Bandwidth vs Plivo

Two SMS providers, compared on price, features and ratings, so you can pick fast.

Bandwidth wins price and compliancePlivo wins developer experience and channel coverage

Updated August 2026

At a glanceBandwidthPlivo
Price per message$0.004$0.0077
G2 rating4.44.5

THE VERDICT

Bandwidth wins on price and compliance. Plivo wins on developer experience and channel coverage.

Bandwidth starts at $0.004 versus Plivo's $0.0077. Plivo rates higher with developers (4.5 vs 4.4 on G2). Pick based on volume and team, and the scorecard below breaks down where each one leads.

Which should you choose?

Pick Bandwidth

You need direct Tier-1 carrier connectivity rather than an aggregator
High-volume A2P 10DLC, short code, or toll-free SMS/MMS in the US
You also need bundled voice and emergency/911 services
You want broad SDK coverage and accept enterprise compliance onboarding

Pick Plivo

When integrating SMS and call features into your applications, Plivo is a suitable product for you.

Feature by feature

Winner cells are tinted, green where Bandwidth leads, violet where Plivo does.

capability
Bandwidth
Plivo
Price per SMS (US)
$0.004
$0.0077
Pricing model
Pay-as-you-go per segment; volume discounts via committed-use
Pay-as-you-go per message; no required platform fee
Volume discounts
Yes
Yes
SMS
Yes
Yes
MMS
Yes
Yes
WhatsApp
No
Yes
RCS
Yes
Yes
Voice
Yes
Yes
Carrier network
Owns Tier-1 US carrier network
Direct carrier connections to 190+ countries
A2P 10DLC
Yes
Yes
Two-way messaging
Yes
Yes
Short codes
Yes
Yes
Toll-free
Yes
Yes
Number lookup
Yes
Yes
Official SDKs
Java, Python, C#/.NET, Ruby, Node.js, PHP
Python, Java, Node.js, Ruby, PHP, .NET, Go
Delivery webhooks
Yes
Yes
Test / sandbox
Yes
SOC 2
Yes
Yes
HIPAA
BAA
BAA
GDPR
Yes
Yes
ISO 27001
Yes
No
Support channels
Phone, email, chat, knowledge base
Email, phone, chat/Slack (paid tiers); docs on free tier
24/7 support
Yes
Yes
Support SLA
SLA-backed response times, tiered by plan
1-hour P1/P2 SLA on paid plans; 99.95% uptime

FAQ

Common questions

Bandwidth starts at $0.004 versus Plivo's $0.0077. Compare your expected monthly volume against the per-message rates above.

Why not both?

Use both behind one API.

Route Bandwidth, Plivo, or both, and switch providers without changing your code. Courier sits in front of every channel.

Pricing, plans and feature availability as of August 2026 and may change. Ratings are aggregated from public review platforms.