Vapi Pricing Explained
2 min read · Bolcho
Vapi's pricing is developer-friendly but dollar-denominated: a per-minute platform fee sits on top of the underlying STT, LLM and TTS provider costs you also pay. For Indian teams doing volume, that markup plus forex plus card-only billing adds up fast. This page breaks down what a Vapi minute really costs and how Bolcho's rupee-near-cost model compares.
How Vapi pricing works
Vapi charges a per-minute platform fee — commonly quoted around $0.05–$0.13 at the time of writing — and passes through the provider costs for speech-to-text, the LLM and text-to-speech on top. You bring your own model keys or use theirs, and telephony (Twilio) is separate.
None of that is unreasonable for a global developer platform. It's just billed in USD on a card, so for Indian teams there's forex, no UPI/netbanking, and a per-minute markup on every call.
What a minute actually costs
Once you convert to rupees and add the platform fee on top of provider (STT + LLM + TTS) costs, a minute of Vapi conversation usually lands well above what the same call costs on Bolcho.
How Bolcho prices
Bolcho meters each call to the token and character and bills near raw provider cost in ₹, with prompt caching and smart provider routing shaving roughly another 20%. There's no opaque per-minute platform markup, and you pay in rupees over UPI or netbanking with GST invoices.
Billed in ₹, near cost
No opaque per-minute markup. Meter to the token and character, pay over UPI/netbanking, get GST invoices — and estimate cost per minute before you launch.
Cutting your voice AI bill
The biggest cost levers, whichever platform you're on:
- Cache repeated phrases (greetings, disclaimers, confirmations) instead of re-synthesising them — Bolcho does this automatically.
- Route to the cheapest capable model per task instead of one premium model for everything.
- Keep prompts tight and use retrieval so the LLM reads less on every turn.
- Use good endpointing so you're not paying for dead air at the end of turns.
- Bill in ₹ near provider cost to remove the platform markup entirely.
Switch to Bolcho this week
Same agent, half the latency, billed in ₹ near cost. Import your prompt and go live in an afternoon.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Vapi cost per minute?
Vapi adds a per-minute platform fee (often ~$0.05–$0.13 at the time of writing) on top of the STT/LLM/TTS provider costs, so an all-in minute typically lands around ₹8–14 once converted. Always check Vapi's current published rates for your exact setup.
Is Bolcho cheaper than Vapi?
For India-focused volume, usually yes — Bolcho bills in ₹ near raw provider cost (typically ₹1.80–3.00/min) with caching and routing cutting ~20% more, versus Vapi's USD per-minute markup on top of provider costs.
Can I pay in rupees?
On Bolcho, yes — UPI/netbanking top-ups and GST invoices in ₹. Vapi bills in USD on a card.
What drives voice AI cost the most?
TTS and LLM usage per minute, plus any platform markup. Caching repeated audio, routing to the cheapest capable model, tight prompts and good endpointing are the biggest levers.