Is a free AI voice agent really free?
Rarely. Free AI voice agents are usually free trials, free tiers with tight minute caps, or open-source frameworks where the software is free but telephony, speech, language-model usage, hosting and engineering time are not. Outpero is not free either: it gives 50 free credits at signup, then charges ₹5 to ₹6.8 per connected minute with no setup fee or monthly base fee. Prices exclude 18% GST.
The three kinds of free
| Type | What is free | What you still pay for |
|---|---|---|
| Free trial | A small block of minutes or credit | Everything after the trial |
| Free tier | A capped number of minutes each month | Usage above the cap, often features too |
| Open-source framework | The software code | Telephony, speech recognition, language model, text-to-speech, servers, engineers |
Why calls cannot be free at scale
Every phone call uses a carrier line, and every AI conversation runs speech recognition, a language model and speech synthesis in real time. Each of those has a cost per minute for whoever provides it. A vendor offering free calling indefinitely is either recovering the cost elsewhere or limiting usage.
The honest version of free on Outpero
Outpero gives 50 free credits at signup. Since 1 credit equals ₹1, that is ₹50 of connected talk time: about 10 minutes on Standard or about 7 on Premium. It is enough to test the agent on real calls in your language before paying anything.
After that, the costs are short and published: ₹5 or ₹6.8 per connected minute, ₹649 a month for a dedicated number, no setup fee, no monthly base fee and no contract. Credits never expire.
When open source is the right free
If your team includes engineers who want full control, an open-source stack can be the cheapest route at high volume. Budget for the component bills and the time to reach acceptable latency, interruption handling and code-switching in Indian languages, which is most of the work.
- —Ask any free offer what happens at the end of the trial or above the cap.
- —Check whether free-tier calls use the same voices and speed as paid calls.
- —Confirm whether recordings and transcripts are kept after the trial.
A trial's real value is the evidence it produces: recordings and transcripts of calls in your language, with your script, on your kind of customer. Judge any free offer by how much of that it lets you see.
Want to hear an AI voice agent handle this on a real call?
Follow-up questions
How many test calls do 50 free credits cover?
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At about 2 minutes per test call, 50 credits cover roughly five calls on the ₹5 Standard voice or three to four on the ₹6.8 Premium voice. Unanswered calls use no credits. That is usually enough to test latency, a language switch and a difficult objection.