BLOGS
Twilio Alternatives for SMS Messaging in United States (2025)
Comprehensive comparison of top Twilio alternatives for US developers including NotificationAPI, MessageBird, and Plivo. Compare A2P 10DLC compliance, US carrier costs, and developer experience.
Why US Developers Need Twilio Alternatives
While Twilio pioneered programmable SMS, send SMS through Twilio is now harder than ever:
- A2P 10DLC compliance
- High costs
- Setup complexity
The good news is that Twilio is not the only option anymore.
| Provider | True Costs for 1000 SMS | A2P 10DLC Compliance | Use-case Fit | Features | Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twilio | ❌ $11 per 1000 SMS $5-50 registration fees $1/mo per number | ❌ Manual setup ❌ 2-8 weeks | General purpose | ✅ WhatsApp, Voice, and other Telecom speicifc features | ❌ AI chatbot, paid support starting at $500/mo |
| NotificationAPI | $9 per 1000 SMS | ✅ Automated & Immediate | Transactional | ✅ Email, Voice, Push, and other transactional notification features | ✅ 1-hr response guaranteed during work hours (EST) |
| MessageBird | $3 per 1000 SMS $45-$450/mo CRM (Required) $10+/mo campaign registration $4 brand registration | ❌ Manual ❌ 1-2 weeks | Marketing | ✅ Integrated CRM & campaign tools | ❌ Enterprise contracts only |
| Plivo | $10 per 1000 SMS $10+/mo campaign registration $4 brand registration | ❌ Manual ❌ 1-2 weeks | ✅ General purpose | ✅ Similar to Twilio | ❌ Paid support plans starting at $250/mo |
| AWS | $9 per 1000 $10+/mo campaign registration $4 brand registration | ❌ Manual ❌ 1-2 weeks | Transactional | ❌ Any feature must be custom built | ❌ AWS support plans starting at max of $30 or 3% of AWS spend per month |
In summary:
- MessageBird: great for marketing use-cases
- NotificationAPI: great for transactional notification requirements and automating 10DLC
- Twilio/Plivo: great for mixed use-cases or teams that are ok with handling their own telecom complexity
Cost Analysis
True Costs for 1000 SMS
MessageBird ($3/1000) is cheapest for marketing use-cases, while NotificationAPI ($9/1000) is most cost-effective for transactional messaging with no hidden fees. Twilio ($11/1000) and Plivo ($10/1000) are the most expensive options.
Additional Fees and Hidden Costs
All providers except NotificationAPI charge for A2P 10DLC registration and support plans that could cost hundreds to thousands of dollars per month.
A2P 10DLC Compliance
The US implemented Application-to-Person (A2P) 10-digit long code (10DLC) regulations to combat spam, requiring all business SMS to register with major carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile). This creates a unique compliance burden that doesn’t exist in most other countries.
Automated Approach
NotificationAPI’s automated 10DLC registration process is the easiest way to get started, allowing you to focus on development with our team taking over the compliance process as soon as you register.
Manual Approach
In the best case scenario, manual unassisted brand and campaign registration can be done in 4-5 business days. However, it takes weeks to months for most businesses with multiple rejections/feedback cycles.
Use-case Fit
- Marketing: MessageBird is the cheapest and most feature-rich option for marketing teams.
- Transactional: NotificationAPI is the most cost-effective and feature-rich for transactional SMS and development teams.
Feature Comparison
- NotificationAPI: Multi-channel support (SMS, calling, email, push, etc.), developer-first features such as: deduplication, throttling, detaield logs, testing environments, and more.
- MessageBird: Integrated CRM and campaign tools, but no multi-channel support.
- Twilio/Plivo: Tons of telecom-related features such as: voice, whatsapp.
- AWS: No features out of the box, but can be used for custom solutions.
Support
- NotificationAPI: 1-hour response time guarantee during EST business hours, with direct access to technical support team
- Twilio: AI chatbot for basic issues, paid support plans starting at $500/month for human support
- MessageBird: Enterprise contracts only, no support for smaller businesses
- Plivo: Paid support plans starting at $250/month
- AWS: Support plans starting at max of $30 or 3% of AWS spend per month
Conclusion and Recommendations
For marketing use-cases, MessageBird is clearly the cheapest and provides marketing-related features that marketing teams may find useful. For transactional use-cases, e.g. building product-to-user notifications system in a software, NotificationAPI offers the best pricing and features.
For enterprise teams that need granular control over their telecom features, Twilio and Plivo are the best options.
Reader Feedback and Updates
We strive to keep this comparison as accurate and up-to-date as possible. If you notice any inaccuracies or have updates about any of these providers, please contact us.