Best 5 Twilio Alternatives in 2024

Twilio stands as a notable player in the competitive landscape of customer engagement platforms. Yet, Twilio might not have met your requirements. If that’s the case, you’ve landed on the right page to explore Twilio alternatives! 

Whether you’re seeking more predictable pricing, specialised features, or scalability options, this blog will guide you through 5 Twilio Alternatives to help you make an informed decision on the customer engagement platform that best aligns to your business needs and preferences.

What does Twilio do?

Twilio is a cloud communications platform, that offers a variety of APIs that enable developers to seamlessly integrate SMS, voice, video, and email functionalities into their applications. 

In addition to its core API function, businesses can leverage Twilio for additional features such as user verification solutions and global connectivity, enabling communication at affordable rates across countries, even in regions with low connectivity. 

Even if Twilio’s offerings are good, you may find Twilio alternatives that better fit your specific needs.

Twilio’s Main Features

Messaging: Twilio allows developers to send and receive all kinds of messages through SMS, WhatsApp and MMS.

Video: Twilio offers video chat functionalities for your website, providing guiding tools on how to build secure, real-time and customised video experiences.

Voice: Enables call tracking, alerts & notifications, embedded calling, global conference, masked calling and interactive voice response.

Marketing Campaigns: you can manage and create campaigns, segment audiences, apply different designs and check performance metrics.

Twilio Pricing

Twilio offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model, and pricing varies based on the number of phone numbers, messages, or calls sent and received, along with additional fees for each communication tool. 

This pricing structure may present challenges for businesses seeking cost predictability.

On the other hand, Twilio adopts a subscription pricing model for email marketing campaigns, offering three distinct plans: free, basic, and advanced.

To learn more about Twilio’s pricing, refer to the Twilio pricing section in the What is Twilio blog.

Is Twilio the Ideal Customer Engagement Platform for Your Business?

While Twilio presents advantages such as affordable rates across countries and security features, potential challenges may discourage some businesses from considering it as the ideal customer engagement platform.

The complexity of Twilio’s interface and the lack of clarity in pricing could interrupt seamless integration and usage. 

Furthermore, the requirement for coding knowledge and IT expertise to implement solutions may pose significant barriers for organizations lacking technical resources. 

Additionally, the dynamic nature of Twilio’s API, with frequent updates and changes, may necessitate constant adaptation and maintenance to ensure compatibility and functionality.

Among these considerations, businesses must explore Twilio’s alternatives that offer simpler interfaces, clearer documentation, and easier integration processes.

Selection Criteria for Twilio Alternatives 

Before diving into the alternatives, let’s outline the criteria used to select them:

• Pricing Structure: Flexibility and predictability in pricing to ensure cost-efficiency.
• Feature Set: Availability of essential and advanced features like SMS, voice, video, and email APIs.
• Ease of Integration: Simplicity in integrating the platform with existing systems without extensive coding requirements.
• Scalability: Ability to scale with business growth and handle increasing communication volumes.
• User Interface: Intuitive and user-friendly interfaces for ease of use by non-technical users.

Best 5 Twilio Alternatives in 2024 Comparison Table 

1. Frizbit – A Top Twilio Alternative

Frizbit is a cross-channel platform of marketing automation and product recommendation. It offers web push notifications service, email marketing, SMS, and WhatsApp messaging. 

Main features

Frizbit stands out as a top Twilio alternatives with its comprehensive range of benefits.

• Hyper-Personalization: Tailor messages to individual users with advanced AI-driven personalization, enhancing customer engagement.
• Unlimited Automation: Automate retargeting campaigns, upselling, and abandoned cart recovery effortlessly, saving time and boosting sales.
• Seamless Integration: Easily integrate with various platforms without the need for extensive development work.
• User-Friendly Interface: Create and manage campaigns with an intuitive, marketer-friendly interface, eliminating the need for technical skills.
• Web Push Notifications: Engage users with non-intrusive, effective web push notifications alongside email, SMS, and WhatsApp campaigns.
• Cost Efficiency: Benefit from flexible pricing tailored to your business needs, offering a more economical solution in the long run.

Frizbit’s comprehensive approach makes it an ideal choice for businesses seeking robust marketing automation without the complexity and cost associated with Twilio.

Pricing

Frizbit’s pricing model is designed for flexibility and scalability, focusing on monthly visits. This approach ensures a higher ROI as engagement grows, making it a more practical choice for businesses in the long term. 

So, is Frizbit pricing model more convenient in the long run? 

While Twilio’s pay-as-you-go model appears budget-friendly initially, alternatives like Frizbit can be more cost-effective in the long run.

Let’s see some examples that support this idea…

SMS pricing

Twilio charges $0.0079 per message sent or received, which can become costly with high usage. Frizbit offers a lower price per 100 SMS sent, operates in Spanish-speaking countries, and supports local currencies, unlike Twilio which uses dollars.

WhatsApp pricing 

WhatsApp pricing starts at $0.005 per session message, based on Meta’s conversation-based pricing fee. Both Twilio and Frizbit use this model, resulting in no price difference between the two.

Email Marketing Pricing 

Twilio uses a subscription model for email marketing, while Frizbit offers a pay-as-you-go approach. Over time, Frizbit proves to be more economical, providing hyper-personalized email features always included, unlike Twilio which offers these only in its Advanced Plan.

Contact the sales team for more information about Frizbit prices!

Target market

Digital marketing professionals and eCommerce businesses from medium to enterprise size. 

2. Plivo- A Strong Twilio Alternative

Plivo is an SMS API and Voice API platform that enables businesses to communicate with their customers on a global scale

Main features

Plivo emerges as one of Twilio Alternatives, offering a diverse set of features tailored to enhance customer engagement. 

With its programmable API, SMS API, Verify API, and WhatsApp Business API, Plivo provides businesses with communication tools to connect with their audience. 

Additionally, Plivo’s Voice API enables voice communication, while its carrier platform and number lookup capabilities ensure management of phone numbers. 

Moreover, Plivo offers solutions designed for customer experience.

Pricing

Plivo offers a pay-as-you-go system for its SMS API, with costs starting at $0.00550 per SMS sent and $0.00550 per SMS received.

Plivo’s pricing structure extends to their omnichannel contact center solution, Contacto, with professional plans starting at $35 per user per month. 

Target market

Plivo targets industries such us: technology, e-commerce, healthcare, legal, transportation, financial services, and customer service sectors. 

3. Bandwidth- A Reliable Twilio Alternative

Bandwidth is an enterprise communications platform with voice, messaging, and emergency APIs for communications stack.

Main features

Bandwidth stands as a reliable Twilio alternative, offering a suite of communication APIs designed to meet business needs. 

The platform includes Voice API, Messaging API (covering SMS and MMS), and Emergency Calling API, for voice and messaging capabilities. 

Additionally, Bandwidth provides an In-App Calling API and an Authentication API, facilitating secure and in-app communications and user verification processes. 

With these features, Bandwidth supports various integrations and documentation resources, making it a choice for enterprises looking to enhance their communication strategies.

Pricing

Bandwidth provides a pay-as-you-go pricing model for its Voice API, with domestic outbound calls starting at $0.0100 per minute and inbound calls at $0.0055 per minute.

Additional features like call conferencing, call recording, and media streaming are priced competitively to make it more affordable.

For messaging services, Bandwidth offers an SMS API with outbound messages starting at $0.0040 per message and MMS outbound at $0.0150 per message.

Target market

Bandwidth’s target market includes businesses in healthcare, finance, telecommunications, retail & e-commerce, and hospitality & tourism.

4. Sinch- A Comprehensive Twilio Alternative

Sinch is a Customer Communications Cloud built to create connections with customers at every step of their journey and enable conversations across messaging

Main features

Sinch stands as a Twilio Alternative, offering SMS, MMS, RCS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram, for multi-channel coverage. 

Sinch’s Connect channels with Conversation API to create a unified conversational experience.

Additionally, the platform provides messaging APIs for specific channel requirements and SMS Verification for customer security.

Pricing

Sinch offers a straightforward pricing model. For SMS messaging, the cost per outbound message starts at $0.06695, with no charge for incoming messages.

Additionally, Sinch provides SMS-enabled numbers with a monthly fee starting at $25.00 and a one-time setup fee beginning at $10.00. 

Target market 

Enterprises and developers looking for scalable communication solutions.

5. Vonage- A Versatile Twilio Alternative

Vonage is a cloud communication platform for businesses and offers services, such as video conferencing, voicemail transcription, and desktop sharing, using voice as a platform.

Main features

It stands as a versatile Twilio alternative, offering messaging options including SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Viber.

Vonage’s voice services include Voice API, SIP Trunking, and In-App Voice, enabling voice communication integration.

Additionally, Vonage offers video solutions such as Video Express and Interactive Broadcast, along with AI-driven tools like AI Studio and Proactive Connect for customer interactions.

The platform also features a protection suite with services like Fraud Defender and Verify (2FA) to ensure secure communications.

Pricing

Vonage has a pay-as-you-go pricing model with tiered plans.

The SMS API starts at €0.0062 per message, while the Messages API begins at €0.0050 per delivered message. 

Target market

Businesses of all sizes seeking communication solutions.

Final Thoughts 

Choosing the right customer engagement platform is essential to your business’s success. By exploring Twilio alternatives and understanding their features, pricing structures, and target markets, you can make an informed decision that aligns with your business objectives.

Whether it’s Frizbit’s hyper-personalization or Plivio’s programmable capabilities, there’s a solution tailored to your unique needs waiting to be discovered.

Frequently asked questions

Is Plivo cheaper than Twilio? 

Businesses transitioning from Twilio to Plivo often achieve savings of 35% or more, making Plivo a cost-effective Twilio alternative

What is better than Twilio? 

Frizbit offers a comprehensive range of features, including hyper-personalized messages, unlimited automation capabilities, and seamless integration, making it a strong Twilio Alternatives. 

Its user-friendly interface makes it easy for digital marketing professionals to create segments and campaigns without needing technical support.  

Is there a free Twilio? 

You can sign up for your free Twilio trial. 

The signup process includes verifying your personal phone number: this is a security measure that is mandatory before you can try Twilio. Once you finish signup, you should see your Console Dashboard.

Is Twilio third party ?

“Third party” refers to any application or service built by a non-Twilio company that uses Twilio’s services. These products support communications such as phone calls, SMS/MMS messages, video calling, live chat, and more.

Similarly, many Twilio alternatives offer third-party applications that use their services.

Can I trust Twilio?

Twilio is the trusted platform for customer engagement with security, privacy, and resilience built in at every layer. However, many Twilio alternatives also offer robust security and trust features.