Two SMS providers, compared on price, features and ratings, so you can pick fast.
Updated September 2026
THE VERDICT
Plivo wins on price and reviews. Twilio wins on compliance.
Plivo starts at $0.0077 versus Twilio's $0.0083. Pick based on volume and team, and the scorecard below breaks down where each one leads.
Winner cells are tinted, green where Plivo leads, violet where Twilio does.
FAQ
Plivo starts at $0.0077 versus Twilio's $0.0083. Compare your expected monthly volume against the per-message rates above.
Plivo prices SMS on a pay-as-you-go basis rather than a flat subscription. US outbound SMS on a long code is about $0.0077 per message before carrier surcharges, which vary by carrier and typically add roughly $0.0035 to $0.0050 per message. A2P 10DLC fees apply on top, and US long-code phone numbers cost about $0.50 per month.
Twilio maintains official server side helper libraries for Python, Node.js, C#/.NET, Java, PHP, Ruby, and Go. It also provides a command line interface (Twilio CLI) and client SDKs for mobile and web voice and video. The REST API can be called from any language over HTTP if an official SDK is not available.
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 Plivo, Twilio, or both, and switch providers without changing your code. Courier sits in front of every channel.
Pricing, plans and feature availability as of September 2026 and may change. Ratings are aggregated from public review platforms.