AgentPhone: What It Is, Pricing, and Alternatives (2026)
AI agents can write, browse and code. The moment one needs to call a dentist or text a customer, it hits a wall: no phone number.
AgentPhone sells the number. You bring the agent.
The quick answer: AgentPhone is a Y Combinator (Spring 2026) API that gives an AI agent its own US or Canadian phone number for calls and texts. Voice and messages arrive at one webhook, your agent replies in text, and AgentPhone handles the speech. It costs $3 a number per month, 13¢ a voice minute and 2¢ a text segment. If you’re a business that wants AI calling and texting on your own team line, with the voice agent already built, Carly does that, and ChatGPT or Claude can run it from a chat.
Pricing from AgentPhone’s own pricing page, checked October 19, 2026. US dollars.
AgentPhone at a glance
| AgentPhone | |
|---|---|
| What it is | Telephony API for AI agents: numbers, voice, SMS, MMS, iMessage, plus WhatsApp and RCS in beta |
| Company | Relay Innovations, Inc., New York; Y Combinator Spring 2026 |
| Numbers | US and Canada, provisioned in one API call |
| How you build | REST API, Python and Node SDKs, or its MCP server for Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf and other MCP clients |
| Voice | Your agent over webhook, or AgentPhone hosts the agent for you; live transcription included |
| Price | $3 a number per month; 13¢ a minute (22¢ hosted); 2¢ an SMS segment; $5 starting credit |
| Best for | Developers giving their own agent or product a phone identity |
What AgentPhone does
AgentPhone’s pitch is that phone carriers were built for humans. To give an agent a number, you’d otherwise stitch together a carrier, voice infrastructure, carrier registration and routing. AgentPhone wraps that into one API:
- Get a number with one call, choosing country and area code.
- One webhook receives calls and messages in the same format, so one handler covers both.
- Reply in text. AgentPhone turns your agent’s text into speech on calls.
- Real-time transcription of every call.
- Carrier registration for US texting, filed from its dashboard.
- Sub-accounts, so a platform can give each of its own customers separate numbers on one bill.
The founders previously built AI agent infrastructure on WhatsApp at Meta and worked on the Vogue app, per their YC profile.
AgentPhone pricing
AgentPhone is pay as you go: no plans, seats, minimums or contract.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Local US or Canadian number | $3.00 a month |
| Voice, your agent over webhook | $0.13 a minute, billed per second |
| Voice, hosted agent | $0.22 a minute |
| Call recording | $5 a month per account |
| SMS, in or out | $0.02 a segment |
| MMS | $0.03 a message |
| iMessage line | $150 a month inbound-only; $250 a month to send too |
| WhatsApp (beta) | $0 from AgentPhone; Meta bills you directly |
| Starting credit | $5 |
A month with 3 numbers, 1,500 voice minutes and 10,000 text segments comes to $404 on AgentPhone’s own calculator. Inbound texts cost the same as outbound.
Where AgentPhone fits, and where it doesn’t
AgentPhone is infrastructure. You still write the agent, decide what it says, and connect it to your calendar, CRM and team. That’s the right trade for a developer shipping a product.
A business usually wants something else: calls answered on the number customers already know, leads called back, appointments booked on the team’s calendars and every call logged where the team works. That’s a finished phone agent, not a number.
AgentPhone alternatives
| Alternative | What you get | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Carly | A ready AI voice and text agent on your team’s business line, plus a team inbox and CRM, run from ChatGPT or Claude | Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/mo |
| Bland Agent Phone | A US number for a personal AI like Claude or Grok Bot | $14.99 first month, then $29.99/mo |
| Vapi Agent Phone | Lets coding assistants and personal agents have Vapi place calls | Free in beta, 3 calls a day |
| Retell AI | Developer platform for full voice agents | $0.07 to $0.31/min plus telephony |
| Vapi | Developer platform, every voice component swappable | $0.05/min plus providers at cost |
1. Carly
Carly gives your AI a phone the way a business needs it: on the team’s own line, with the agent already built.
- Your AI chat dials. Add the Carly connector to ChatGPT or Claude and it can place calls and send texts from your business number, watch a live call and send the agent new instructions mid-call (how it works, tutorial).
- The voice agent is ready. Describe it in plain English and Carly answers inbound calls when your team can’t, calls new web leads within about a minute and follows your rules the same way on every call.
- It books on real calendars. Carly checks every teammate’s Google and Outlook calendar and books the right person during the call.
- It texts. Two-way texts from the same number, plus a text back on every missed call.
- It speaks Spanish. Carly detects a Spanish speaker and answers in Spanish.
- Everything is logged. Transcripts, texts and email land on one timeline in the team inbox and Carly’s CRM, or HubSpot, Salesforce and Dynamics 365.
- It reaches your other tools. Carly connects to thousands of apps and call outcomes trigger free Zapier-style workflows.
Setup: copy this prompt into ChatGPT or Claude, grab a number, and you’re live.
Carly business setup prompt
Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or any AI. It walks you through the rest.
Help me connect Carly Teams to this chat: read https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp.txt and follow it. If you can't open links, tell me how to add https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp to you as a custom MCP connector, then I'll sign in.
- Best for: businesses that want AI on the phones without building the agent.
- Pricing: Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month. Get started.
Building your own agent and need it to have an email inbox as well? CarlyEmail gives each agent its own inbox.
2. Bland Agent Phone
Bland’s Agent Phone Plan gives a personal AI like Claude, Codex or Grok Bot its own US number that calls, takes calls and texts.
- Best for: one person’s assistant making personal calls.
- Pricing: $14.99 the first month, then $29.99 a month.
- Limitations: one call at a time, 50 calls and 100 texts a day, US and Canada only. See Bland AI.
3. Vapi Agent Phone
Vapi’s Personal Agent Calling, in beta since September 30, lets assistants like Claude Code and Cursor have Vapi call a business and read back the transcript.
- Best for: trying agent calling for free.
- Pricing: free in beta, 3 call attempts a day and 10 in total.
- Limitations: places calls only, from Vapi’s number. See Vapi AI.
4. Retell AI
Retell is a full developer platform for AI phone agents, with call flows, testing and a built-in CRM.
- Best for: developers who want the whole voice stack managed, not just the number.
- Pricing: $0.07 to $0.31 a minute plus telephony.
- Limitations: you build and maintain the agent. See Retell AI alternatives.
5. Vapi
Vapi lets engineers pick every part: transcriber, model, voice and carrier.
- Best for: teams that want maximum control.
- Pricing: $0.05 a minute for hosting plus providers at cost.
- Limitations: the most assembly of any option here. See Vapi alternatives.
More options for personal assistants are in AI assistants that make phone calls.
FAQ
What is AgentPhone?
AgentPhone is an API that gives AI agents their own phone numbers for calls and texts, from Relay Innovations in New York, a Y Combinator Spring 2026 company. Developers connect through its API, SDKs or MCP server.
How much does AgentPhone cost?
$3 a number per month, $0.13 a voice minute ($0.22 if AgentPhone hosts the agent), $0.02 a text segment and $0.03 an MMS. New accounts get $5 of credit, and there’s no monthly minimum.
Does AgentPhone work with Claude and ChatGPT?
Its MCP server works with Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf and other MCP clients. To have ChatGPT or Claude call and text from your business number with a ready voice agent, add the Carly connector.
Can AgentPhone answer my business calls?
It can if you build the agent and connect it to your calendar and CRM. Carly answers business calls out of the box, books on your team’s calendars and logs every call. Paste one prompt into ChatGPT or Claude, grab a number, and you’re live.
Is AgentPhone the same as Bland Agent Phone?
No. AgentPhone is a separate company selling numbers to developers by usage. Bland’s Agent Phone is a $29.99-a-month plan from Bland that gives one personal AI a number.
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