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Telecommunications · head to head

Aircall vs Exotel

Aircall logo

Aircall

Telecommunications

Cloud phone system for modern business

From
$30/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Exotel logo

Exotel

Telecommunications

Indian cloud telephony and contact centre platform sold as prepaid credit bundles

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Aircall a minimum of 3 users on the published plans, rising to 25 on the Custom tier; Exotel bundles expire: the 9,999 rupee Dabbler pack has only five months of validity and unused credits are lost at the end, so seasonal or uneven calling volumes waste money that a pay-as-you-go carrier would not.
  • They diverge on capability: Aircall covers Cloud phone, Exotel covers Exophones.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Aircall and Exotel actually diverge.

Attributes where Aircall and Exotel differ
AttributeAircallExotel
Starting price$30/monthOn request
Pricing modelUnknownPrepaid credit bundle with a fixed validity period
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, DesktopWeb, iOS, Android, API
Founded2014Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Telecommunications).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Aircall

  • Cloud phone
  • IVR
  • Call routing
  • Power dialer
  • Analytics
  • Call recording
  • Integrations
  • Salesforce

Only in Exotel

  • Exophones
  • IVR and call flows
  • Number masking
  • Contact centre
  • SMS and WhatsApp
  • Call recording and quality
  • CRM integrations
  • Communication APIs

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Aircall

  • Cloud phone system for sales and support teamsnot Exotel
  • Call routing, IVR and shared numbersnot Exotel
  • Logging calls against CRM records through integrationsnot Exotel
  • Power dialling outbound lists on the Professional tiernot Exotel
  • SMS and MMS alongside voicenot Exotel

Exotel

  • An Indian delivery or marketplace platform that must connect customers and riders without exposing either phone numbernot Aircall
  • A lending or insurance business running outbound collections that needs recorded, monitored calls from Indian numbers with DLT compliance handlednot Aircall
  • A healthcare aggregator routing patient calls to the right clinic by IVR with fallback to a queue outside working hoursnot Aircall
  • A product team that wants to trigger verification calls and SMS from its own application over a REST API rather than buy an agent productnot Aircall

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Aircall

  • A minimum of 3 users on the published plans, rising to 25 on the Custom tier
  • Essentials is limited to 3 teams; unlimited teams need Professional
  • Salesforce CTI, the power dialer and advanced analytics all require Professional
  • SSO, API support and an SLA are Custom tier only
  • AI voice and messaging agents are separate add-ons billed per minute or per conversation on top of the seat price

Exotel

  • Bundles expire: the 9,999 rupee Dabbler pack has only five months of validity and unused credits are lost at the end, so seasonal or uneven calling volumes waste money that a pay-as-you-go carrier would not.
  • Voice, SMS and WhatsApp draw from one shared credit pool, which means a marketing SMS burst can consume the credits your support line needs and force an unplanned top-up.
  • Per-minute billing runs on a pulse of 30 or 60 seconds, so a 61 second call is charged as two full minutes; on high call volumes this materially inflates the effective rate against a per-second competitor.
  • Coverage and pricing are built around India, with a smaller footprint in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, so a business calling mainly North America or Europe gets worse rates and less carrier depth than a global CPaaS provider.
  • The enterprise contact centre tier publishes no pricing at all, so the transparent bundle prices only apply to the small end and larger buyers are back in an opaque sales process.

Pricing, plan by plan

Aircall

$30/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Aircall review.

Exotel

On request
  • Dabbler$9999/year
    • Validity is five months, not twelve
    • Rental component of 4,999 rupees included in the price
    • 5,000 shared credits across calls, SMS and WhatsApp
  • Believer$19999/year
    • Validity is eleven months
    • Rental component of 10,499 rupees included
    • 9,500 shared credits
  • Influencer$49499/year
    • Validity is eleven months
    • Rental component of 10,499 rupees included
    • 39,000 shared credits
  • Enterprise Contact Centre$undefined/year
    • Full contact centre with supervisor tooling and AI agents
    • Custom credit and agent volumes
    • Pricing quoted, not published

Which should you pick?

Choose Aircall if

  • You need cloud phone.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Desktop.
  • You also want ivr.
Aircall review

Choose Exotel if

  • You need exophones.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, API.
  • You also want ivr and call flows.
Exotel review

Questions people ask

Is Aircall or Exotel better?
Neither clearly leads. Aircall starts at $30/month and Exotel at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Aircall or Exotel?
Aircall starts at $30/month and Exotel at On request.
Does Aircall or Exotel run on more platforms?
Aircall runs on Web, Ios, Android, Desktop. Exotel runs on Web, iOS, Android, API.
What is Aircall best used for?
Aircall is most often used for cloud phone system for sales and support teams, call routing, ivr and shared numbers, logging calls against crm records through integrations, power dialling outbound lists on the professional tier. Of those, cloud phone system for sales and support teams and call routing, ivr and shared numbers are not what Exotel is typically brought in for.
What can Aircall do that Exotel cannot?
Aircall covers Cloud phone, IVR, Call routing, Power dialer. Exotel covers Exophones, IVR and call flows, Number masking, Contact centre.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Aircall: What is the minimum cost to start with Aircall?

Aircall requires a 3-license minimum on annual billing, making the real entry price $90 per month ($30 per user times 3 users) for the Essentials plan, not the advertised $30 per user.

Source
Exotel: Does Exotel publish prices?

Yes for its business phone system bundles: 9,999 rupees for Dabbler, 19,999 for Believer and 49,499 for Influencer. The enterprise contact centre is quoted.

Aircall: Does Aircall include AI call features in base plans?

No, AI Voice Agents and AI Assist Pro are separate add-ons billed on top of base plans. The Essentials and Professional plans include call recording and analytics but not AI features.

Source
Exotel: Do unused credits roll over?

No. Credits are tied to the bundles validity period, five months on Dabbler and eleven months on the higher packs, and expire at the end of it.

Aircall: How many countries can I create phone numbers in?

Aircall supports creating local phone numbers in 100 or more countries, enabling businesses to appear local to customers regardless of location.

Source
Exotel: Can I use Exotel outside India?

Exotel operates in Southeast Asia and the Middle East as well, but India is where it holds licences, handles DLT registration and has the best rates and carrier relationships.

Aircall: What is Aircall's uptime guarantee?

Aircall guarantees 99.95 percent uptime with seven global data centers and system redundancy on every level.

Source
Exotel: Is there a free trial?

Yes, a seven-day trial with 500 rupees of credit and no commitment.

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