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Kadeno vs Vapi: Different Tools for Voice AI
Vapi is an all-in-one AI voice agent platform. Kadeno is telephony infrastructure. They solve different problems — and can even work together.
Key difference: Vapi bundles STT + LLM + TTS + telephony into one per-minute rate ($0.13-0.31/min). Kadeno provides only the telephony layer ($0.007/min) — you bring your own AI. If you already have an AI engine, Kadeno is dramatically cheaper.
Pricing Comparison
| Kadeno | Vapi |
|---|
| Telephony (inbound) | $0.007/min | ~$0.015/min (bundled) |
| STT | Bring your own | $0.015-0.04/min |
| LLM | Bring your own | $0.003-0.08/min |
| TTS | Bring your own | $0.015-0.04/min |
| Phone number | $1.00/mo | ~$2.00/mo |
| All-in per minute | $0.007 + your AI costs | $0.13-0.31 |
When to Choose Kadeno
- You have your own AI — If you're running your own STT/LLM/TTS pipeline (or using a service like CAIZA), Kadeno gives you the phone line at a fraction of Vapi's bundled cost.
- You want control — Kadeno streams raw audio. You decide what to do with it. No vendor lock-in on the AI layer.
- You're building custom voice experiences — Not every voice app is a chatbot. Call analytics, transcription pipelines, IVR systems, and VoIP apps don't need Vapi's agent framework.
- Cost matters at scale — At 10,000 minutes/month, Kadeno telephony costs $70. Vapi costs $1,300-3,100. The difference pays for your own AI infrastructure.
When to Choose Vapi
- You want everything bundled — Vapi handles STT, LLM, TTS, and telephony in one API. Less to build, faster to launch.
- You don't have an AI engine — If you're starting from zero and just want a talking agent on a phone number, Vapi gets you there faster.
- You need built-in agent features — Function calling, knowledge bases, conversation memory, and interruption handling are built into Vapi.