What a voice agent call costs, and how to keep it down

Every voice agent call uses several services at once: the phone line, speech-to-text, a language model and a voice. Vaakyo bundles them into one per-minute price for the default models, billed per second from prepaid credits, so you see one number per call. See pricing for the current rates and plans.

What changes the cost of a call

• Length. The biggest lever by far. A two-minute call costs about twice a one-minute call.
• Model choice. Premium language models and some voices cost more per minute. The console shows the price of each choice before you pick it.
• Channel. Browser calls don't use a phone line, so they cost less than phone calls.
• Retries and failures. Failed calls aren't charged, but unanswered retries still use time in your campaign.

Lower the cost per outcome, not just per minute

• Get to the point. A greeting that says who is calling and why in the first sentence shortens calls and reduces hang-ups.
• Short replies. One or two sentences per turn keeps calls brisk.
• End cleanly. Agents that don't know when to end keep talking. Add a closing step to the prompt.
• Use the default models unless you need more. Upgrade one agent at a time and compare the outcome rate, not just the transcript quality.
• Call at the right time. Better reach rates mean fewer wasted retries.

Plans for steady volume

If you call every week, a monthly plan with included minutes and a lower rate per extra minute is usually cheaper than pay-as-you-go. Check your average monthly minutes in the console's usage page against the plans before switching.

Keep an eye on it

Every call shows its cost, and reports show spend by agent and campaign. A sudden rise in average call length is often the first sign that something in the conversation changed.