AI agent phone plans compared (2026): Bland, ClawCall, Allo, AgentPhone, and more
Bland, 13 min read
An AI agent phone plan gives an AI assistant a phone number to call from, and often to take calls and texts on, so it can ask a hotel about a late checkout or a store about stock and report back. The options split five ways: finished calling agents (ClawCall), team phone systems with an AI receptionist (Allo), developer phone APIs (AgentPhone, Dial, and AgentLine), calling built into an assistant (Grok Bot, Gemini Call for Me, Meta Muse, and OpenAI dots), and carriers a developer builds on (Twilio and Telnyx).
The biggest difference between them is the number behind the calls. An agent may borrow a shared or temporary caller ID, dial from the owner's own phone, or get a number of its own that people can call and text back.
What is an AI agent phone plan?
An AI agent phone plan, such as Bland's Agent Phone Plan or ClawCall's Unlimited plan, is a service that lets an AI agent place phone calls for a person, and on some plans take calls and send texts from a number of its own.
Four questions decide which kind a person has bought. The first is whose number the agent uses: a dedicated number belongs to that one account, a shared number is lent from a pool that other customers also call from, a temporary number can be taken back by the provider, and some services dial from the owner's own phone. The second is whether people can call or text that number back and reach the agent. The third is whether the price is flat or charged per minute and per text, and the fourth is where the agent can call.
Developer APIs and carriers add a fifth question, which is how much the buyer has to build. They sell numbers, minutes, and messages by the unit, and a developer wires them into an app. AgentPhone and a Dial Virtual number also need 10DLC registration before US texting, the US carrier registration for business texting from a local number.
Bland's Agent Phone Plan
Bland's Agent Phone Plan gives an AI agent one dedicated US local number for calls and SMS. The agent places a call to request a table or ask about a delivery window, then reports back with a transcript and summary. People can call the number and reach the agent, and when someone texts back, Bland answers from the number toward the goal the agent was given.
The plan costs $9.99 for the first month (once per account owner), then $19.99 a month. Renews monthly on the card on file until cancelled. Calls and texts to US and Canada numbers are unlimited, subject to fair use, which means published limits: one call at a time, 20 calls an hour, 50 calls a day, 1,000 call minutes a day, 60 minutes per outbound call, 20 texts an hour, and 100 texts a day. The first plan purchase also includes an extra $10 of international calling credits, so the agent can make international calls, and the plan includes live call transfer to the owner and voice cloning. There is no trial on the plan itself, though a person can try Bland for free, and that try covers outbound calls only, from a shared Bland number: no dedicated number, no texting, no incoming calls. The plan is cancelled in Billing and Plans or through the API, and sold on the AI phone number page.
Setup starts from the AI a person already uses. Most clients connect over Bland's MCP server (MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is the standard way an AI assistant plugs into an outside tool), and Meta Muse connects through Bland's REST API with a key. The plan is built for one agent running one person's errands, one call at a time, so a team placing calls at volume needs Bland's Build plan or Enterprise. Build is on the pricing page. Enterprise pricing is custom, set with Bland's sales team.
How do AI agent phone plans compare?
Bland's Agent Phone Plan and its 19 rivals, from ClawCall to DialMCP, differ most on whose number the agent uses and whether anyone can call or text it back, as of November 2026. Prices are each company's own published starting figures.
Number, calls, and texts
What each option is, where it calls, and what it costs
Which kind of AI agent phone plan fits which job?
Bland's Agent Phone Plan fits one person whose AI agent runs errands by phone and text, while ClawCall, Allo, the developer APIs, built-in assistant calling, and the carriers each fit a narrower job.
Finished calling agents: ClawCall
ClawCall is a finished AI calling agent that dials, waits on hold, talks to whoever answers, and brings back the result, one outbound call at a time per account. The $8.99 Unlimited plan calls from shared ClawCall numbers, Unlimited Reserve at $14.99 a month adds a dedicated US caller-ID number, and Unlimited Reserve Plus at $18.99 a month answers calls on that number. ClawCall doesn't send texts from a number, and it calls US +1 numbers only. ClawCall suits a person who wants outbound errand calls in the US and doesn't need anyone to text the agent back.
Team phone systems: Allo
Allo is a business phone system for teams, with a business number per seat, a shared number for the team, and an AI receptionist that answers calls. Allo says of its AI agent, "Today it answers calls, it does not place them." Allo sells seats to people through a checkout, so an agent can act on an account it holds a key for and can't open one. Allo suits a team that wants an AI to answer its shared business line.
Developer phone APIs and voice platforms
AgentPhone, Dial, AgentLine, and Hail sell a number plus usage, and a developer builds the agent's calling and texting around it. AgentPhone charges $3.00 a month per number, then $0.13 a minute for a developer's own agent over a webhook or $0.22 hosted, and $0.02 a text segment. Dial sells three number types, Virtual at $3.00 a month, Local at $35.00, and All channels at $300.00, and bills calls per minute by default, with an optional flat monthly or yearly per-number subscription. AgentLine is open source under the MIT licence, and its Individual plan is $20 per month for one number, 100 minutes, and 400 texts. Hail is prepaid at $0.10 a minute, with numbers in 120+ countries.
Vapi and Retell AI are platforms for building full voice agents, aimed at developers and businesses. A free Vapi number takes inbound calls only, and outbound calls need a number imported from another provider. Retell AI requires identity checks before outbound calls, and its SMS add-on waits on carrier approval. These suit a developer who wants to wire numbers, webhooks, and per-minute billing into an app it builds itself.
Calling built into an assistant
Grok Bot can place and receive calls on its own. Grok Bot's terms of service, section 2.7, updated 31 October 2026, say the calls announce a virtual assistant and may be recorded, the customer is the caller of record, and any number assigned is temporary and can be reclaimed. Bland's case for Grok Bot is a dedicated US number that also texts and takes calls in, at a known price.
Gemini Call for Me lets the Gemini mobile app phone businesses for a person, on a Pixel 11 with a US SIM and a Google AI subscription, from the person's own number. Gemini calls US numbers only, and Google says every call opens by disclosing that it's an AI assistant from Google calling on a recorded line. Meta is experimenting with Muse calling businesses with publicly listed numbers, for things like opening hours or bookings. An OpenAI dot has a number its owner can text over iMessage or RCS, not SMS, and the owner calls a dot from the ChatGPT app rather than by phone.
Carriers: Twilio and Telnyx
Twilio and Telnyx sell phone numbers, minutes, and messages to developers who build their own apps on them. Twilio charges $1.15 a month for a US local number and $0.0140 a minute for local calls it places, and offers numbers in over 100 locales. Telnyx charges $0.002 a minute on its Voice API plus SIP trunking (the carrier link that carries a call), and Telnyx also runs ClawdTalk. Bland is an official Twilio partner, and Twilio is the better fit for a developer building its own calling or texting product on numbers it controls. Bland's plan fits a person who wants the agent to have a working number without building one.
Phone tools for OpenClaw and MCP clients
ClawdTalk, a Telnyx product, gives an OpenClaw bot a voice line: the owner calls the bot, or the bot calls out, and on the free plan the bot can call only the owner's verified number. clawr.ing is a calling skill that lets an OpenClaw agent call its owner, at $5 a month for 60 minutes. The OpenClaw voice-call plugin places and takes calls through the owner's own Twilio, Telnyx, or Plivo account and number, with inbound calls off by default.
call4me and DialMCP plug calling into an assistant over MCP. call4me gives every account a free US number on its first call and charges $0.25 a minute from pickup. DialMCP calls from the person's own verified US or Canadian number, one call at a time, takes no calls in, and is free during its launch. OpenClaw reaches Bland's plan by adding Bland's MCP server under mcp.servers in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json, with the key in the BLAND_API_KEY environment variable, or by signing itself up from Bland's docs.
Which AI agent phone plan comparison should I read?
A reader weighing Bland against one rival, such as ClawCall or Twilio, should start with that head-to-head page, and the groups below cover every other comparison in this set.
Head-to-head comparisons
Each of these sets Bland's Agent Phone Plan against one rival on number, calls, texts, price, and setup.
- Bland Agent Phone Plan vs ClawCall (2026): Which phone plan should an AI agent use?
- Bland Agent Phone Plan vs AgentPhone (2026): Flat plan or pay-per-minute phone API?
- Bland Agent Phone Plan vs Allo (2026): Which phone number should an AI agent use?
- Grok Bot calling vs Bland Agent Phone Plan (2026): Does Grok Bot need its own number?
- Bland Agent Phone Plan vs ClawdTalk (2026): Which phone line is better for OpenClaw?
- OpenAI dots vs Bland Agent Phone Plan (2026): Can a dot call a business for me?
- Meta Muse calling vs Bland Agent Phone Plan (2026): Which can call a business for me?
- Gemini Call for Me vs Bland Agent Phone Plan (2026): Which AI can make calls for me?
- Twilio vs Bland Agent Phone Plan (2026): Build an AI agent's phone number or buy one?
- Vapi vs Bland Agent Phone Plan (2026): Which is simpler for giving an agent a phone number?
- Retell vs Bland Agent Phone Plan (2026): Which lets Claude make calls from its own number?
- Dial vs Bland Agent Phone Plan (2026): Which phone number should an AI agent use?
- AgentLine vs Bland Agent Phone Plan (2026): Open-source phone API or flat phone plan?
Rival vs rival comparisons
Two rivals go side by side on each page, for someone choosing between them.
- ClawCall vs AgentPhone (2026): Finished calling agent or developer phone API?
- ClawCall vs Allo (2026): AI calling agent or AI phone system?
- ClawCall vs ClawdTalk (2026): Which gives an AI agent a better phone line?
- Grok Bot calling vs ClawCall (2026): Does Grok Bot need an add-on to make calls?
- AgentPhone vs Dial (2026): Two phone APIs for AI agents, compared
Group comparisons
These weigh three or four options at once.
- Bland vs ClawCall vs AgentPhone vs Allo (2026): Best phone number for an AI agent
- Bland vs ClawdTalk vs AgentLine vs Hail (2026): Cheapest phone line for an AI agent?
- Bland vs Twilio vs Telnyx (2026): Build or buy an AI agent's phone number?
- Gemini Call for Me vs Meta Muse vs OpenAI dots (2026): Which AI can make calls for me?
Reviews
Each review covers what one rival is, how it works, what it costs, and how Bland compares.
- ClawCall review (2026): What it is and why agent owners choose Bland
- Allo review (2026): What it is and why agent owners choose Bland
- AgentPhone review (2026): What it is and why agent owners choose Bland
- ClawdTalk review (2026): What it is and why OpenClaw users choose Bland
- Grok Bot calling review (2026): What it can do and where a dedicated number helps
- Dial review (2026): What it is and why agent owners choose Bland
Alternatives
Each list starts from one rival and sets out other ways to give an agent a phone.
- 7 ClawCall alternatives in 2026 for giving an AI agent its own phone number
- 6 Allo alternatives in 2026 for giving an AI agent its own phone number
- 6 ClawdTalk alternatives in 2026 for OpenClaw phone calls and texts
- 6 ways to give Grok Bot its own phone number in 2026
- 5 Gemini Call for Me alternatives in 2026 that work on any phone
Ranked lists
The ranked lists put the options for one job in order, with Bland first.
- 8 best AI agent phone plans in 2026, compared
- 7 best AI agents that can make phone calls in 2026
- 7 best OpenClaw phone call tools in 2026
- 7 best AI assistants that call businesses for me in 2026
Topical comparisons
Each topical page answers one question about how an agent's phone line works.
- Shared vs dedicated phone numbers for AI agents (2026): What changes when an agent calls
- OpenClaw voice-call plugin vs a hosted MCP server (2026): Which is easier for phone calls?
Setup and errand pages
These Bland pages show the plan working with one AI or on one errand.
- OpenClaw phone calls: give OpenClaw its own number
- Poke phone calls: give Poke its own number
- Cursor phone calls: an MCP server that dials
- VS Code phone calls: let an agent dial out
- Gemini CLI phone calls: give it a number
- AI that calls a hotel: late checkout and more
- AI that calls to reschedule an appointment
- AI that calls to confirm a delivery window
- AI that calls about a return or refund
- AI that calls a store to check stock
Bland isn't partnered with or endorsed by OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Google, or SpaceXSI.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best way to give an AI agent a phone number?
For one person's AI agent, the best way is Bland's Agent Phone Plan, which gives the agent a dedicated US number that calls and texts in both directions at $9.99 for the first month (once per account owner), then $19.99 a month. A developer building its own app is better served by a phone API such as AgentPhone or Dial, or by a carrier such as Twilio, and ClawCall suits outbound errand calls in the US that need no texts.
Which AI agent phone plans include texting?
Bland's Agent Phone Plan, AgentPhone, Dial, AgentLine, Twilio, and Telnyx all send and receive texts from the agent's number, and Allo sends texts on its Business plan. Hail sends and receives texts, Retell AI adds SMS after carrier approval, and Vapi texts only through a Twilio number. ClawCall and DialMCP place calls without texting anyone from a number, and an OpenAI dot texts its owner over iMessage or RCS, not SMS.
Can an AI agent take incoming calls on its own number?
Yes, on Bland's Agent Phone Plan people can call the agent's number and reach the agent, and AgentPhone, Dial, AgentLine, and ClawdTalk take calls in as well. ClawCall takes calls in only on Unlimited Reserve Plus or a connected Twilio number, Hail only on a dedicated number, and DialMCP takes none, so callbacks go to the person's own phone. Because Bland's plan runs one call at a time, a new caller hears a busy message while a call is live.
How much does an AI agent phone plan cost?
Bland's Agent Phone Plan costs $9.99 for the first month (once per account owner), then $19.99 a month, with calls and texts to US and Canada numbers included under fair use. ClawCall starts at $8.99 a month on shared numbers, AgentLine's Individual plan is $20 per month for 100 minutes and 400 texts, AgentPhone charges $3.00 a month per number plus each minute and text, and Dial's Virtual number is $3.00 a month with calls billed per minute by default. Hail and call4me are prepaid by the minute, at $0.10 and $0.25.
Does Grok Bot need its own phone number to make calls?
No, Grok Bot can place and receive calls with a temporary number that can be reclaimed, under Grok Bot's terms of service, section 2.7, updated 31 October 2026. Bland's Agent Phone Plan gives Grok Bot a dedicated US number that also texts and takes calls in, at a known price. Setup starts by adding the Phone with Bland template to Grok Bot and following its steps, and Bland's docs say Grok Bot needs an extra compatibility check.
Can a person try an AI agent phone plan for free?
Yes, Bland and ClawCall both have a free start. A person can try Bland for free, and that try covers outbound calls only, from a shared Bland number: no dedicated number, no texting, no incoming calls. ClawCall gives 30 calls or 30 minutes, whichever comes first, with no card, AgentPhone and Dial start new accounts with $5 of credit, ClawdTalk has a free plan, and DialMCP is free during its launch.
Which AIs can use Bland's Agent Phone Plan?
ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, OpenClaw, Poke, Meta Muse, and Grok Bot can all use Bland's Agent Phone Plan, with Grok Bot subject to Bland's extra compatibility check. In ChatGPT, a person turns on developer mode for apps and connectors, adds Bland's MCP server as a custom connector, and signs in with Bland; ChatGPT then places outbound calls and reads results, and the plan is bought in the Bland dashboard. A ChatGPT user should check that their ChatGPT plan can add a custom connector with write actions before subscribing, and Bland's guide to give ChatGPT a phone number has the steps. In the Claude app, a person adds a custom connector under Settings, Connectors, pointing at Bland's MCP server, then signs in with Bland, and Meta Muse uses Bland's REST API with a key rather than MCP.
