# Bolna AI Pricing 2026: Plans, Costs & Alternatives

> Bolna AI pricing explained: pay-as-you-go credits, the $0.06/min Pilots plan, what is included, whether Bolna is open source, Exotel vs Bolna, and alternatives.

Source: https://edesy.in/blog/bolna-ai-pricing-alternatives-2026

Bolna AI's published pricing, as of September 2026, has three options: **pay-as-you-go credit
top-ups**, a **Pilots plan of 12,000 minutes at $0.06 per minute** (shown on its site as Rs 5.52 per
minute, effectively $0.05 with a 20 percent bonus credit) with up to 100 concurrent calls, and
**custom Enterprise pricing**. New accounts get **$5 in free credits** to try it, and you can bring
your own API keys for the speech and LLM providers
([Bolna pricing](https://www.bolna.ai/pricing)).

Below: what each plan includes, what the per-minute price does and does not tell you, whether Bolna
is really open source, why people search "Exotel vs Bolna", and how Bolna compares with its
alternatives.

## Bolna AI pricing plans

| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| **Free credits** | $5 on signup | Build an agent and place test calls |
| **Pay-as-you-go** | Credit top-ups, no commitment | Flexible usage |
| **Pilots** | 12,000 minutes at $0.06/min (Rs 5.52/min); effective $0.05/min with 20% bonus | Up to 100 concurrent calls, one pre-configured voice agent, free phone number for the first 30 days |
| **Enterprise** | Custom, committed volume | Custom integrations and deployment, priority support, dedicated account manager |

On the Pilots plan, 12,000 minutes at Rs 5.52 works out to about **Rs 66,240** up front. That suits a
team that already knows it will run a meaningful volume; smaller teams usually start on
pay-as-you-go.

## What does Bolna's per-minute price include?

Bolna's pricing page presents a bundled per-minute rate and does not itemize speech-to-text, the LLM,
text-to-speech and telephony separately. Before you compare it with another platform, ask four
questions:

1. **Is telephony included**, or billed by your telephony provider (Exotel, Plivo, Twilio) on top?
2. **Which models are included** at that rate, and what changes if you pick a premium voice or LLM?
3. **What does bring-your-own-keys cost?** Bolna supports BYOK; confirm the platform fee when you
   supply your own keys.
4. **How is a call billed?** Per second or rounded up to the minute, and are unanswered attempts
   charged?

The same four questions apply to every voice AI vendor. Our
[AI voice agent pricing breakdown](https://edesy.in/blog/ai-voice-agent-pricing-breakdown-2026) explains why headline
per-minute prices are hard to compare directly.

> **Try it yourself:** [Build this agent free on Edesy](https://voice-agent.edesy.in/?utm_source=edesy.in&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=bolna-ai-pricing-alternatives-2026) — self-serve, no demo needed.

## Is Bolna AI open source?

Partly, and the distinction matters. Bolna's GitHub repository describes itself as an "end-to-end
open source production ready framework" for building voice applications, released under the **MIT
license** ([GitHub](https://github.com/bolna-ai/bolna)). But the same repository explains that the
**hosted APIs and the no-code dashboard are closed source**, built on top of that framework.

So you have two ways to use Bolna:

- **Self-host the open-source framework.** The software is free; you pay for models, telephony and
  servers, and your engineers build and run it.
- **Use the hosted platform.** You pay Bolna's usage pricing and get the dashboard, hosted
  infrastructure and support.

## Exotel vs Bolna AI: what is the difference?

"Exotel vs Bolna AI" is a common search, but the two are not direct competitors. **Exotel is a cloud
telephony provider**: it supplies your Indian numbers and carries the calls. **Bolna is a voice AI
platform**: it runs the conversation. Bolna's own documentation lists Exotel as a telephony provider
you can connect with your existing Exotel credentials, for both inbound and outbound calls.

In practice the question is which voice AI platform to put on top of Exotel. If you already have
Exotel numbers, our [Exotel AI calling setup guide](https://edesy.in/blog/exotel-ai-voice-agent-setup-guide-2026)
shows how the connection works on the Exotel side, which is the same whichever platform you choose.

## Bolna AI competitors and alternatives

| Platform | Pricing (public, Sept 2026) | Self-serve | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Bolna** | $0.06/min Pilots; PAYG credits; Enterprise custom | Yes | MIT-licensed framework; Twilio, Plivo, Exotel, SIP |
| **Edesy** | Plans Rs 4-6/min; BYOK Rs 1.5/min platform fee | Yes | INR plans; Exotel, Plivo, Twilio, Vobiz, SIP; outbound campaigns |
| **Sarvam AI (Samvaad)** | API prices published; agent pricing not per minute | Opening up | Indian-built speech and language models |
| **Ringg AI** | INR per minute, on request | Contact sales | Hindi and regional-language agents |
| **Gnani.ai** | Custom | No | Enterprise BFSI, voice biometrics |
| **Vapi / Retell AI** | ~$0.07-0.25/min all-in | Yes | US-first; Indian numbers need extra setup |

For the full picture on each, see our guides to
[Sarvam AI competitors](https://edesy.in/blog/sarvam-ai-competitors-india-2026),
[Gnani.ai alternatives](https://edesy.in/blog/gnani-ai-alternatives-2026) and
[Vapi and Retell alternatives for India](https://edesy.in/blog/vapi-retell-alternatives-india-2026).

## Bolna vs Edesy: how do they differ?

They are the closest like-for-like pair: both self-serve, both India-focused, both support Exotel,
Plivo, Twilio and SIP, and both let you bring your own AI keys. The differences are practical:

| | Bolna | Edesy |
|---|---|---|
| Open-source core | Yes, MIT framework | No |
| Pricing currency | USD, with INR shown | INR plans |
| BYOK platform fee | Confirm with Bolna | Rs 1.5 per minute, published |
| Free start | $5 credits | Rs 50 trial credits, no monthly fee on pay-as-you-go |
| Outbound campaigns | Batch calling | Campaigns with daily calling windows, retries by outcome on a multi-step schedule, up to 100 parallel calls, and calls spread across several numbers |
| Indian languages | Hindi, Hinglish, Tamil, Telugu and more | Hindi, English, Hinglish and 20+ Indian languages |

If an open-source core you can self-host is the deciding factor, Bolna wins. If you want INR pricing,
a published BYOK fee and detailed outbound controls, Edesy is worth a test. The quickest way to
decide is to build the same agent on both with the free credits and compare real calls. See also our
[Bolna alternatives page](https://edesy.in/ai-voice-assistant/alternatives/bolna-ai) and the
[Edesy vs Bolna comparison](https://edesy.in/ai-voice-assistant/vs/bolna-ai).

## FAQ

### How much does Bolna AI cost?

As of September 2026, Bolna publishes three options: pay-as-you-go credit top-ups, a Pilots plan of
12,000 minutes at $0.06 per minute (shown as Rs 5.52 per minute, effectively $0.05 with a 20 percent
bonus) with up to 100 concurrent calls, and custom Enterprise pricing. New accounts get $5 in free
credits.

### Does Bolna AI have a free trial?

Yes. Bolna gives new accounts $5 in free credits, which is enough to build an agent and place test
calls before you commit to a plan.

### Is Bolna AI open source?

Partly. Bolna's core orchestration framework is open source on GitHub under the MIT license. The
hosted APIs and the no-code dashboard that most customers use are closed source and paid.

### What is the difference between Exotel and Bolna AI?

They do different jobs. Exotel is a cloud telephony provider that supplies Indian numbers and carries
calls. Bolna is a voice AI platform that runs the conversation, and it lists Exotel as one of its
telephony providers, so the two are often used together.

### What are the best Bolna AI alternatives?

The main Bolna alternatives in India are Edesy, Sarvam AI's Samvaad, Ringg AI and Gnani.ai, plus
global platforms such as Vapi and Retell AI. Edesy is the closest like-for-like option: self-serve,
works with Exotel, Plivo, Twilio or your own SIP trunk, supports bring-your-own keys, and publishes
INR pricing.

## Start free

Comparing Bolna with an alternative takes an afternoon when both have free credits.
[Sign up and build your first agent in minutes](https://voice-agent.edesy.in/?utm_source=edesy.in&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=bolna-ai-pricing-alternatives-2026),
no sales call needed. Want a second opinion on your cost model? [Talk to us](https://edesy.in/contact).
- [AI voice agent pricing comparison tool](https://edesy.in/tools/voice-agent-pricing-comparison) — compare per-minute costs across platforms