Twilio Notify EOL: Why Twilio Chose Courier (And Why You Should Too)

7 min read

Twilio Notify was Twilio's unified notification API used by developers to send SMS, push notifications, and other messages through a single interface. It simplified multi-channel messaging by handling the complexity of different notification providers behind one API.

Twilio deprecated Notify in 2022, and Twilio's Help Center says it reaches end of life on January 31, 2027 for existing customers. Twilio has moved this date several times, so confirm it with Twilio as you plan.

If you're still using Twilio Notify, it's critical to begin your migration now. Courier is the alert notification replacement teams choose when Notify reaches end-of-life. In this post, we'll show you exactly how to migrate to Courier, the same platform Twilio chose for their own multichannel orchestration needs.

Let's get started.

Why Twilio chose Courier

When Twilio needed a true multichannel orchestration solution for their own operations, they didn't expand Notify’s capabilities, they chose Courier. As they put it:

As a customer engagement platform, we at Twilio know how important it is to meet your customers at their preferred channels. Courier gives us the power to fully personalize our customer touchpoints in one easy-to-use, centralized tool.

— Product Lead, Twilio

Twilio, a leader in communications infrastructure, recognized that modern notification orchestration requires specialized capabilities beyond basic messaging APIs and they decided Courier was the best path forward for them.

The Notify-to-Courier move is also a category shift, from a CPaaS messaging API to a notification infrastructure platform. The notification infrastructure vs marketing platform guide covers the distinction and why Notify replacements should land in the notification infrastructure category rather than a marketing suite.

Why you should consider evolving your notification infrastructure strategy

As user expectations evolve and messaging environments grow noisier, developers need systems that punch through with critical notifications. When building notification systems, developers focus on several key requirements.

• Cross-channel orchestration
• Advanced template management for non-technical teams
• Robust user preference management
• Real-time observability and analytics
• Delivery optimization including scheduling and digests
• Multi-tenant architecture
• In-app notification center called Inbox

Notify vs. Courier: Feature comparison

Twilio Notify provided a foundation for unified messaging, but since its launch, user expectations have evolved dramatically. Today's users expect in-app notification centers, granular preferences, and seamless experiences across every channel. Here's how the platforms compare:

Key concepts: Notify to Courier

To migrate successfully, you'll need to know some key concepts and differences between Notify and Courier. The main differences are:

• Users and identities → User profiles with channel data
• Sending notifications → Workflow-based orchestration
• Tags → Objects and subscriptions

Let's walk through each mapping:

Users and identities

Twilio Notify used bindings to link user identities to specific channels and addresses, whereas with Courier, addresses are a property of the user.

• Identities → Courier user IDs (your stable database ID or UUID)
• Bindings → Channel address data stored on user profiles

Sending notifications

Twilio Notify required specifying the service type for each send while Courier uses workflows to handle multi-channel orchestration automatically:

Tags vs. Objects and Subscriptions

Twilio Notify uses flat tags for grouping, while Courier provides structured objects with subscriptions.

Here’s a rollup of each of these concepts

Migration plan

Now that you’re up-to-speed on some of the differences, here's a step-by-step migration guide that gets you off Notify safely before the January 31, 2027 end-of-life date:

Step 1: Configure your Courier workspace:

1. Sign up for Courier (10,000 free notifications/month)
2. Configure channels:
   
   • SMS: Connect your existing Twilio account
   • Email: SendGrid, SES, or your provider of choice
   • Push: FCM and APNs credentials
   • In-app: Install Courier’s Inbox SDK
3. Transfer users to Courier with our Profiles API

Step 2: Rebuild workflows

Build Courier workflows for each Notify message type, using the visual editor for adding advanced logic like:

• Inbound Event Triggers. Including a native integration with Twilio Segment
• Scheduling
• If/Then controls
• Step logic for fetching data or adding delays.

Step 3: Gradual cutover

1. Run Parallel Testing
2. Start with 10% of traffic
3. Monitor delivery rates and user feedback
4. Increase to 50%, then 100%
5. Keep Notify as fallback initially

Step 4: Complete migration

1. Switch all production traffic to Courier
2. Export any remaining Notify data
3. Update documentation
4. Disable Notify APIs before January 31, 2027

Final thoughts

Twilio Notify's shutdown doesn't have to be a setback. It's a chance to upgrade to a platform that handles modern notification requirements: visual workflows, user preferences, in-app messaging, and team collaboration.

When Twilio needed multichannel orchestration for their own operations, they chose Courier. That endorsement speaks for itself.

Start now, and you'll be ready well before January 31, 2027.

Start your migration today

1. Create your free Courier account - 10,000 notifications included
2. Audit your Notify usage - Document for a more informed technical consultation
3. Schedule a technical consultation - Get personalized migration support

Quick start guide

We’ve put together a comprehensive quick start guide in our docs which includes:

• Quick Start Code ( in your preferred language)
• Platform Deep Dive
• API References
• Tutorials

Courier is trusted by thousands of companies including Twilio, LaunchDarkly, and Workleap. Read more of their stories:

LaunchDarkly migrated from their legacy solution due to security concerns and the need for advanced features as they scaled.

Twilio uses Courier for their own multichannel orchestration needs—the strongest possible endorsement.

Workleap relies on Courier for to improve team engagement notifications across multiple channels including Microsoft Teams, Slack, and email.

Frequently asked questions

Will my existing Twilio Notify integrations stop working at end of life?

Twilio's Help Center says Notify reaches end of life on January 31, 2027 for existing customers. Plan to finish your migration well before then, and confirm the date with Twilio, since it has moved several times.

Do I need to rewrite all my notification templates to migrate?

You don't have Notify templates to convert, because Notify takes message content in each API request, such as a body and title. Create your Courier templates in Design Studio or through the Templates API, and if you also send email through SendGrid or Mandrill, Courier can import those templates from each provider's integration page.

How does Courier handle rate limits and provider failures?

When a provider returns a transient error, such as a rate limit or a dropped connection, Courier retries it before moving on to the next provider in the channel. If every provider on a channel fails, a single route moves to the next channel in your routing order, so you can set a fallback like push, then email, then SMS. Every attempt shows in the message's log.

Is there a sandbox or test environment for migration before going live?

Yes. Every Courier workspace starts with separate Production and Test environments, each with its own templates, integrations, journeys, API keys, and logs, so you can build and test before you move live traffic. A new Test environment includes an email provider that only delivers to the address you signed up with, so you can try sends without reaching real customers.

What happens if I want to add new channels (e.g., WhatsApp, in-app) after migrating?

Connect the provider for the new channel on the Integrations page, add that channel to your template in Design Studio, and include it in the template's routing. In-app is the exception: Courier Inbox is built in, so there's nothing to connect, and you add the Inbox component to your app instead.

How secure is Courier? Will my data be compliant with GDPR and other regulations?

Courier maintains SOC 2, HIPAA, and PCI DSS programs and supports GDPR and CCPA obligations, and the Security Portal at security.courier.com holds the current SOC 2 and HIPAA reports. For data residency, Courier runs an EU region that stores and processes notification data inside European borders, which is an Enterprise feature that Courier enables by arrangement.

How can I monitor notification delivery after migration?

Courier logs every message with its timeline and the provider's response, and Analytics shows sent, delivered, opened, clicked, and error counts for each template, journey, and broadcast. Outbound webhooks post every status change to your endpoint, and on Enterprise plans you can send delivery metrics and logs to Datadog, New Relic, or any OpenTelemetry endpoint and set your alerts there.

Can I migrate gradually or do I need to switch all notifications at once?

Yes, you can move one notification type at a time. Start with your lowest-volume, least-critical notification, keep your Notify send running while Courier sends to a test recipient in the Test environment, compare what arrives, then cut that notification over and move on to the next.