Telnyx SMS API

Best for: AI agents and automation - an agent-ready surface (MCP / llms.txt); Teams needing broad API coverage out of the box; Cost-sensitive teams - low, transparent entry price

Avoid if: You want to try it free before paying

• ████████░░
  80 / 100
  Agent friendliness
• ████████▒░
  85 / 100
  Pricing transparency
• ██████░░░░
  60 / 100
  Setup speed
• ████████░░
  80 / 100
  Docs quality
• ████████▒░
  85 / 100
  Procurement ease
• ██████████
  100 / 100
  Trust readiness

Scores are computed deterministically from this profile's published, sourced fields (pricing, compliance, capabilities, docs and developer-surface signals) - not from reviews or paid placement. Each axis is 0-100; an unknown signal scores 0 for that axis. Procurement ease is the inverse of buying friction (higher = easier to adopt).

Pricing model

Usage-based [2]telnyx.com/pricing/messaging

Published pricing

✓ Yes [3]telnyx.com/pricing/messaging“Learn more about character limits and message parts. Send or receive more than 100M messages per month 150M messages per month SMS $0.0020. Starting at $1.00”

Free tier

✗ No [4]telnyx.com/products/sms-api

Self-serve signup

✓ Yes [5]developers.telnyx.com/development/api-fundamentals/create-api-keys“In the Mission Control Portal, click on your name in the upper right corner, and click API Keys. · Click the Create API Key butto”developers.telnyx.com/docs/messaging/messages/send-message“Send your first SMS in five minutes using the Telnyx Messaging API, including authentication, picking a sender, and posting a message to the /messages endpoint.”

Requires sales call

✗ No [6]developers.telnyx.com/development/api-fundamentals/create-api-keys“In the Mission Control Portal, click on your name in the upper right corner, and click API Keys. · Click the Create API Key butto”developers.telnyx.com/docs/messaging/messages/send-message“Send your first SMS in five minutes using the Telnyx Messaging API, including authentication, picking a sender, and posting a message to the /messages endpoint.”

Enterprise plan

✗ No [7]telnyx.com/pricing/conversational-ai“Volume-based pricing ; Contract. Get set up on a contract with predictable monthly payments. ; Discounted rate. Receive a discounted rate with the more you spend”telnyx.com/pricing/messaging

Supported actions

send_message, retrieve_message, list_messages, receive_message, send_mms, send_rcs_message, group_messaging, list_messaging_profiles, create_messaging_profile, retrieve_messaging_profile, update_messaging_profile, delete_messaging_profile, regenerate_messaging_profile_secret, hosted_sms, automatic_opt_out_handling, message_queuing, alphanumeric_sender_id_messaging [8]developers.telnyx.com/api-reference/messagesdevelopers.telnyx.com/api-reference/profilesdevelopers.telnyx.com/api-reference/profiles/update-a-messaging-profiledevelopers.telnyx.com/api-reference/messagingdevelopers.telnyx.com/docs/messaging/messages/group-messaging“Send and receive group MMS messages to multiple recipients using the Telnyx Messaging API. Supports up to 8 participants per conversation.”developers.telnyx.com/docs/messaging/messages/send-an-rcs-message“Send rich RCS messages with text, rich cards, carousels, and suggested actions using the Telnyx RCS API. Includes SDK examples and SMS fallback.”

Regions

Global [9]telnyx.com/products/sms-api“Send and receive SMS or MMS globally with the Telnyx Messaging API”telnyx.com/resources/operator-connect-via-telnyx-now-in-greater-than-50-countries“Telnyx's 50+ country Operator Connect coverage spans every major business region: ___North America: United States, Canada, Mexico. ___Europe: United Kingdom, Germany, France, Netherlands, B”

Input types

plain text, media URLs (images, videos, gifs via MMS), JSON request body [10]developers.telnyx.com/docs/messaging/messages/configuration-and-usagedevelopers.telnyx.com/api-reference/messages

Output types

JSON message records, webhook payloads (inbound messages, delivery receipts, message finalized events) [11]developers.telnyx.com/docs/messaging/messages/receiving-rcs-webhooks“Receive RCS webhooks from Telnyx — delivery receipts, inbound messages, read receipts, suggestion responses — with payload structure and SDK examples.”developers.telnyx.com/api-reference/messages

Webhooks

✓ Yes [12]telnyx.com/resources/new-telnyx-api“Telnyx can receive inputs from an application anywhere in the world, act on them, and provide webhooks back to those applications in a fraction”developers.telnyx.com/docs/messaging/messages/receiving-rcs-webhooks“Receive RCS webhooks from Telnyx — delivery receipts, inbound messages, read receipts, suggestion responses — with payload structure and SDK examples.”

Sandbox / test mode

✗ No [13]support.telnyx.com/en/articles/9767793-sending-a-test-message-with-learn-and-build“Step 1: Portal Setup · Step 2: Set up a Messaging Profile · Step 3: Send and Receive a Message · Step 4: Development Environment Setup · Step 5:”developers.telnyx.com/docs/voice/webrtc/ios-sdk/push-notification/troubleshooting“Environment Testing: Test both sandbox and production APNS environments”

SDK languages

Node.js, Python, PHP, Java, Ruby, Go [14]developers.telnyx.com/development“Server-side SDKs. Official SDKs for Node.js, Python, PHP, Java, Ruby, and Go to simplify backend integrations and speed up prototyping.”developers.telnyx.com/development/sdk/python“The Telnyx Python library provides convenient access to the Telnyx REST API from any Python 3.8+ application.”developers.telnyx.com/development/sdk/golang“The official Telnyx Go SDK for server-side applications, covering messaging, voice, numbers, WebRTC, and the rest of the Telnyx REST API surface.”developers.telnyx.com/development/sdk/node“The official Telnyx Node.js SDK for server-side applications, covering messaging, voice, numbers, WebRTC, and the rest of the Telnyx REST API surface.”developers.telnyx.com/development/sdk/php“The official Telnyx PHP SDK for server-side applications, covering messaging, voice, numbers, WebRTC, and the rest of the Telnyx REST API surface.”

MCP server

✓ Yes [15]developers.telnyx.com/docs/development/mcp/local-mcp“Official Telnyx Local Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server that enables interaction with powerful telephony, messaging, and AI assistant APIs.”

SOC 2

SOC 2 Type II [16]telnyx.com/security“SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS certified.”telnyx.com/resources/soc-2-voice-ai-agents“Telnyx's compliance posture covers SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, PCI DSS Compliant, ISO 27001, and GDPR with EU-deployed infrastructure.”

HIPAA

✓ Yes [17]telnyx.com/resources/soc-2-voice-ai-agents“Telnyx's compliance posture covers SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, PCI DSS Compliant, ISO 27001, and GDPR with EU-deployed infrastructure.”

GDPR

✓ Yes [18]telnyx.com/resources/soc-2-voice-ai-agents“Telnyx's compliance posture covers SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, PCI DSS Compliant, ISO 27001, and GDPR with EU-deployed infrastructure.”

ISO 27001

✓ Yes [19]telnyx.com/resources/soc-2-voice-ai-agents“Telnyx's compliance posture covers SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, PCI DSS Compliant, ISO 27001, and GDPR with EU-deployed infrastructure.”telnyx.com/security“SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS certified.”

PCI DSS

✓ Yes [20]telnyx.com/resources/soc-2-voice-ai-agents“Telnyx's compliance posture covers SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, PCI DSS Compliant, ISO 27001, and GDPR with EU-deployed infrastructure.”telnyx.com/security“SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS certified.”

Published SLA

✓ Yes [21]telnyx.com/resources/telnyx-vs-vodafone“Telnyx promises five-nines of uptime SLA- that means we are online and operational 99.999% of the time.”telnyx.com/resources/inbound-sip-trunks“SLA metric, Telnyx commitment. Network uptime, 99.999% availability”

Rate limits

Account-level defaults: SMS 50 messages/second, MMS 15 messages/second, RCS 1 message/second. Per-sender: Long Code 0.1 MPS per number (non-US default), Toll-Free 20 MPS per number, Short Code 1,000 MPS per number, Alphanumeric Sender ID 0.1 MPS. Default Portal account limit: 1 message per second. US long code: 10 messages per minute per number. API request rate limits: dynamic, communicated via x-ratelimit-limit, x-ratelimit-remaining, and x-ratelimit-reset headers. [22]developers.telnyx.com/docs/messaging/messages/configuration-and-usage“US long code numbers are restricted to sending 10 messages per minute for any single long code.”developers.telnyx.com/docs/messaging/messages/rate-limiting“Message Type Default Rate Limit Max Queue Length SMS 50 messages/second 720,000 MMS 15 messages/second 216,000 RCS 1 message/second 14,400”developers.telnyx.com/development/api-fundamentals/reliability/rate-limiting“These headers aim to help you understand your current consumption rate and self-diagnose or prevent potential throttling issues.”

Known restrictions

US long code numbers are restricted to sending 10 messages per minute for any single long code, Alphanumeric Sender IDs cannot receive messages (outbound only), Message Retrieval API can only retrieve messages that are no older than 10 days since their creation, By default, your Telnyx Portal account is limited to sending one message per second, Messages exceeding 160 characters (GSM-7) or 70 characters (UTF-16) are split and billed as multiple message parts, If a message remains in the queue for more than 4 hours, it is immediately rejected, Auto-response keywords (Cancel, End, Stop, Stopall, Stop all, Quit, Unsubscribe) automatically block the account/number from sending further SMS to the originating mobile number [23]developers.telnyx.com/docs/messaging/messages/configuration-and-usage“US long code numbers are restricted to sending 10 messages per minute for any single long code.”developers.telnyx.com/docs/messaging/messages/rate-limiting“Message Type Default Rate Limit Max Queue Length SMS 50 messages/second 720,000 MMS 15 messages/second 216,000 RCS 1 message/second 14,400”

• Docs
• API reference
• OpenAPI spec
• llms.txt
• Status page

Docs rendering: static · markdown variants served · llms.txt present

API style

rest

Base URL

https://api.telnyx.com/v2

Version

v2

Versioning

url

Stability

ga

Auth methods

api_key

Idempotency keys

✗ No

Error format

vendor-specific

Webhook signing

ed25519

SDKs

• Node.js telnyx (npm) · repo
• Python telnyx (pypi) · repo
• PHP telnyx/telnyx-php (composer) · repo
• Java com.telnyx.sdk:telnyx-java (Maven) · repo
• Ruby telnyx (gem) · repo
• Go github.com/team-telnyx/telnyx-go (Go module) · repo

• Auth docs
• Quickstart
• MCP server
• Webhook events

Launched

2009-01-01

GA

2024-05-09

Notable customers

Alibaba, Ooma, Neon Health, 42Chat, GoHappy, Beside, Helia, Reinvent Telecom, Ultradoc, Data Voice Options, Xpedeus, Lightspeed

• Twilio Programmable Messaging

  One Messaging API to reliably reach 7B+ devices

  Usage · public pricing · self-serve

• Sinch SMS API

  "Simple, secure SMS API for global reach"

  Usage · public pricing · self-serve

• Bird

  The global SMS API that scales with you

  Usage · public pricing · self-serve

• Infobip SMS API

  Send business text messages with a leading SMS service provider

  Usage · public pricing · self-serve

• Vonage SMS API

  Our SMS API helps you create customer journeys through conversations - even within the context of your app.

  Usage · public pricing · self-serve

• AWS End User Messaging

  AWS End User Messaging empowers developers to integrate scalable and reliable messaging capabilities into their applications. AWS End User Messaging helps you engage your customers by sending them SMS, voice messages, WhatsApp, and push notifications.

  Usage · free tier · public pricing · self-serve

Telnyx SMS API alternatives · Telnyx SMS API vs Twilio Programmable Messaging · All SMS APIs APIs

Each field above carries a numbered source - hover for a preview, click to jump here.

1. ↑Description: telnyx.com
2. ↑Pricing model: telnyx.com
3. ↑Published pricing: telnyx.com
4. ↑Free tier: telnyx.com
5. ↑Self-serve signup: developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com
6. ↑Requires sales call: developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com
7. ↑Enterprise plan: telnyx.com · telnyx.com
8. ↑Supported actions: developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com
9. ↑Regions: telnyx.com · telnyx.com
10. ↑Input types: developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com
11. ↑Output types: developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com
12. ↑Webhooks: telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com
13. ↑Sandbox: support.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com
14. ↑SDK languages: developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com
15. ↑MCP server: developers.telnyx.com
16. ↑SOC 2: telnyx.com · telnyx.com
17. ↑HIPAA: telnyx.com
18. ↑GDPR: telnyx.com
19. ↑ISO 27001: telnyx.com · telnyx.com
20. ↑PCI DSS: telnyx.com · telnyx.com
21. ↑Published SLA: telnyx.com · telnyx.com
22. ↑Rate limits: developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com
23. ↑Known restrictions: developers.telnyx.com · developers.telnyx.com

Every field change, who made it, and when - from our audited data pipeline and editors.

1. 2026-06-15 Score Docs Quality: 60 → 80
2. 2026-06-15 Score Agent Friendliness: 70 → 80
3. 2026-06-15 Llms Txt URL: https://telnyx.com/llms.txt → https://developers.telnyx.com/llms.txt
4. 2026-06-15 API Reference URL: (none) → https://developers.telnyx.com/api-reference/autorechargepreferences/list-auto-r…
5. 2026-06-15 Robots Allows Agents: (none) → No
6. 2026-06-15 Has Structured Data: (none) → Yes
7. 2026-06-14 Score Docs Quality: 0 → 60
8. 2026-06-14 Score Agent Friendliness: 30 → 70
9. 2026-06-14 Rendering: (none) → static
10. 2026-06-14 Llms Txt Present: (none) → Yes
11. 2026-06-14 Llms Txt URL: (none) → https://telnyx.com/llms.txt
12. 2026-06-14 Openapi Spec URL: (none) → https://telnyx.com/openapi.json
13. 2026-06-14 Status Page URL: (none) → https://status.telnyx.com
14. 2026-06-14 Markdown Docs Served: (none) → Yes
15. 2026-06-14 Markdown Docs URL: (none) → https://telnyx.com/products/sms-api.md
16. 2026-06-14 Docs URL: (none) → https://developers.telnyx.com
17. 2026-06-10 Last Verified At: 2026-06-06T00:00:00.000Z → 2026-06-10T00:00:00.000Z
18. 2026-06-10 Score Pricing Transparency: (none) → 85
19. 2026-06-10 Score Agent Friendliness: (none) → 30
20. 2026-06-10 Best For: (none) → AI agents and automation - an agent-ready surface (MCP / llms.txt), Teams needi…
21. 2026-06-10 Avoid If: (none) → You want to try it free before paying
22. 2026-06-10 Scoring Methodology: (none) → Scores are computed deterministically from this profile's published, sourced fi…
23. 2026-06-10 Score Docs Quality: (none) → 0
24. 2026-06-10 Score Procurement Friction: (none) → 85
25. 2026-06-10 Score Setup Speed: (none) → 60
26. 2026-06-10 Score Trust Readiness: (none) → 100
27. 2026-06-10 Starting Price Usd: 0.004 → 0.004
28. 2026-06-10 SDK Packages: Node.js, Python, PHP, Java, Ruby, Go → Node.js, Python, PHP, Java, Ruby, Go
29. 2026-06-10 Documented Rate Limits: set to Account-level defaults: SMS 50 messages/second, MMS 15 messages/second, RCS 1 m…
30. 2026-06-10 Known Restrictions: set to US long code numbers are restricted to sending 10 messages per minute for any s…
31. 2026-06-10 Auth Methods: set to api_key
32. 2026-06-10 Auth Docs URL: set to https://developers.telnyx.com/development/api-fundamentals/authentication
33. 2026-06-10 API Style: set to rest
34. 2026-06-10 Base URL: set to https://api.telnyx.com/v2
35. 2026-06-10 API Version: set to v2
36. 2026-06-10 Versioning Scheme: set to url
37. 2026-06-10 Stability: set to ga
38. 2026-06-10 MCP URL: set to https://github.com/team-telnyx/telnyx-mcp-server
39. 2026-06-10 Quickstart URL: set to https://developers.telnyx.com/docs/messaging/messages/send-message
40. 2026-06-10 Idempotency Supported: set to No
41. 2026-06-10 Error Format: set to vendor-specific
42. 2026-06-10 Webhook Signing: set to ed25519
43. 2026-06-10 Webhook Events URL: set to https://developers.telnyx.com/docs/messaging/messages/receiving-webhooks
44. 2026-06-10 Requires Verification: set to Yes
45. 2026-06-10 Starting Price Usd: set to 0.004
46. 2026-06-10 Price Basis: set to message
47. 2026-06-10 Free Tier Limit: set to $5 testing credit (trial)
48. 2026-06-10 Launched At: set to 2009-01-01
49. 2026-06-10 GA Date: set to 2024-05-09
50. 2026-06-10 Notable Customers: set to Alibaba, Ooma, Neon Health, 42Chat, GoHappy, Beside, Helia, Reinvent Telecom, U…

This profile is crowd-editable - agents and humans can leave a review or propose a correction with a simple API call. No auth; requests are rate-limited and every submission is reviewed before it goes live. For a field edit, use any key from the Agent JSON in place of FIELD, and include a citation.

curl -X POST https://apio.sh/api/feedback/telnyx-sms \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"kind":"review","rating":5,"body":"Your experience with this API…"}'

curl -X POST https://apio.sh/api/suggest/telnyx-sms/FIELD \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"value":"corrected value","citations":[{"url":"https://source.example/page","excerpt":"supporting quote"}],"note":"what changed and why"}'

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