Twilio vs Telnyx
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Twilio and Telnyx built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose Twilio if…
The most published detail in a market that publishes little. Its US carrier fees are broken out in five tables by number type, so the real cost of a segment is knowable before you send one — and the failed-message fee and 10DLC onboarding charge are stated rather than discovered on an invoice.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose Telnyx if…
Wanting to see where the money goes. Telnyx publishes its own rate and the carrier passthrough as two separate lines and states the second is not marked up, with no platform fee and no support fee — the only one of the three that itemises the carrier's share rather than folding it in.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- Twilio: You are price-sensitive at volume. At $0.0083 a segment it is the dearest of the three, and because Plivo publishes an identical carrier table the entire gap is Twilio's own margin rather than a difference in what is counted. Its long code costs $1.15 a month against Plivo's $0.50.
- Telnyx: Your messages run long. The $0.004 is per message PART, so a 300-character text bills twice before the carrier takes its share, and the headline rate flatters short-message workloads. Adding SMS capability to a number is $0.10 a month on top of the $1.00 the number itself costs.
4 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Twilio 0
Telnyx 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Twilio | Telnyx |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Pay as you go per SEGMENT, not per message — a text longer than one segment is billed as several. Carrier fees are added on top of the quoted rate, US A2P 10DLC carries registration onboarding fees, and a message that ends in a failed status still costs $0.001. | Two lines rather than one: Telnyx's own rate per message part, and the carrier's charge passed through at cost. Both are published and the company states the passthrough is not marked up. Volume tiers apply automatically at 100 million parts. |
| Messaging | ||
| Outbound SMS, US | $0.0083 per outbound segment sent to a US long code. Inbound is the same rate. The carrier fee is separate and roughly doubles it. | $0.004 per message PART for outbound SMS, before the carrier passthrough. The unit is a part and not a message, so a text over one segment costs a multiple of this. |
| Carrier fees on top | Added per message on top of the quoted rate, and published: on a US long code, $0.0035 to AT&T, $0.0045 to T-Mobile, $0.005 to US Cellular and $0.004 to all other carriers. Five separate tables cover long code, toll-free, short code, free-to-end-user short code and RCS. | Passed through at cost on a separate published line, which Telnyx states is not marked up. Its own worked example puts the blended US carrier charge at $0.0038 a part — close to its own rate, so the carrier is roughly half the bill. |
| Phone number, per month | $1.15 a month for a leased US long code, or $0.50 a month to bring your own. A toll-free number is $2.15 leased. | $1.00 a month for a local or toll-free number, plus $0.10 a month to add SMS and MMS capability to it — the messaging capability is billed separately from the number. Short codes are $1,000 a month, vanity short codes $1,500. |
Where they differ.
Pricing model
- Twilio
- Pay as you go per SEGMENT, not per message — a text longer than one segment is billed as several. Carrier fees are added on top of the quoted rate, US A2P 10DLC carries registration onboarding fees, and a message that ends in a failed status still costs $0.001.
- Telnyx
- Two lines rather than one: Telnyx's own rate per message part, and the carrier's charge passed through at cost. Both are published and the company states the passthrough is not marked up. Volume tiers apply automatically at 100 million parts.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Twilio SMS Pricing, United States ↗
“text messages are charged per segment. learn more about character limits and message segments. prices may change from time to time without notice and additional carrier fees may apply. see the carrier fees section below for more detail. US A2P 10DLC are subject to registration onboarding fees. a failed message processing fee of $0.001 per message will be applied only to messages that terminate in a "failed" status.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Telnyx SMS API Pricing ↗
“$0.004 a part. then the carrier, at cost. two lines: our rate and the carrier's passthrough, both published, neither marked up. volume tiers apply automatically at 100m parts.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Outbound SMS, US
- Twilio
- $0.0083 per outbound segment sent to a US long code. Inbound is the same rate. The carrier fee is separate and roughly doubles it.
- Telnyx
- $0.004 per message PART for outbound SMS, before the carrier passthrough. The unit is a part and not a message, so a text over one segment costs a multiple of this.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Twilio SMS Pricing, United States ↗
“long codes a 10-digit number for sms and voice calls with localized identity. $0.0083 $0.0083 $0.022 $0.0165”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Telnyx SMS API Pricing ↗
“send outbound messages $0.004 per message part + carrier fee $0.015 per message part + carrier fee receive inbound messages $0.004 per message part + carrier fee”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Carrier fees on top
- Twilio
- Added per message on top of the quoted rate, and published: on a US long code, $0.0035 to AT&T, $0.0045 to T-Mobile, $0.005 to US Cellular and $0.004 to all other carriers. Five separate tables cover long code, toll-free, short code, free-to-end-user short code and RCS.
- Telnyx
- Passed through at cost on a separate published line, which Telnyx states is not marked up. Its own worked example puts the blended US carrier charge at $0.0038 a part — close to its own rate, so the carrier is roughly half the bill.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Twilio SMS Pricing, United States ↗
“there are additional carrier fees per message that are automatically applied based on the end-user's destination and carrier. [...] long code carrier sms outbound* sms inbound* mms outbound* mms inbound* at&t $0.0035 $0.0035 $0.009 $0.009 t-mobile $0.0045 $0.0025 $0.01 $0.01”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Telnyx SMS API Pricing ↗
“carrier passthrough · blended us 1,000,000 × $0.0038 $3,800 published rates, pay as you go, before volume tiers. carrier passthrough and taxes vary by destination.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Phone number, per month
- Twilio
- $1.15 a month for a leased US long code, or $0.50 a month to bring your own. A toll-free number is $2.15 leased.
- Telnyx
- $1.00 a month for a local or toll-free number, plus $0.10 a month to add SMS and MMS capability to it — the messaging capability is billed separately from the number. Short codes are $1,000 a month, vanity short codes $1,500.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Twilio SMS Pricing, United States ↗
“phone number type twilio leased cost per month bring your own number cost per month long codes a 10-digit number for sms and voice calls with localized identity. $1.15 $0.5”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Telnyx Global Numbers Pricing ↗
“local numbers from $1 per month * toll-free numbers from $1 per month * 800 tfn numbers $500 otc (covers 12-mo term) + $40 mrc (after 12 months)** short code numbers $1,000 per month vanity short code numbers $1,500 per month [...] an additional charge of $0.10 per month applies to add sms and mms capabilities to a number.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Should I choose Twilio or Telnyx?
Pick Twilio if The most published detail in a market that publishes little. Its US carrier fees are broken out in five tables by number type, so the real cost of a segment is knowable before you send one — and the failed-message fee and 10DLC onboarding charge are stated rather than discovered on an invoice.
Pick Telnyx if Wanting to see where the money goes. Telnyx publishes its own rate and the carrier passthrough as two separate lines and states the second is not marked up, with no platform fee and no support fee — the only one of the three that itemises the carrier's share rather than folding it in.