Two SMS providers, compared on price, features and ratings, so you can pick fast.
Updated October 2026
THE VERDICT
Africa's Talking wins on African market coverage. Plivo wins on channel coverage and compliance.
Africa's Talking and Plivo take different pricing approaches. Plivo rates higher with developers (4.5 vs 4.2 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 Plivo does.
FAQ
Plivo rates higher on G2 (4.5 vs 4.2). 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.
Plivo does not offer an ongoing free plan. New accounts get a free trial with limited credit for testing, and production usage is billed pay-as-you-go. Trial accounts have sending restrictions until you add funds.
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, Plivo, 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.