Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support

Close 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.

4.1

From $9/user/mo

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Retell AI

4.1

From About $0.07–$0.31/min

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Comparing 2 tools. Add one more if you like.

At a glance

Close4.1

Easiest to use

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

Retell AI4.1

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

Overview

Attribute	Close	Retell AI
In one line	Sales CRM with calling, texting and email built in, plus an AI agent that calls leads.	AI phone agents that answer calls, book appointments and make outbound calls.
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	$9/user/mo	About $0.07–$0.31/min
Free plan	No	No
Works with Claude Code	Yes	Yes

Rating breakdown

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

Attribute	Close	Retell AI
Overall rating	4.1	4.1
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.	4.0	3.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.	4.5	4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.	4.0	4.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.	4.0	4.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.	4.0	4.0

Feature comparison

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

Attribute	Close	Retell AI
Access & platform
Free plan	No	No
Mobile app	Yes	–
Desktop app	Yes	–
Browser extension	No	–
API access	Yes	Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace	Yes	Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO	No	Yes
Connects to other apps	Yes	Yes
Open source or self-hosted	No	No
AI abilities
Works with your files	Yes	Yes
Understands images	–	–
Makes images	No	No
Makes video	No	No
Writes code	No	–
Runs agents or automations	Yes	Yes
Learns your brand or style	No	–
Works in many languages	No	Yes
Capabilities score	7/ 17	7/ 17

Pricing

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

Attribute	Close	Retell AI
Plans	Solo $9/user/mo billed yearly, or $19 monthly One person selling on their own.	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.	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.
	Scale $139/user/mo billed yearly, or $149 monthly High-volume calling teams.
Which plan to pick	Take 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.	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

Attribute	Close	Retell 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	Phone agents Flow builder Appointment booking Knowledge base Batch calling Call analysis

Pros and cons

Attribute	Close	Retell 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	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	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

Attribute	Close	Retell 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	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	Small business owners Clinics Voice AI agencies Customer service teams Developers

Questions people ask

Which is better, Close or Retell AI?

They tie on our overall rating (Close 4.1/5 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. Retell AI is best for AI receptionist for a small business and booking appointments by phone.

Which is cheaper, Close or Retell AI?

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

Which is easier to use, Close or Retell AI?

Close rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Small sales teams and solo sellers who call and email a lot of leads and want it all in one tool.

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

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