Customer-operated runtime
- Runs on infrastructure you control.
- Use your own provider accounts and API keys.
- Providers bill you directly; Aywa adds no markup to provider minutes.
- Standard is one license for one runtime.
Aywa Runtime vs Vapi
Choose the operating model before the feature list.
Vapi is a managed voice AI platform. Aywa Runtime is a private runtime that you operate on your own infrastructure. Both can connect to external model and voice providers; the real decision is who owns the runtime, data path, and operations.
$0 / 14 days
Technical trial. No credit card.
$49 / month
Or $490/year for one Standard runtime.
Provider usage at source
Your accounts, your keys, no Aywa minute markup.
Built by the Aywa Runtime team. This page links to Vapi's own documentation for Vapi claims.
The useful distinction
Different operating models, not a clone comparison.
A hosted platform can reduce initial operational work. A self-hosted runtime can put the execution plane and its boundaries under your control. Neither is universally better, cheaper, or faster: the answer depends on your team, traffic, providers, and compliance constraints.
Managed hosted platform
- Vapi operates the orchestration layer.
- Supports Vapi-managed or bring-your-own provider keys.
- Public Build pricing currently lists a per-minute platform fee, excluding provider costs.
- Managed infrastructure reduces what your team needs to operate.
Aywa SaaS
Control plane
Licensing, signed releases, instance health, and migration metadata.
Your infrastructure
Private runtime plane
Call path, audio, transcripts, tool execution, recordings, and runtime logs.
Your providers
Direct provider accounts
LLM, STT, TTS, telephony, storage, and analytics billed to you.
Standard is one commercial license for one customer-operated runtime. It does not include Aywa hosting or high availability.
Side-by-side
What changes for the engineering team.
| Area | Aywa Runtime | Vapi | Decision signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runtime hosting | Self-hosted on customer infrastructure. | Hosted orchestration on Vapi infrastructure. | Do you want to operate the runtime? |
| Provider keys | Customer-owned providers and keys. | Supports platform-managed and BYOK providers. | Both offer provider choice; ownership and billing paths differ. |
| Platform pricing model | Runtime license; no Aywa markup on provider minutes. | Vapi Build publicly lists $0.05/min for platform usage, excluding provider costs. | Compare total cost using your traffic and operating cost, not one headline number. |
| Data boundary | Runtime data plane is deployed inside customer-controlled infrastructure. | Vapi documents hosted orchestration plus configurable provider, server, and storage paths. | Map each call artifact and log to your actual compliance requirements. |
| Operations | Your team operates infrastructure, upgrades, capacity, and backups. | Vapi operates the hosted platform. | Control adds responsibility; managed service reduces it. |
| Standard availability | One runtime, no hosted production service, no included HA. | Managed product; higher-scale terms are available separately. | Ask whether one runtime is sufficient or HA must be scoped. |
Pricing and product terms can change. Verify current Vapi terms on its official pricing page before buying.
Inspect the slow stage
A latency number is not enough. Keep the breakdown.
Aywa Runtime keeps operational evidence inside the runtime you operate. Inspect the turn and call path before changing prompts, swapping providers, or blaming the model.
See endpointing contribution, turn lifecycle, and perceived first-audio latency.
Compare STT, model, TTS, and voice-pipeline timing using your actual provider route.
Inspect tool-call spans, webhook latency, failures, and retry history from the runtime.
Bring one real agent. Run one representative call.
The trial is designed to validate your deployment and call path, not a synthetic benchmark.
Inspect the live call test
Fit, not hype
Who should choose what?
Your team wants a managed path.
- You want to minimize infrastructure ownership.
- Fast hosted setup matters more than controlling the runtime boundary.
- A usage-based platform fee fits your commercial model.
Your runtime must live inside your environment.
- You need customer-controlled infrastructure and runtime data plane.
- You want direct provider relationships and billing.
- Your team can operate a production runtime and values that control.
Validate with your own stack
Start the 14-day trial
Install one runtime. Bring one real agent. Measure the result.
The trial is for technical validation, not a hosted production promise.
$0 for 14 days. No credit card. Standard is $49/month or $490/year after evaluation.
Straight answers
Know what you are operating before you start.
Is Aywa Runtime open source?
The SDK is Apache-2.0. The runtime, containers, dashboard, and control plane are proprietary software delivered under a commercial Runtime Slot license.
Does Standard include hosting or high availability?
No. Standard is one license for one runtime on infrastructure you operate. Hosted production, multiple Runtime Slots, load balancing, and HA require an Enterprise scope.
Who pays the model, voice, and telephony usage?
You do, directly through your provider accounts. Aywa does not add a markup to provider minutes.
Does self-hosting automatically make a deployment GDPR compliant?
No. It gives you control over infrastructure and data boundaries. Your deployment, providers, retention rules, legal basis, and operational policies still determine compliance.
Primary sources
Check the claims yourself.
- Vapi pricing — public platform pricing and provider-cost treatment.
- Vapi provider keys — supported BYOK configuration.
- Vapi data flow — orchestration, provider, server, storage, and logging paths.
- Aywa Runtime documentation — installation and runtime operation.
- Aywa Runtime security boundary and migration path.