In 2024, I decided to build a voice agent from scratch. The plan was simple: use Twilio for telephony, OpenAI Whisper for speech-to-text, GPT-4 for the brain, and ElevenLabs for voice synthesis. Stack it all myself. Save money. Prove that building beats buying.
I was wrong. Not just about the cost, but about the entire value proposition of DIY. Here is what I learned.
The Upfront Bill: More Than I Planned
I started with a spreadsheet of component costs. Seemed reasonable. Here is what I actually spent:
DIY Voice Agent Build: Actual Cost Breakdown
