# ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP vs Retell AI API + MCP

> ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP has a score of 71.5 (BB) against Retell AI API + MCP's 69.4 (B). Both do voice agent. The largest gap is agent ergonomics, 17 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-retell-ai
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-retell-ai.md (~1,650 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-retell-ai.min.md (~330 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-retell-ai.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-04

ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP has a score of 71.5 (BB) against Retell AI API + MCP's 69.4 (B). Both do voice agent. The largest gap is agent ergonomics, 17 points.

- ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP: grade BB, 71.5/100, rank #83 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elevenlabs-agents.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/elevenlabs-agents.json
- Retell AI API + MCP: grade B, 69.4/100, rank #114 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/retell-ai.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/retell-ai.json

## Which one, for what

Pick ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP for agent ergonomics (+17).

Pick Retell AI API + MCP for payments & pricing (+5).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP | Retell AI API + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 92 | 92 | even |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 60 | ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP +17 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 76 | 76 | even |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 40 | Retell AI API + MCP +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 85 | 85 | even |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 79 | 79 | even |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **71.5 · BB** | **69.4 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP | Retell AI API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | ElevenLabs | Retell AI |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/convai` | `https://api.retellai.com` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT (SDKs) | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) |
| Tools exposed | none | none |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.elevenlabs/mcp` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-29 | 2026-09-14 |
| Popularity | 114 stars, 1.2M npm/wk, 2.2M PyPI/wk | 62 stars, 243k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP.** API keys scoped to endpoint groups, with per-key credit limits and service accounts. $0.08 a minute excludes LLM tokens and carrier minutes.

**Retell AI API + MCP.** Published per-minute price for every component, from $0.07 a minute all in. Call data kept indefinitely unless retention is set per agent.

## Before you call either

### ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP

1. Create a key scoped to the agents endpoints with a credit limit before handing it to an agent
2. Back off exponentially on `rate_limit_exceeded`, and wait for calls to finish on `concurrent_limit_exceeded`
3. Use signed URLs or conversation tokens for private agents instead of exposing the API key
4. Set `platform_settings.privacy.retention_days` where you don't need 2 years of history
5. Pick a low-latency LLM, the pipeline waits on it every turn

### Retell AI API + MCP

1. Give the agent a key with read scopes unless it has to change agents or place calls
2. Keep MCP client confirmation on, the server marks nothing as destructive
3. Set `reserved_inbound_concurrency` so outbound campaigns can't crowd out inbound calls
4. Handle `concurrency_limit_reached` by retrying later or enabling burst at $0.10 a minute extra
5. Set a data retention period on each agent that handles personal data

## Other comparisons with ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP or Retell AI API + MCP

- [Bland AI API + MCP vs ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bland-ai-vs-elevenlabs-agents.md)
- [Bland AI API + MCP vs Retell AI API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bland-ai-vs-retell-ai.md)
- [Bolna API + MCP vs ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bolna-vs-elevenlabs-agents.md)
- [Bolna API + MCP vs Retell AI API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bolna-vs-retell-ai.md)
- [Deepgram Voice Agent API vs ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-voice-agent-vs-elevenlabs-agents.md)
- [Deepgram Voice Agent API vs Retell AI API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-voice-agent-vs-retell-ai.md)
- [ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP vs Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-hume-evi.md)
- [ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP vs Synthflow API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-synthflow.md)
- [ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP vs Ultravox Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-ultravox.md)
- [ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP vs Vapi API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-vapi.md)
- [ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP vs Vogent API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-vogent.md)
- [Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs Retell AI API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-retell-ai.md)
- [Retell AI API + MCP vs Synthflow API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/retell-ai-vs-synthflow.md)
- [Retell AI API + MCP vs Ultravox Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/retell-ai-vs-ultravox.md)
- [Retell AI API + MCP vs Vapi API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/retell-ai-vs-vapi.md)
- [Retell AI API + MCP vs Vogent API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/retell-ai-vs-vogent.md)