Moving from Vapi to Calldesk

A step-by-step checklist for teams moving a phone agent from Vapi to Calldesk, based on Vapi's public pages as of October 10, 2026.

Last verified October 10, 2026.

Details about Vapi come from its public pages as they were on October 10, 2026. Vapi may have changed them since, and a page that was unclear to us may be clear to you. Corrections: support@calldesk.tech. We make Calldesk, so read this page with that in mind and check anything important with Vapi directly.

Moving from Vapi: what kind of move this is

How Vapi positions itself: A developer-focused platform for building voice agents from modular parts, where the customer chooses the transcriber, language model and voice and Vapi orchestrates the call.

Platforms like Vapi are driven by code or API calls, so your agent probably exists as configuration you can read back plus tools and webhooks you wrote. Calldesk flows use their own steps, so expect to translate each prompt and tool into a step rather than import a file.

Vapi's pages and our reading of them suggest it fits: developers and technical teams who want fine-grained control over every component of the voice pipeline and are comfortable assembling and costing the providers themselves.

Before you leave Vapi

  • Exporting your agents: Vapi documents a way to read your agents back out (the steps below list it).
  • Connected tools: list what you connected to Vapi (Twilio, Telnyx, Vonage, DIDWW and other SIP trunk providers, Deepgram (transcriber), OpenAI (model), ElevenLabs (voice, including custom/cloned voices), Custom LLM endpoints, Server URL webhooks and tools and Web and server SDKs) so you can reconnect each one.
  • Recordings and transcripts: download anything you need to keep from Vapi before you cancel.

Steps to leave Vapi

These steps come from Vapi's public pages. Sources are listed at the end.

  1. Read assistant configuration (system prompt, first message, model, voice, tools) with the List/Get Assistant API using a private API key. (source: docs.vapi.ai)
  2. Read tools and files/knowledge bases with the List Tools, List Files and List Knowledge Bases API endpoints. (source: docs.vapi.ai)
  3. List phone numbers with the List Phone Numbers API; numbers imported from Twilio, Telnyx or a SIP trunk stay with that carrier and can be pointed elsewhere, while free Vapi-provided numbers cannot be assumed portable (not documented). (source: docs.vapi.ai)
  4. Recreate the prompt, tools and knowledge base in the new platform and run test calls before changing carrier routing. (source: docs.vapi.ai)

Your phone numbers

What Vapi's pages say about numbers: Free US-area-code Vapi numbers (inbound), with 1 to 10 included depending on package; Twilio, Telnyx, DIDWW and other SIP trunk numbers can be imported.

Vapi describes SIP trunks, and Calldesk does not offer SIP trunking. A number that reaches Vapi through a trunk therefore cannot be pointed straight at Calldesk. Keep the number with its carrier and forward calls from there, or use one of the other routes below.

Limits Vapi's pages state about numbers or moving out:

  • Free Vapi phone numbers use US area codes and support inbound calls; international or outbound numbers come from importing a provider number. (source: docs.vapi.ai)
  • Forward: keep the number with its carrier, register it in the dashboard at no extra charge, and forward calls to it. This is the easiest route to undo.
  • Buy a new number from Telnyx or Twilio, a priced extra.
  • Port: a dashboard form sends a port-in request to Twilio. Treat it as a later step, not a promise that a number can move.

Steps on the Calldesk side

  1. Create an agent in Calldesk, in the dashboard, the API or the MCP server, and lay the conversation out as a flow.
  2. Add what the agent should know to a knowledge base, and connect a Cal.com account if it books appointments.
  3. Choose a plan; the costs section below lists them, and a language other than English needs the Standard or Pro voice.
  4. Connect your number by one of the routes above.
  5. Run test calls and simulation test cases, then promote the tested version from staging to production. The Live Calls page shows calls in progress, not audio.
  6. Rebuild your Vapi connections with webhooks, the REST API or the MCP server (/docs).
  7. When calls look right, point your number at the Calldesk agent and keep Vapi available for a short overlap period.

What Vapi does well, to test before you switch

These are strengths Vapi's own pages describe. Test the ones you rely on in Calldesk before you cancel.

  • Highly modular pipeline: customers can pick or bring their own transcriber, model and voice, including a custom LLM endpoint, and mix providers freely. (source: docs.vapi.ai)
  • Provider models are passed through at cost with no markup, and the pricing page lists no agent cap on every plan, which keeps costs transparent for teams that want to tune each component. (source: vapi.ai)
  • Mature developer tooling: a full API for assistants, tools, phone numbers and files, assistant versioning with traffic splitting, and testing/simulation included on every plan. (source: docs.vapi.ai)
  • Flexible telephony: free Vapi numbers, plus import of Twilio, Telnyx and other SIP trunk numbers. (source: docs.vapi.ai)

What may not carry over

Plan on rebuilding the flow by hand: no automatic import from Vapi is described here. Re-check voices, prompts and custom functions afterwards.

  • Not confirmed about Vapi: the $0.05 per minute hosting fee is stated on the pricing page; the documentation pages we read describe the hosting fee without repeating the amount.
  • Not confirmed about Vapi: whether a Vapi-provided free phone number can be ported out to another carrier was not found in the pages read.
  • Not confirmed about Vapi: the vendor's security portal (security.vapi.ai) was not opened, so certification reports were not independently seen.
  • Not confirmed about Vapi: exact JSON shape of an assistant export and whether knowledge-base files are downloadable (not just listable) was not verified.

Comparing costs before you move

Vapi's own description of its pricing: Usage-based: a per-minute Vapi hosting fee plus provider costs passed through at cost, with optional monthly Success Packages for support and capacity. Its published starting point: $0.05 per minute Vapi hosting fee, plus transcriber, model, voice and telephony costs billed separately; the vendor's own calculator shows roughly $0.08 to $0.13 per minute in total for 1,000 minutes with default providers.

Charges Vapi's pages list outside that starting point, which are worth finding on your own invoice:

  • Transcriber (example on page: Deepgram about $0.0095 to $0.0099 per minute).
  • Language model (example on page: OpenAI about $0.0077 to $0.0452 per minute).
  • Voice (example on page: ElevenLabs about $0.0146 to $0.0238 per minute).
  • Telephony transport: Vapi telephony/SIP, WebSockets and Daily WebRTC listed as free; Twilio $0.008 inbound / $0.014 outbound per minute; Vonage $0.00814; Telnyx $0.0055 per minute (charged by the provider).
  • HIPAA add-on: $2,000 per month.
  • Additional concurrent call lines: $10 per line per month.
  • Additional organizations: $20 per organization per month.

Plan terms Vapi lists, which decide what you pay while you run both side by side:

  • Usage option: no monthly fee, 4 concurrent calls, 2 organizations, 1 included Vapi phone number, 14 days raw data retention.
  • Core: $29 per month, 10 concurrent calls, 5 included phone numbers, 30 days retention, 2 business day email support response SLA.
  • Pro: 10% of the Vapi hosting fee with a $999 per month minimum, 30 concurrent calls, 10 organizations, 180 days retention, dedicated Slack support, 99% uptime SLA.
  • Premier: contact sales, custom limits, 99.9% uptime SLA, SSO and dedicated SIP available.
  • The per-minute figure on the page is the hosting fee; it is not an all-in call price.
  • Vapi docs state Success Packages are currently available to new customers; existing customers keep legacy pricing.

On trial terms, Vapi states: $5 in free credits on the Usage option; one free Vapi phone number can be created without a payment method. Calldesk's free offer is a free demo call, with no trial credit.

On the Calldesk side: per minute of call time on three plans: Lite 2¢, Standard 5¢, Pro 9¢. No monthly minimum. Phone carrier charges are billed separately. Ask both for a month at your own volume with every charge included.

Sources