How Long Do Voice AI Vendors Keep Call Recordings?

Voice AI vendors do not agree on how long they keep your call recordings. Retell keeps them until you set a limit. Vapi ties the period to your plan, from 14 to 180 days. Synthflow offers a 30-day auto-delete switch and a 90-day figure in its AI transparency statement. Bland and Topcalls publish no default number. Twilio keeps recordings until you delete them.

This post lists what each vendor says on its own pages, with the link and the date we checked: 15 November 2026. Vendors change these settings, so read the source before you sign. Where a vendor gives no number, the table says "not published" and we haven't filled the gap with a guess.

Key Takeaways

• Retell's default is no automatic deletion, and you can set 1 to 730 days per agent.
• Vapi's raw data retention is 14 days with no success package, 30 days on Core and 180 days on Pro.
• Synthflow's agent setting deletes transcripts, recordings and caller IDs after 30 days when you switch it on.
• Bland and Topcalls publish no default recording retention number, so you ask for one in writing.

• Under GDPR Article 5(1)(e), personal data may be kept only as long as the purpose needs it.

How long do voice AI vendors typically retain call recordings by default?

Most voice AI vendors keep recordings for as long as you leave them, until you set a limit, or until your plan's window ends. Retell keeps data indefinitely by default. Vapi's window depends on the billing option. Synthflow, Bland and Topcalls make you choose or ask. Twilio stores recordings until you delete them.

So "the default" is only half a question. What happens if you change nothing matters, and so does how easily you can change it. The table answers both, in the vendor's own words where we can.

Table: Default recording retention by vendor (checked 15 November 2026)

The next sections give the detail behind each row, because a table cell can't hold the exceptions.

How long does Retell keep call recordings?

Retell keeps recordings and the other call data indefinitely unless you set a retention period. Its docs say "By default, data is kept indefinitely (no automatic deletion)." You can change it per agent under Security and fallback settings, to anything from 1 to 730 days. Expired data is deleted daily and permanently.

The API field is `data_storage_retention_days`, an integer from 1 to 730 or null. Null means keep forever, and null is the default. Retell counts the period from the start of the call or chat. If you run many agents, the setting is per agent, so a new agent you forget to configure keeps everything.

Source: Retell's data retention page.

How long does Vapi keep call recordings?

Vapi's retention depends on the plan. Its pricing page lists 14 days of raw data retention for usage-only accounts, 30 days for the Core package at $29 a month and 180 days for the Pro package at $999 a month. The Premier package is custom. Vapi's docs confirm that retention periods vary by billing option.

That makes Vapi the vendor where the plan sets your compliance position. A team that moves from a usage-only account to Core changes its retention from 14 to 30 days without touching a setting. Vapi also lists Zero Data Retention, which it includes with a success package, and it lets you route recordings to storage you own. If you keep your own copies, you control the clock.

Sources: Vapi pricing and Vapi's call recording docs.

How long does Bland keep call recordings?

Bland doesn't publish a recording retention number on the pages we read. Its privacy policy says it keeps information "for as long as necessary to provide you with the Service" and for legal reasons. Its voice product page lists "Configurable retention" under call recording, with redaction on transcripts.

So the honest entry is "not published." If you evaluate Bland, ask for the default period and the configurable range in writing, and for the same answer on transcripts. One detail from the privacy policy: on its own website demo, Bland stores a transcript and summary but does not keep an audio recording. That covers the demo only, not your production calls.

Sources: Bland privacy policy and Bland voice product page.

How long does Synthflow keep call recordings?

Synthflow gives you per-agent switches rather than one default. You can turn off saving recordings, turn off saving transcripts, or switch on "Limit Data Retention to 30 days", which deletes transcripts, recordings and caller IDs after 30 days. Its AI transparency statement separately says data is deleted within 90 days unless a contract says otherwise.

Those two statements sit on different pages, and the docs don't explain how the 90-day figure relates to the 30-day switch. Ask Synthflow which one applies to your plan and contract. The 30-day switch is the clearer control, and it is the one Synthflow points to for GDPR data minimization.

Sources: Synthflow security and compliance settings and Synthflow AI transparency statement.

How long does Twilio keep call recordings?

Twilio keeps recordings until you delete them. Its call recording page says "Store your recordings forever or delete them at any time." After you delete a recording, Twilio keeps its metadata for 40 days, and the audio can't be recovered. Storage is billed at $0.0005 per minute per month on the US voice pricing page.

Twilio is the telephony layer under many voice AI stacks, so its retention matters even if your vendor has its own. Accounts in Twilio's PCI Mode are different: for accounts created on or after 29 September 2025, the retention period is one year, up from 72 hours. If your voice AI vendor records through Twilio, ask which copy is the master and who deletes the other.

Sources: Twilio call recording, Recordings resource, Twilio PCI retention changelog and US voice pricing.

How long does Topcalls keep call recordings?

Topcalls doesn't publish a default recording retention number, so we won't give one here. Every answered call keeps a recording and a transcript. You can export them from the dashboard or the API. For a specific retention period on your account, contact us and ask for it in writing.

What is public today: when you close an account, your data enters a review period and is then erased for good, including recordings and transcripts. Billing records stay where the law requires. The Data Processing Agreement covers deletion when the service ends: you choose delete or return. Ask for your data back within 30 days of the end and you get a 30-day export window. Topcalls deletes within 30 days after you ask, or within 60 days of the end if you choose neither. Backup copies expire on their normal cycle. For an erasure on a legal basis such as a GDPR request, email hello@topcalls.ai.

Sources: account lifecycle docs, the DPA and the privacy policy.

What does GDPR say about keeping call recordings?

GDPR's storage limitation principle says personal data must be kept in an identifiable form for no longer than the purpose needs. A call recording holds a voice and often a name and a phone number, so the rule applies. The law sets no fixed number of days, so your purpose and your own schedule decide.

That's Article 5(1)(e) of the GDPR. The vendor is usually your processor and you are the controller. Article 28(3)(g) says the processor, at your choice, deletes or returns the personal data after the service ends. So your contract needs a deletion clause with a deadline, and your own policy needs a period per purpose.

Our guides on GDPR and AI outbound calling and the brokerage data retention policy cover the next steps. This is general information, not legal advice.

How do consent rules affect how long you keep a recording?

Consent rules decide whether you may record at all, and a recording made without valid consent is a liability the longer you keep it. In the United States, states differ on whether one party or every party must consent. Our state-by-state recording consent guide sets them out.

For Europe, the Spanish rules in our AI cold calling guide for Spain show how consent, disclosure and storage fit together. A practical rule: keep consent evidence as long as you keep the recording, and delete both on the same schedule. The customer owns consent and opt-outs on Topcalls, so build that into your campaign process.

What should you ask a vendor about recording retention?

Ask five things and get each answer in writing: the default period if you change nothing, the range you can set, who can change it, how fast deletion happens after the period ends, and where backups and copies live. Then ask what happens to recordings when you cancel.

Add two more for voice AI. Is the recording kept by the AI vendor, by its telephony provider, or by both? And can you keep your own copy in storage you control, so the vendor's clock doesn't decide your evidence? Our RFP checklist for voice AI vendors covers the rest of the contract.

If you want to see how Topcalls handles recordings on your campaign, the AI voice agents page shows the call flow, and the lead qualification solution shows a typical first campaign. AI calls start from $0.25 a minute depending on the country you call, billed by the second, and recording is included. Book a strategy call to ask about retention for your account.