20 Min
Bland was built to dial out. Central was built to answer.
Stop paying for an outbound dialer. Start with a front desk that picks up.
Never miss another call.
One dials. One answers.
Bland AI is a developer platform for outbound call campaigns. Batch dialing, automated outreach, campaign management at scale. For engineering teams running high-volume voice operations, it is a capable tool. For a service business that needs its phones covered, it is the wrong product.
Central connects to your website and calendar and starts answering inbound calls the same day. No developer. No usage math. No outbound infrastructure you will never use.
No developer
No commitment required.
The cost adds up fast.
Bland AI's tiered subscription starts at $299/month before a single minute is billed. Add-ons stack on top: custom voice, knowledge base, call recording. Transfer calls are billed twice. Failed outbound calls still incur a charge. Real production costs consistently land at $0.09 to $0.14 per minute after add-ons, and the platform's average 800ms latency means you are paying for dead air on every call.
What this means in practice:
Subscription starts at $299/month plus per-minute usage on top
Transfer calls billed twice: AI talk time plus a per-minute transfer surcharge
Failed or short calls still charged at $0.015/call
Setup requires developer involvement; no guided self-serve onboarding
Built for outbound campaigns, not inbound front desk coverage
Flat rate. Same day. No developer.
Central reads your website, connects your calendar, and starts answering calls. The cost is fixed before the month starts.
What this means in practice:
Inquiries answered, callers qualified, leads logged automatically
Appointments booked during the call, not sent as a link
Human transfer triggers automatically when needed
Post-call summaries ready after every conversation
$79, $149, or $299 per month. No usage charges. No transfer fees.
What each product actually does
Feature
Built for inbound front desk
Developer required
Pricing model
Real per-minute cost
Transfer fee
Failed call charge
Fixed monthly cost
Same-day setup, no developer
Appointment booking
Human fallback
CRM integration
Multilingual
HIPAA-capable
Bland AI
— (outbound campaign platform)
Yes
Tiered subscription ($299/mo+) plus usage
$0.09 to $0.14/min after add-ons
Billed twice
$0.015/call
—
—
Requires integration setup
Requires configuration
Via API or Zapier
Yes (add-on cost)
✓ (with BAA)
Central
✓
—
Flat monthly tiers ($79/$149/$299)
Included in flat plan
— Included
—
✓
✓
✓ Native
✓ Built in
✓ Native
✓ 30+ languages, included
✓ (Enterprise)
Five minutes. No developer. No usage tracking.
Paste your URL, connect your calendar, and Central starts answering calls. No subscription tier to choose before you know your usage. No transfer fee math. Most businesses are live the same day they sign up.
Don't take our word for it
"I looked at Bland and the $0.09/min headline seemed like a deal. Then I found out the subscription starts at $299 before usage, transfers get billed twice, and I'd need a developer to get anything live. I signed up for Central the same afternoon. Flat rate, live the same day, every call handled since."
Sophia Anderson
Founder, SwiftFix Plumbing
"I looked at Bland and the $0.09/min headline seemed like a deal. Then I found out the subscription starts at $299 before usage, transfers get billed twice, and I'd need a developer to get anything live. I signed up for Central the same afternoon. Flat rate, live the same day, every call handled since."
Sophia Anderson
Founder, SwiftFix Plumbing
"I looked at Bland and the $0.09/min headline seemed like a deal. Then I found out the subscription starts at $299 before usage, transfers get billed twice, and I'd need a developer to get anything live. I signed up for Central the same afternoon. Flat rate, live the same day, every call handled since."
Sophia Anderson
Founder, SwiftFix Plumbing