Quick answer: For a US sales team that power-dials, CloudTalk’s seat is cheaper: Essential plus the Power add-on is US$44 a rep a month billed annually (US$48.84 with its 11% US fee) against US$50 for Aircall Professional, which needs 3 licences. Add an AI receptionist and Aircall won our worked bill at 3, 10 and 25 reps. Prices as at 4 November 2026.
“CloudTalk vs Aircall” is a choice between two cloud phone systems built for sales and support teams, both now selling AI voice agents. CloudTalk, whose billing address is in Bratislava, Slovakia, sells Starter, Essential and Expert plans plus Power Dialer, Parallel Dialer and AI Voice Agent add-ons. Aircall sells Essentials, Professional and Enterprise, plus AI Voice Agents as a standalone product. They split most sharply on four things: which plan carries the power dialler, whether a parallel dialler exists for human reps, how the AI agent is metered, and CloudTalk’s fee for customers billed in the US or Canada. Every vendor fact below comes from CloudTalk’s and Aircall’s own pricing pages, help centres, legal pages and release notes, read on 4 November 2026, in US dollars unless marked otherwise.
Where Zian fits next to CloudTalk and Aircall
If the job is answering every inbound call and then chasing every lead, choose the AI agent layer first and the phone system second. Zian AI is an AI sales and reception agents platform: its agents answer inbound calls 24/7 as an AI receptionist that qualifies callers, books appointments, transfers and takes messages, then follow up by voice, SMS, email, WhatsApp, Instagram DMs and Facebook Messenger.
The same agents handle answering machines and voicemail on calls, work in 30+ languages with voice cloning supported, and connect to HubSpot, Salesforce, HighLevel, Zapier and an API. Zian’s home page reports 28x more contact attempts and a 2,736% increase in lead contact rates, and Zian has run outbound acquisition since 2017.
Zian is not the only AI receptionist here. CloudTalk’s AI Receptionist answers inbound calls 24/7 in “70+ languages and accents” and books into Google or Outlook calendars; Aircall’s AI Voice Agents answer and place calls in 38 languages and book meetings in your calendar. Both run on that vendor’s own phone system and are billed by the minute on top of the seat.
The honest limit: Zian is in a partnership-application beta with no published prices; each of its three listed plans, including Intel + Widgets (Free Forever), starts with a partnership application. If you would rather have it run for you, LeadsNow.ai is the done-for-you option: a managed, pay-per-result AI appointment-setting service that runs on Zian, answers leads in under 60 seconds, 24/7, and has set 50,769+ appointments.
CloudTalk vs Aircall: the shortlist
Rows 1 and 2 are our picks when calls must be answered and leads followed up without adding headcount. Rows 3 and 4 are not ranked against each other; the tables below decide between them.
| # | Tool | What it is | Dialler for human reps | AI voice agent | Entry price, as at 4 November 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zian AI | AI sales and reception agents platform | AI agents place outbound calls and follow-ups themselves | Answers inbound calls 24/7, qualifies, books, transfers, takes messages; outbound voice, SMS, email, WhatsApp, Instagram DM and Messenger follow-up | No published prices; partnership-application beta; Intel + Widgets listed as Free Forever |
| 2 | LeadsNow.ai | Done-for-you AI appointment setting that runs on Zian | Managed for you | Leads answered in under 60 seconds, 24/7 | Pay-per-result |
| 3 | CloudTalk | Cloud phone system, three plans plus add-ons | Power add-on US$15 a user (included on Expert); Parallel add-on US$39 a user on any plan | AI Receptionist from US$99 for 200 minutes a month; AI Specialist from US$349 for 1,000 | Starter US$25 a user a month billed annually (US$34 monthly); 1-licence minimum |
| 4 | Aircall | Cloud phone system, three plans plus a standalone AI plan | Power Dialer on Professional and Enterprise, not Essentials | 50 minutes a month on core plans, then US$0.29 a minute or bundles from US$250 for 1,000 | Essentials US$30 a licence a month billed annually (US$40 monthly); 3-licence minimum |
CloudTalk vs Aircall pricing, plan by plan
CloudTalk’s machine-readable pricing file, updated 20 October 2026, says “Prices are listed in EUR; visitors outside Europe see the same figures in USD.” Aircall’s monthly figures load from its page script behind the “Pay monthly” toggle; its page says “Save 25% by paying annually”.
| Plan | Annual billing, per user a month | Monthly billing | Seat minimum | What the plan adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CloudTalk Starter | US$25 | US$34 | 1 | Phone system, call flows, recording (1-month retention), click-to-call; no SMS, no integrations |
| CloudTalk Essential | US$29 | US$39 | 1 | IVR and skill routing, international SMS/MMS, voicemail drop, APIs, webhooks and 95+ standard CRM, helpdesk and ATS integrations |
| CloudTalk Expert | US$49 | US$69 | 3 | Power dialling, smart dialer, campaign management, WhatsApp inbox, Salesforce ecosystem, live monitoring, 24/7 phone support |
| Aircall Essentials | US$30 | US$40 | 3 | Unlimited US and Canada calls (“Terms of Use apply”), SMS and MMS, IVR, recordings and AI transcripts, 250+ integrations incl. HubSpot, 50 AI Voice Agent minutes |
| Aircall Professional | US$50 | US$70 | 3 | Power Dialer, voicemail drop, outbound call campaigns, AI call summaries, smart routing, Salesforce, full API |
| Aircall Enterprise | Custom | Custom | 25 | Unlimited global calls, SSO and SCIM, enterprise SLA |
| Aircall AI Voice Agents (standalone) | US$100 a month minimum | US$125 (page script) | None; includes 1 user | AI Voice Agents “with or without a phone system”, with native Aircall numbers |
Annual billing saves 26.5% on CloudTalk Starter, 25.6% on Essential and 29.0% on Expert, against 25.0% on Aircall Essentials and 28.6% on Professional. Both lock you in once you choose it. CloudTalk’s annual plan “comes with a 12-month commitment”, and CloudTalk “bills in advance and doesn’t offer refunds or credits for partial months, unused time, or plan changes”. Aircall’s plans article says annual upfront licences “are locked for the year and cannot be reduced mid-term”, and its cancellation article requires 30 days’ written notice before renewal on annual or committed plans.
One line sits outside the list price. CloudTalk’s pricing page says “Customers billed in the United States or Canada also pay CloudTalk’s Compliance and Administrative Cost Recovery Fee of 11% of the software subscription (in Canada from 2 December 2026)”, and its US fees article says “It is a CloudTalk fee: it is not a tax”. Aircall’s pricing FAQ says “There are no administrative recovery fees or hidden surcharges.” Both price lists exclude taxes.
Which CloudTalk and Aircall plans include a power or parallel dialler?
CloudTalk sells its diallers as add-ons on any plan; Aircall ties its human dialler to one plan.
| Dialler mode | CloudTalk | Aircall |
|---|---|---|
| Click-to-call | All plans | All plans |
| Power (sequential, one line) | Power add-on US$15 a user a month (billed annually) on Starter and Essential; included on Expert; 14-day trial | Power Dialer on Professional (US$50); lists up to 1,000 numbers; desktop and web only |
| Parallel (several lines per rep) | Parallel add-on US$39 a user a month on any plan, plus a Parallel Calling seat per agent; up to 5 lines (help centre) or up to 10 (pricing page) | We could not find one for human reps, as at 4 November 2026; Aircall’s “Parallel calling” holds one call while you place a second |
| Voicemail detection and drop | Automatic with Parallel; manual drop with Power; voicemail drop on Essential and Expert | Voicemail drop on Professional; AI Voice Agents offer “Trigger-based outbound calling and voicemail detection” |
| Team campaigns | Campaign management on Expert; AI Sales Dialer with Power or Parallel add-on | Agent campaigns on Professional; AI Voice Agent campaigns on all plans |
| Fair use on dialler minutes | Parallel: 10,000 minutes per user in the US and Canada, 5,000 outside | “Terms of Use apply” to unlimited calling |
CloudTalk’s AI Sales Dialer plans article says the Power add-on is “Included in the Expert plan at no extra cost”, while its pricing file labels Expert’s “Preview & power dialer (add-on)”; the plan card on the same pricing page says “Included”. On parallel lines its pages also differ: the pricing page says “Dial up to 10 numbers at once”, and the parallel mode article sets a maximum of 5, adding “Up to 10 parallel calls can be enabled on request for some accounts.” The rebuilt dialler, live since 28 September 2026, “is being rolled out account by account”, and Parallel Calling seats “are assigned by CloudTalk, not self-serve”.
On Aircall, the Power Dialer article says it will “automatically dial them in sequence”, and that mobile devices “cannot use the Power Dialer”. Its parallel calling article allows “a maximum of 2 calls” at once, one on hold. We searched Aircall’s pricing page, its Power Dialer, parallel calling and Outbound Campaigns pages, its English pages sitemap and its August and September 2026 release notes and found no multi-line dialler for human reps. Aircall’s Outbound Campaigns overview says agent campaigns are “currently in beta”, while its 25 August release notes say “Outbound Campaigns is now generally available”. For how sequential and parallel dialling differ in practice, see our PhoneBurner vs Nooks comparison of power and parallel dialling.
The Fee-Adjusted Dialler Seat: why 11% narrows CloudTalk vs Aircall
The Fee-Adjusted Dialler Seat: before comparing a CloudTalk dialler seat with an Aircall one, multiply CloudTalk’s seat and dialler add-on by 1.11 if you are billed in the US, or in Canada from 2 December 2026. On list prices that shrinks CloudTalk’s advantage per rep from US$6 to US$1.16, and it puts CloudTalk Expert above Aircall Professional.
| Dialler seat, billed annually | List, per rep a month | US billing, and Canada from 2 December 2026 (CloudTalk +11%) | Billed outside the US and Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| CloudTalk Starter + Power (no integrations) | US$40.00 | US$44.40 | US$40.00 |
| CloudTalk Essential + Power | US$44.00 | US$48.84 | US$44.00 |
| CloudTalk Expert (Power included, Salesforce) | US$49.00 | US$54.39 | US$49.00 |
| CloudTalk Essential + Parallel | US$68.00 | US$75.48 | US$68.00 |
| Aircall Professional (Power Dialer) | US$50.00 | US$50.00 | Local price list, e.g. A$75 in Australia |
We applied the fee to the seat and the dialler add-on because CloudTalk describes it as 11% “of the software part of your subscription”; its article does not itemise which add-ons count. The rule flips for small teams. Aircall bills at least 3 licences, so one rep power-dialling costs US$150.00 a month on Aircall Professional against US$48.84 on CloudTalk Essential plus Power, and two reps cost US$150.00 against US$97.68. The 11% also does not apply outside the US and Canada, where CloudTalk keeps the same figures in euros or US dollars.
CloudTalk AI vs Aircall AI: how each bills a voice agent
Both sell an AI agent that answers and places calls. CloudTalk prices it in prepaid monthly minute bundles; Aircall prices it per minute after a monthly allowance.
| Question | CloudTalk AI Voice Agents | Aircall AI Voice Agents |
|---|---|---|
| Free minutes | 50 minutes free “for your first month”; 50 in the 14-day trial | 50 minutes every month on core plans; 100 trial minutes once for new accounts |
| Inbound receptionist pricing | AI Receptionist: US$99 for 200 minutes, US$199 for 500, US$299 for 1,000, US$699 for 2,500 a month | US$0.29 a minute pay as you go, or bundles of 1,000 minutes for US$250, 3,500 for US$805, 10,000 for US$1,900; “All plans: monthly billing, annual term” |
| Outbound and workflow agent | AI Specialist from US$349 for 1,000 minutes, “for outbound calls and advanced, end-to-end workflows” | Same per-minute rates plus US$0.015 for every outbound call attempt, not included in any bundle |
| Usage above the bundle | “Any usage beyond this prepaid amount is charged from credit”; we could not find a published per-minute rate | “Overage is billed at standard rates”; rates “depend on your contract and when you subscribed” |
| Languages | “70+ languages and accents” | 38 languages |
| Booking | Google or Outlook calendars | “Reviews your calendar and schedules, reschedules, or cancels appointments”; Calendly actions documented |
| How outbound AI calls start | Through the CloudTalk API, typically from HubSpot workflows, Zapier or Make | Trigger-based calls and AI Voice Agent campaigns on all plans |
At every CloudTalk AI Receptionist bundle size, Aircall’s cheapest route to the same minutes costs less, even when the CloudTalk bundle is fully used: 200 minutes cost US$99 against US$43.50, 500 cost US$199 against US$130.50, 1,000 cost US$299 against US$250.00, and 2,500 cost US$699 against US$670.50. The gap closes as volume rises, and two limbs cut the other way. Outbound AI work on Aircall carries the attempt fee, so 1,000 dialled attempts add US$15.00 whether or not anyone answers. And CloudTalk’s agent covers 70+ languages against Aircall’s 38, though CloudTalk’s AI pricing FAQ says multilingual support “may affect overall Voice AI price depending on engine and setup”. Above 10,000 minutes CloudTalk offers custom pricing “as low as” €0.15 a minute; Aircall’s pricing FAQ says “custom rates starting from $0.19/minute” at 10,000+ minutes, while its table on the same page lists “Over 50,000 minutes” as “Custom pricing (as low as $0.12)”.
How CloudTalk and Aircall round a call: billing increments
Rounding is a pricing fact, so we applied it before building the bill.
| Call type | CloudTalk | Aircall |
|---|---|---|
| Phone calls outside the plan’s allowance | “billed per started minute, not per second”; 1 minute 5 seconds is billed as 2 minutes | “All calls are rounded up to the nearest full minute”; 15 or 45 seconds is billed as 1 minute |
| When the clock starts | When the recipient answers; ringing with no answer is free; a carrier voicemail counts as answered | Usage report shows “Billed Duration in Mins” per call |
| AI voice agent time | “billed on a per-minute basis” from the bundle | “billed to the exact decimal minute (e.g., 66 seconds = 1.10 minutes)”; calls under 15 seconds not billable |
| Per-attempt charge | None found | US$0.015 per outbound AI call attempt |
CloudTalk does not say whether bundle minutes are counted per started minute or per second. Our worked bill picks the same CloudTalk bundle either way, so the rounding question does not change its totals.
What 3, 10 and 25 reps with a dialler cost a month: the worked bill
List prices only, computed by script on 4 November 2026, in US dollars a month, billed annually, for a US-billed team, before taxes, USF fees and calls outside each plan’s allowance. Each vendor uses its cheapest seat that has a power dialler and CRM integrations: CloudTalk Essential plus Power (US$44) and Aircall Professional (US$50). An AI receptionist answers 100, 300 and 750 inbound calls a month, averaging 2 minutes 20 seconds, every call over 15 seconds. Aircall’s 50 included minutes come off first; CloudTalk uses the smallest bundle that covers the minutes, because it publishes no overage rate.
| Line | 3 reps, 100 AI calls | 10 reps, 300 AI calls | 25 reps, 750 AI calls |
|---|---|---|---|
| CloudTalk seats: Essential + Power, US$44 × reps | US$132.00 | US$440.00 | US$1,100.00 |
| CloudTalk 11% fee on seats and Power | US$14.52 | US$48.40 | US$121.00 |
| CloudTalk AI Receptionist bundle (minutes needed) | US$199.00 (500-minute bundle; 233 minutes) | US$299.00 (1,000; 700 minutes) | US$699.00 (2,500; 1,750 minutes) |
| CloudTalk total | US$345.52 | US$787.40 | US$1,920.00 |
| Aircall seats: Professional, US$50 × reps | US$150.00 | US$500.00 | US$1,250.00 |
| Aircall AI minutes (route) | US$53.17 (183.3 minutes × US$0.29) | US$188.50 (650 minutes × US$0.29) | US$453.00 (1,000-minute bundle US$250 + 700 × US$0.29) |
| Aircall total | US$203.17 | US$688.50 | US$1,703.00 |
| Seats and dialler only, no AI: CloudTalk vs Aircall | US$146.52 vs US$150.00 | US$488.40 vs US$500.00 | US$1,221.00 vs US$1,250.00 |
On these inputs Aircall’s monthly bill is lower at all three team sizes once the AI receptionist is added: by US$142.35 at 3 reps, US$98.90 at 10 and US$217.00 at 25. The AI line explains all of it. Without AI, CloudTalk is the cheaper dialler seat at every size even after its 11% fee, by US$3.48, US$11.60 and US$29.00, and a team billed outside the US and Canada saves the full US$6 a rep. If CloudTalk counts its AI bundle as part of the “software subscription”, add 11% of the bundle price, US$21.89, US$32.89 and US$76.89, which widens Aircall’s lead to US$164.24, US$131.79 and US$293.89.
The bill leaves out what the rows do not match. CloudTalk Expert, at US$49, adds Salesforce, campaign management and the WhatsApp inbox; on monthly billing Expert is US$69 against Aircall Professional’s US$70, or US$76.59 with the fee. Aircall Professional includes AI call summaries that CloudTalk sells as AI Conversation Intelligence at US$9 a user. Aircall includes one number per plan and charges US$6 a month for each extra; CloudTalk’s numbers start “from $6 per month”. Without AI, one or two reps widen CloudTalk’s lead, because Aircall’s three-licence floor costs US$150 before any AI minutes against US$48.84 or US$97.68 on CloudTalk; with an AI receptionist added, the result at that size turns on call volume. For how other AI receptionists price the same inbound calls, see our CloudTalk vs Dialpad comparison, which prices CloudTalk’s bundles against per-conversation AI.
Want every caller answered and every lead followed up by AI? Zian’s AI agents answer inbound calls 24/7 as an AI receptionist, place outbound calls, and follow up by SMS, email, WhatsApp, Instagram DMs and Facebook Messenger, with HubSpot, Salesforce, HighLevel and Zapier integrations. Apply For Partnership
International numbers, calling rates and EU data hosting
CloudTalk is the wider international option on numbers and published rates; both now publish where conversation data is stored.
| Criterion | CloudTalk | Aircall |
|---|---|---|
| Countries with numbers | “Local numbers in 160+ countries”; “Numbers starting at just $6” | 38 countries on its coverage page; its AI Receptionist page says new numbers “in 100+ countries” |
| International call rates | Published per-minute table, “Last updated: June 2025”, e.g. US$0.018 to the US, US$0.070 to Australian mobiles | “Contact us for rates and bundle” on Essentials and Professional; unlimited global calls on Enterprise |
| Calling bundles | Priced per user a month: DACH US$5, Europe US$10, LATAM US$15, AU/NZ/UK US$15, Asia US$20, World Lite US$15, World US$25; 3-user minimum | Domestic bundle by billing address; extended bundles through your Customer Success Manager |
| Australian allowance | 500 Australian outbound minutes per user on Starter, 1,000 on Essential, unlimited on Expert, plus US and Canada | Essentials A$45 a licence annual with 1,000 domestic outbound minutes; Professional A$75 with unlimited domestic calls |
| Where call data is stored | “Call recordings and AI data, such as call transcripts are stored in Germany, EU”; other data in four AWS regions | New accounts assigned a US (Oregon), EU (Frankfurt) or Australia (Sydney) region by signup number |
CloudTalk’s privacy centre adds that “All AI-related data is stored within the EU”, and that other data “maybe processed and stored” in Frankfurt, Northern Virginia, Singapore and Sydney; its security page describes data centres from Amazon AWS and Google Cloud Platform “across 9 locations globally”. Aircall’s regional data hosting page is candid about its limits: call and messaging metadata and account data “in most cases are stored in the US regardless of your account’s region”, AI Voice Agent data is regional only for accounts created on or after 6 October 2026, and “once set, an account’s storage region cannot be changed.” For the hops an AI call takes between regions, see our guide to data residency for AI voice agents.
Integrations, trials and contracts on CloudTalk and Aircall
| Criterion | CloudTalk | Aircall |
|---|---|---|
| CRM integrations | None on Starter; 95+ standard integrations from Essential (HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho, Zendesk); Salesforce ecosystem on Expert | 250+ integrations; HubSpot, Pipedrive and Zoho on Essentials; Salesforce on Professional |
| APIs and AI tooling | APIs, webhooks and the CloudTalk MCP server from Essential | APIs and webhooks on all plans; full API on Professional |
| Free trial | 14 days, “without a credit card”, with 50 AI Voice Agent minutes | Its llms.txt says “Aircall offers a 7-day free trial”; trial accounts get a 100-minute call limit |
| Seat changes | Removed seats “are not refunded for the rest of the current period” | Annual upfront licences “cannot be reduced mid-term” |
| Messaging | All SMS and WhatsApp billed from credit; WhatsApp on Expert with at least 3 users at US$0.01 a message | SMS and MMS on Essentials; WhatsApp in Aircall US$10 a seat a month, plus Meta’s message charges passed through “with no markup added” |
What changed at CloudTalk and Aircall in the last 90 days
We read every release note we could find for 6 August to 4 November 2026. CloudTalk rebuilt its AI Sales Dialer, live alongside the old one from 28 September 2026; added Parallel Calling seats as a paid requirement for each agent running parallel campaigns; and its developer changelog shows outbound VoiceAgent calls matching the dialled number to a CloudTalk contact from 2 November. Aircall made Outbound Campaigns generally available on 25 August, let its AI Voice Agent send an SMS during a live call from 11 August, opened the AI Voice Agent to trial accounts, and on 22 September published its regional data hosting page. We could not find Aircall release notes for October 2026, as at 4 November 2026. For Aircall against another single-line dialler, see our Aircall vs JustCall comparison.
Pick CloudTalk if, pick Aircall if: the decision table
| If this is your situation | Pick | Why, from the vendors’ pages |
|---|---|---|
| Calls go unanswered after hours, and leads need calling back across voice and messaging | Zian; LeadsNow.ai if you want it run for you | AI agents answer inbound calls 24/7 and follow up by voice, SMS, email, WhatsApp, Instagram DMs and Messenger |
| One or two reps who need a power dialler | CloudTalk Essential + Power | US$44 a rep on a 1-licence plan; Aircall’s dialler needs Professional and 3 licences (US$150) |
| Reps who want parallel dialling with voicemail detection | CloudTalk + Parallel add-on | US$39 a user on any plan, 5 lines by default; we could not find a human parallel dialler on Aircall |
| A team of 3+ that also runs an AI receptionist | Aircall Professional | Lower on our worked bill at 3, 10 and 25 reps; 50 AI minutes a month, then US$0.29 a minute |
| US-billed Salesforce shop | Aircall Professional | US$50 against CloudTalk Expert’s US$54.39 after the 11% fee |
| An AI agent in a language outside Aircall’s 38 | CloudTalk | “70+ languages and accents” |
| Numbers or published call rates in many countries | CloudTalk | 160+ countries and a public per-minute rate table |
| Recordings and AI data kept in the EU | CloudTalk, or Aircall for new EU accounts | CloudTalk stores them in Germany; Aircall regionalises new accounts by signup number |
| Outbound AI calls at high attempt volume | Price both | Aircall adds US$0.015 per attempt; CloudTalk places outbound on the AI Specialist from US$349 |
Who each option is wrong for
Zian is wrong for a team that only wants a cheaper phone line with no AI handling, and for a buyer who needs a published price today.
CloudTalk is wrong for a US buyer who has not budgeted the 11% fee, for anyone who needs a refund path, and for a team running high-volume AI calls that would rather pay per minute than prepay a bundle with no published overage rate. Its new dialler reaches accounts one at a time, so confirm it is enabled before you sign.
Aircall is wrong for teams of one or two, who pay for three licences; for reps who want a multi-line dialler; for a sales team on Essentials that wants a dialler, because the Power Dialer sits on Professional; and for buyers who want international call rates on the website rather than from sales.
How we compared CloudTalk and Aircall
Methodology and defined terms. A feature counts as on a plan only when the vendor’s own pricing page, pricing file, help article or release note places it there, read in context for “beta”, “legacy” and “coming soon”. A “dialler seat” is the cheapest seat that has a power dialler and native CRM integrations. Where two of a vendor’s own pages disagree, we print both. “We could not find” means we searched the vendor’s pricing page, product pages, help centre and release notes in its own vocabulary, with a positive control on each saved file. On 4 November 2026 that covered CloudTalk’s pricing page and pricing file, its AI voice agent, dialler, coverage, privacy, security and sub-processor pages, 17 help articles, its help-centre sitemap and its changelog; and Aircall’s US, Australian and UK pricing pages and page script, its coverage, AI, campaign, dialler and regional hosting pages, its English pages sitemap, 12 help articles and its August and September 2026 release notes. We used no vendor’s comparison pages for a rival’s facts. Zian is described only from its published capabilities. Ranking: Zian first and LeadsNow.ai second as the done-for-you option; CloudTalk and Aircall are not ranked against each other.
Disclosure. zian.ai publishes this page and sells Zian, which is ranked first here. LeadsNow.ai is a sister business that runs on Zian.
CloudTalk vs Aircall: frequently asked questions
Is CloudTalk or Aircall better?
CloudTalk suits one- or two-rep teams and teams that want a parallel dialler: Essential plus Power is US$44 a rep billed annually, and Parallel is US$39 a user on any plan. Aircall suits teams of three or more running an AI receptionist: it won our worked bill at 3, 10 and 25 reps. Prices as at 4 November 2026.
Is CloudTalk cheaper than Aircall?
For the seat, yes: CloudTalk Essential plus Power is US$44 a rep against US$50 for Aircall Professional, both billed annually, or US$48.84 after CloudTalk’s 11% US fee. With an AI receptionist answering 300 calls a month, 10 reps cost US$787.40 on CloudTalk and US$688.50 on Aircall in our worked bill.
Does Aircall have a power dialler on every plan?
No. Aircall’s pricing page lists the Power Dialer on Professional, at US$50 a licence a month billed annually with a 3-licence minimum, and on Enterprise, but not on Essentials. Its parallel calling feature holds one call while you place a second; we could not find a multi-line dialler for human reps, as at 4 November 2026.
How does Aircall bill its AI Voice Agent?
By time. Aircall’s AI Voice Agent charges article says calls are “billed to the exact decimal minute (e.g., 66 seconds = 1.10 minutes)” and calls under 15 seconds are not billable. After 50 included minutes it costs US$0.29 a minute, plus US$0.015 for every outbound call attempt.
How much does CloudTalk’s AI receptionist cost?
CloudTalk’s pricing page lists 50 free minutes for the first month, then US$99 a month for 200 minutes, US$199 for 500, US$299 for 1,000 and US$699 for 2,500. Usage beyond the bundle is charged from credit; we could not find a published per-minute overage rate.
Does CloudTalk host data in the EU?
Partly. CloudTalk’s privacy centre says “Call recordings and AI data, such as call transcripts are stored in Germany, EU”, and that other data may be stored in AWS regions in Frankfurt, Northern Virginia, Singapore and Sydney. Aircall assigns new accounts to a US, EU or Australian storage region by signup number.
Can an AI agent replace the phone system?
Not usually. An AI agent sits on top of the phone line: it answers, qualifies, books and follows up, and hands the call to a person when needed. CloudTalk and Aircall each sell their own. Zian runs AI agents that answer inbound calls 24/7 and follow up by voice, SMS, email, WhatsApp, Instagram DMs and Facebook Messenger.
Ready to put AI on your inbound calls and your follow-up? Zian’s agents answer calls 24/7 as an AI receptionist and book appointments from inbound and outbound conversations across voice, SMS, email, WhatsApp, Instagram DMs and Facebook Messenger, in 30+ languages. Apply For Partnership
Where every figure on this page comes from
| Figure | Who published it | Link | Date read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter US$25/US$34, Essential US$29/US$39, Expert US$49/US$69; minimums 1, 1, 3; Power US$15, Parallel US$39, Conversation Intelligence US$9 (billed annually); AI Receptionist 50 free first-month minutes, US$99/200, US$199/500, US$299/1,000, US$699/2,500; AI Specialist US$349/1,000; custom from €0.15; 11% fee; no refunds; 12-month commitment; 14-day trial without a card; 160+ countries; Australian allowances; “up to 10” parallel lines | CloudTalk | cloudtalk.io/pricing | 4 November 2026 |
| Prices in EUR shown as the same figures in USD; Expert power dialler labelled “(add-on)” | CloudTalk | cloudtalk.io/pricing.md | 4 November 2026 |
| AI Receptionist “designed for inbound calls”; AI Specialist “for outbound calls”; multilingual support “may affect overall Voice AI price” | CloudTalk | AI Voice Agent Pricing | 4 November 2026 |
| Power included on Expert; Parallel up to 5 lines; fair use 10,000 and 5,000 minutes; account-by-account rollout | CloudTalk (help centre) | AI Sales Dialer: Plans, add-ons | 4 November 2026 |
| Maximum 5 lines; up to 10 on request | CloudTalk (help centre) | Parallel mode (2+ lines) | 4 November 2026 |
| Parallel Calling seat per agent; assigned by CloudTalk | CloudTalk (help centre) | Parallel Calling seats | 4 November 2026 |
| Rebuilt dialler from 28 September 2026 | CloudTalk (help centre) | Introducing the AI Sales Dialer | 4 November 2026 |
| Per started minute; 1 minute 5 seconds billed as 2; VoiceAgent usage above package charged from credit | CloudTalk (help centre) | What uses credit? | 4 November 2026 |
| VoiceAgent calls “billed on a per-minute basis” | CloudTalk (help centre) | Getting Started with VoiceAgents | 4 November 2026 |
| Outbound VoiceAgent calls started through the API | CloudTalk (help centre) | VoiceAgents for Outbound Calls | 4 November 2026 |
| 11% fee “of the software part of your subscription”, “not a tax” | CloudTalk (help centre) | US taxes, charges and fees | 4 November 2026 |
| Removed seats not refunded | CloudTalk (help centre) | How to change or cancel your subscription | 4 November 2026 |
| US$0.018 to the US, US$0.070 to Australian mobiles; “Last updated: June 2025” | CloudTalk (help centre) | Pay-as-you-go call rates | 4 November 2026 |
| Geographic bundles US$5 to US$25 a user; 3-user minimum | CloudTalk (help centre) | Geographic Bundles | 4 November 2026 |
| WhatsApp on Expert with 3 users, US$0.01 a message | CloudTalk (help centre) | SMS, MMS, and WhatsApp Pricing | 4 November 2026 |
| Numbers from US$6 a month | CloudTalk | Country coverage | 4 November 2026 |
| Recordings and AI data stored in Germany; four AWS regions | CloudTalk | Privacy Center | 4 November 2026 |
| AWS and Google Cloud “across 9 locations globally”; Bratislava billing address | CloudTalk | Security & Compliance | 4 November 2026 |
| Outbound VoiceAgent contact matching (2 November 2026) | CloudTalk | Changelog | 4 November 2026 |
| Essentials US$30/US$40, Professional US$50/US$70, Enterprise custom; minimums 3, 3, 25; AI Voice Agents US$100 minimum (US$125 monthly); “Save 25%”; US$6 extra numbers; 50 AI minutes; US$0.29 a minute; bundles US$250/805/1,900; “as low as $0.12”; “starting from $0.19”; 38 languages; no recovery fees; WhatsApp US$10, AI Assist Pro US$49 | Aircall | aircall.io/pricing | 4 November 2026 |
| Essentials A$45, Professional A$75; 1,000 domestic minutes on Essentials | Aircall | aircall.io/en-au/pricing | 4 November 2026 |
| Decimal-minute AI billing; under 15 seconds free; 100 trial minutes; US$0.015 per outbound attempt; bundle rules | Aircall (help centre) | Understanding your AI Voice Agent charges | 4 November 2026 |
| Calls rounded up to the nearest full minute | Aircall (help centre) | Understanding your call charges | 4 November 2026 |
| Annual licences locked; 3-licence minimum; Starter AI Plan includes 1 user | Aircall (help centre) | Aircall plans: pricing and flexibility | 4 November 2026 |
| Power Dialer on Professional; sequential; not on mobile | Aircall (help centre) | Using the Power Dialer | 4 November 2026 |
| Maximum 2 parallel calls, one on hold | Aircall (help centre) | Parallel calling in Aircall Workspace | 4 November 2026 |
| Agent campaigns “currently in beta” on Professional; AI campaigns on all plans | Aircall (help centre) | Outbound Campaigns: Overview | 4 November 2026 |
| Extended bundles via Customer Success Manager; domestic bundle by billing address | Aircall (help centre) | Understanding Aircall call bundles | 4 November 2026 |
| 30 days’ written notice on annual or committed plans | Aircall (help centre) | Cancelling your Aircall subscription | 4 November 2026 |
| Outbound Campaigns GA (25 August); trial 100-minute limit; Send SMS action (11 August) | Aircall (release notes) | Release Notes, August 2026 | 4 November 2026 |
| Regional data hosting page (22 September); Meta WhatsApp charges passed through “with no markup added” | Aircall (release notes) | Release Notes, September 2026 | 4 November 2026 |
| US, EU and Australian storage regions; AIVA data from 6 October 2026; region cannot be changed | Aircall | Regional Data Hosting | 4 November 2026 |
| 38 countries with numbers | Aircall | aircall.io/countries | 4 November 2026 |
| New numbers “in 100+ countries”; bundles “monthly billing, annual term” | Aircall | AI Receptionist | 4 November 2026 |
| “Aircall offers a 7-day free trial” | Aircall | aircall.io/llms.txt | 4 November 2026 |
| 28x more contact attempts; 2,736% increase in lead contact rates; outbound acquisition since 2017 | Zian AI | zian.ai home page (counters); since 2017 is a first-party Zian statement | 4 November 2026 |
| Pay-per-result; leads answered in under 60 seconds, 24/7; 50,769+ appointments | LeadsNow.ai | leadsnow.ai | 4 November 2026 |
| Fee-Adjusted Dialler Seat, worked bill, AI-minute comparison and annual-saving percentages | zian.ai, computed from the rows above | This page | 4 November 2026 |