What the two have in common
Both let you configure an agent, point a phone number at it, and take calls that stop and listen when the caller interrupts. Both support conversation flows as well as single-prompt agents, a knowledge base, outbound batches, voicemail handling, call recording, webhooks and your own SIP trunk. If your list of requirements stops there, either will work, and the choice comes down to price shape and the details below.
Where Dialgem may fit better
- A rate card with four parts you can see: a $0.030 platform rate, a voice, a model and a phone line, $0.045 to $0.135 per connected minute all-in, billed by the second. The pricing calculator itemises it.
- Prepaid credit with no contract and no seat or per-agent fee. You add credit by card and calls draw it down.
- Speech recognition and voices that run on Dialgem's own hardware, so the platform rate covers recognition, recording and post-call analysis without a reseller margin on top.
- A TypeScript SDK and a REST API whose agent, phone-number and call shapes use the field names a Retell integration already writes, which makes moving an existing integration shorter than starting again.
Where Retell is the better fit
Be honest about these before you spend a week migrating.
- Compliance. Retell states HIPAA compliance with a Business Associate Agreement and SOC 2 certification. Dialgem does not hold a SOC 2 report or a HIPAA attestation today and does not sign a BAA. If you handle protected health information, this decides it.
- SDKs. Retell publishes official Node.js and Python libraries. Dialgem's SDK is TypeScript only; Python teams would call the REST API directly.
- Choice of models and voices. Retell lists a longer set of language models (including GPT, Claude and Gemini families and speech-to-speech models) and voice providers than Dialgem's Anthropic or OpenAI models and Cartesia, ElevenLabs or self-hosted voices.
- Phone-line cost on its own numbers. Retell lists telephony at $0.015 per minute against Dialgem's $0.025 inbound and $0.035 outbound. On your own SIP trunk neither adds a line charge.
How to decide in an afternoon
Put the same prompt, voice and model class on both and call each yourself. Interrupt in the middle of a sentence, ask something off script, and let one call go to voicemail. Then price the same configuration in both calculators with the same average call length. A comparison of headline numbers will mislead you, because Retell quotes a range that spans every model and voice and Dialgem splits the same choices into parts.
Questions
- Is Dialgem cheaper than Retell?
- It depends on the configuration, and we do not claim otherwise. The component rates overlap closely. Price your own setup in both calculators with the same voice, model, line and call length.
- Can I use Dialgem if I need HIPAA?
- Not today. Dialgem does not sign a Business Associate Agreement and has no HIPAA attestation. If that is a requirement, use a provider that has one.
- How long does switching take?
- See the step-by-step guide. Because the field names match, recreating an agent is mostly copying values, but there is no one-click importer.
Sources
This is an independent comparison written by Dialgem. Dialgem is not affiliated with or endorsed by Retell AI; Retell is a trademark of its owner and is used here only to identify its product. Retell's details were read from its public pages on 31 October 2026 and can change. Check the sources before you decide, and tell us if anything is out of date.