Two SMS providers, compared on price, features and ratings, so you can pick fast.
Updated October 2026
THE VERDICT
Africa's Talking wins on reviews and support. MessageBird wins on channel coverage and compliance.
Africa's Talking and MessageBird take different pricing approaches. Africa's Talking rates higher with developers (4.2 vs 4.1 on G2). Pick based on volume and team, and the scorecard below breaks down where each one leads.
Winner cells are tinted, green where Africa's Talking leads, violet where MessageBird does.
FAQ
Africa's Talking rates higher on G2 (4.2 vs 4.1). Ratings are aggregated from public review platforms as of the date shown.
Pricing is usage-based and varies by destination country. In Kenya, SMS costs roughly $0.003 to $0.005 per message (about KES 0.40 to 0.60), other African destinations range from about $0.001 to $0.05, and US outbound messages are around $0.03 each. There is no monthly platform fee.
Bird does not offer a standing free tier for SMS; SMS is charged on a pay-per-use basis. The platform's free tier covers 1,000 emails per month (capped at 50 per day) with no credit card required. New SMS users typically test with a small amount of prepaid credit rather than an ongoing free allowance.
Yes. Many teams route different message types through different providers or fail over between them. Courier lets you send through both behind a single API and switch providers without changing your code.
Why not both?
Use both behind one API.
Route Africa's Talking, MessageBird, or both, and switch providers without changing your code. Courier sits in front of every channel.
Pricing, plans and feature availability as of October 2026 and may change. Ratings are aggregated from public review platforms. MessageBird is now Bird.