Bland AI: Enterprise Voice AI for Phone Automation
Bland is an enterprise voice AI platform that automates inbound and outbound phone calls 24/7. The differentiator from Vapi and Retell is infrastructure ownership: Bland deploys on-premise or in your own VPC, with SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and GDPR compliance certifications. The customer stories on the homepage are revenue-shaped (MyPlanAdvocate added $40M in five months), which signals real production scale.
The 30-second version
- What: enterprise voice AI with on-prem and VPC deployment options
- Who: regulated industries, large enterprises, compliance-heavy buyers
- Price: per-minute pricing bundled (LLM + STT + TTS + telephony); enterprise contracts by volume
- Best at: high-volume call automation with strict compliance posture
- Verdict: pick Bland when your buyer is the security team, not the dev team
What Bland actually is
Bland is positioned for enterprise voice AI. The same shape as Vapi and Retell (end-to-end voice stack, automated phone calls), but with deployment options that matter for regulated industries. You can run Bland in their cloud, in your own VPC, or fully on-premise. Compliance certifications cover the major regulated-industry requirements: SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR.
The product surface includes Norm Builder for creating agents without voice AI expertise, Tornado Mode for automated testing at scale, real-time call monitoring with guardrails, and integrations with Twilio, Salesforce, HubSpot, Genesys, and 15+ other platforms. Bland supports 40+ languages with real-time translation.
Customer outcomes are unusually concrete: MyPlanAdvocate added $40M in five months. Needle's CEO said "our product would not exist if we did not have AI to do the calls." IHFA's CIO said "we save thousands of dollars a day." These are revenue-shaped numbers, not engagement vanity metrics.
Key capabilities
- On-prem, VPC, or cloud deployment options
- SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR compliance
- Norm Builder for no-code agent creation
- Tornado Mode for automated testing scenarios
- Real-time call monitoring with guardrails and rule-based actions
- 40+ language support with real-time translation
- Integrations: Twilio, Salesforce, HubSpot, Genesys, 15+ more
- Bundled per-minute pricing (no separate vendor invoices for LLM/STT/TTS/telephony)
Pricing
Bland uses per-minute pricing that bundles the LLM, STT, TTS, and telephony costs into one rate. Enterprise contracts are based on call volume and compliance requirements. See bland.ai/pricing for current rates.
Who Bland fits
- Regulated industries automating phone calls (healthcare, finance, insurance)
- Enterprises that require on-prem or VPC deployment
- Teams that need bundled pricing rather than separate LLM and telephony bills
- Companies with strict compliance review processes (SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI DSS)
Who Bland does not fit
- Solo operators with low call volume
- Developers who want the absolute lowest latency benchmark (Vapi or Retell win there)
- Teams without compliance constraints (the on-prem option adds complexity you do not need)
Bland vs Vapi and Retell
| Axis | Bland | Vapi | Retell |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deployment | Cloud + on-prem + VPC | Cloud only | Cloud only |
| Compliance | SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR | Enterprise tier | Enterprise tier |
| Languages | 40+ with real-time translation | Multi-language | Multi-language |
| Pricing model | Bundled per-minute | Per-minute | Per-minute + $10 free |
| Best for | Compliance-heavy enterprise | Developer scale | Low-latency turn-taking |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Only major voice AI platform with serious on-prem and VPC deployment
- Compliance certifications cover most regulated-industry needs
- Bundled pricing simplifies vendor management
Cons:
- Enterprise sales cycle for on-prem and VPC deployments
- Latency benchmarks not publicly published
- Less developer-marketed than Vapi or Retell
How I'd think about Bland on SellerShorts
For SellerShorts tool builders selling to large Amazon brands or agencies with strict security review, Bland is one of the few voice platforms that clears procurement. The on-prem option is rare in the category, and SOC 2 + HIPAA + PCI DSS is a real moat when your buyer is the security team. For solo sellers or smaller agencies, Vapi or Retell are usually a faster start.
Try Bland
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Enterprise sales for on-prem and VPC. Cloud signup available for evaluation.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Bland AI?
Bland is an enterprise voice AI platform that automates inbound and outbound phone calls 24/7. The differentiator is infrastructure ownership: you can run Bland on-prem or in your own VPC. Compliance certifications include SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and GDPR.
How does Bland's pricing work?
Bland uses per-minute pricing that bundles language model, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and telephony into one rate, with no per-token charges or separate vendor invoices. Enterprise contracts are based on volume and compliance requirements.
Bland vs Vapi vs Retell: which fits enterprise?
Bland for enterprise compliance and infrastructure ownership (on-prem, VPC, SOC 2 + HIPAA + PCI DSS). Vapi for developer-first scale (1 billion calls, Series B). Retell for lowest-latency turn-taking. If your buyer is the security team, Bland is the cleanest fit.
What outcomes do Bland customers report?
MyPlanAdvocate added $40M in five months. Needle's CEO said the product would not exist without AI handling the calls. IHFA's CIO said they save thousands of dollars a day. The customer stories are revenue-shaped, signaling real production deployments rather than pilots.