthly

High-volume calling teams.

Enterprise

Custom

Larger companies with security and data needs.

Which plan to pickTake the 14-day trial, which needs no card. Solo is a bargain if you sell alone and follow up by hand. Growth is where Close earns its price, because that's where automated follow-ups, the power dialer and Chloe in workflows start. Budget a little extra each month for call minutes.Try Starter free for 14 days and connect your real inbox and calendar, because the self-filling records are the whole point. Only move to Pro once you need sequences and more than 3 people. Extra capture seats cost $200 a month each, billed yearly.Start on pay as you go with the free credits, build one agent for your most common call and test it on your own phone. Talk to sales only once you run thousands of minutes a month.

Key features

AttributeCloseLightfieldRetell AI
Standout features
  • Built-in calling and texting
  • Chloe AI agent
  • Power and predictive dialers
  • Email and text sequences
  • Two-way email sync
  • AI summaries
  • Records that update themselves
  • Meeting recorder
  • Ask your CRM
  • Follow-ups and sequences
  • Automations in your own words
  • Open to Claude
  • Phone agents
  • Flow builder
  • Appointment booking
  • Knowledge base
  • Batch calling
  • Call analysis

Pros and cons

AttributeCloseLightfieldRetell AI
Pros
  • Calling, texting and email built in, with everything logged
  • Solo plan is one of the cheapest proper CRMs around
  • Chloe can call and qualify leads without hiring a rep
  • Fast to learn compared with Salesforce or HubSpot
  • Official MCP connector for Claude
  • Records really do fill themselves in from email and meetings
  • Built-in meeting recorder, so you don't need a separate notetaker
  • Ask questions about your pipeline and get answers from real conversations
  • API, MCP and CLI access on every record
  • Free migration from your old CRM on team plans
  • Natural voices and quick responses
  • Visual builder makes it usable for non-developers
  • Pay per minute with no platform fee
  • Strong reviews from small businesses and agencies
Cons
  • Calls and texts are billed on top of the plan
  • Automations and the power dialer need Growth, which is a big jump from Essentials
  • Chloe launched for US and Canadian numbers in English only
  • Less suited to marketing or businesses that rarely pick up the phone
  • Small and new: launched in November 2025, so the product is still changing fast
  • Starter caps you at 3 users and team plans start at $999 a month billed yearly
  • Built for B2B startups, so less suited to trades, shops or local services
  • Workspace credits for automations don't roll over at year end
  • Voice dialer is listed as coming soon
  • Per-minute cost varies a lot with your model and voice choices
  • Takes testing to handle real callers reliably
  • Some users want more voice and customisation options

Who each one is for

AttributeCloseLightfieldRetell AI
Best for
  • Calling and texting leads straight from the CRM
  • Following up leads automatically by email and text
  • Having AI call and qualify new leads
  • Small inside sales teams and solo sellers
  • Founders doing their own sales who never update the CRM
  • Getting meeting notes and follow-ups written for you
  • Asking questions about your deals in your own words
  • Replacing a CRM, call recorder and outreach tool with one
  • AI receptionist for a small business
  • Booking appointments by phone
  • Answering after-hours and overflow calls
  • Outbound reminder and follow-up calls
You'll find it used by
  • Small sales teams
  • Solo founders
  • Agencies
  • Inside sales reps
  • Startup founders
  • B2B sales teams
  • Account managers
  • Customer success teams
  • Small business owners
  • Clinics
  • Voice AI agencies
  • Customer service teams
  • Developers

Questions people ask

Which is better, Close, Lightfield or Retell AI?

They tie on our overall rating (Close 4.1/5, Lightfield 3.7/5 and Retell AI 4.1/5). Close is best for calling and texting leads straight from the CRM and following up leads automatically by email and text. Lightfield is best for founders doing their own sales who never update the CRM and getting meeting notes and follow-ups written for you. Retell AI is best for AI receptionist for a small business and booking appointments by phone.

Which is cheaper, Close, Lightfield or Retell AI?

Close: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $9/user/mo. Lightfield: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $89/user/mo. Retell AI: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at About $0.07–$0.31/min.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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