Twilio Programmable Messaging
One Messaging API to reliably reach 7B+ devices [1]
Best for / Avoid if
Best for: Regulated or enterprise workloads - compliance attestations and an enterprise plan; AI agents and automation - an agent-ready surface (MCP / llms.txt); Teams needing broad API coverage out of the box
Avoid if: You want to try it free before paying
Scores
- 85 / 100Agent friendliness
- 85 / 100Pricing transparency
- 75 / 100Setup speed
- 70 / 100Docs quality
- 85 / 100Procurement ease
- 100 / 100Trust readiness
Pricing & procurement
- Pricing model
- Usage-based [2]
- Published pricing
- ✓ Yes [3]
- Free tier
- ✗ No [4]
- Free tier details
- Trial includes product-specific free units such as 100 SMS messages, 3,000 emails, and 75 voice minutes. Trial accounts expire after 30 days. [5]
- Self-serve signup
- ✓ Yes [6]
- Requires sales call
- ✗ No [7]
- Enterprise plan
- ✓ Yes [8]
| Item | Per | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMS outbound (Long Code) | segment | $0.0083 | source |
| SMS inbound (Long Code) | segment | $0.0083 | source |
| MMS outbound (Long Code) | message | $0.022 | source |
| MMS inbound (Long Code) | message | $0.0165 | source |
| SMS outbound (Toll-Free) | segment | $0.0083 | source |
| SMS inbound (Toll-Free) | segment | $0.0083 | source |
| MMS outbound (Toll-Free) | message | $0.022 | source |
| MMS inbound (Toll-Free) | message | $0.02 | source |
| SMS outbound (Short Code) | segment | $0.0083 | source |
| SMS inbound (Short Code) | segment | $0.0083 | source |
| MMS outbound (Short Code) | message | $0.022 | source |
| MMS inbound (Short Code) | message | $0.0165 | source |
| RCS rich text outbound | segment | $0.0083 | source |
| RCS rich text inbound | segment | $0.0083 | source |
| RCS rich media outbound | message | $0.022 | source |
| RCS rich media inbound | message | $0.0165 | source |
| Engagement Suite add-on | segment | $0.015 | source |
| Engagement Suite add-on free tier | 1,000 segments | $0 | source |
| Compliance Toolkit add-on | segment | $0.015 | source |
| Failed message processing fee | message | $0.001 | source |
| AT&T SMS outbound carrier fee (Long Code) | segment | $0.0035 | source |
| AT&T SMS inbound carrier fee (Long Code) | segment | $0.0035 | source |
| AT&T MMS outbound carrier fee (Long Code) | message | $0.009 | source |
| AT&T MMS inbound carrier fee (Long Code) | message | $0.009 | source |
| T-Mobile SMS outbound carrier fee (Long Code) | segment | $0.0045 | source |
| T-Mobile SMS inbound carrier fee (Long Code) | segment | $0.0025 | source |
| T-Mobile MMS outbound carrier fee (Long Code) | message | $0.01 | source |
| T-Mobile MMS inbound carrier fee (Long Code) | message | $0.01 | source |
| Verizon SMS outbound carrier fee (Long Code) | segment | $0.0045 | source |
| Verizon MMS outbound carrier fee (Long Code) | message | $0.007 | source |
| US Cellular SMS outbound carrier fee (Long Code) | segment | $0.005 | source |
| US Cellular SMS inbound carrier fee (Long Code) | segment | $0.0025 | source |
| US Cellular MMS outbound carrier fee (Long Code) | message | $0.01 | source |
| US Cellular MMS inbound carrier fee (Long Code) | message | $0.01 | source |
| All other carriers SMS outbound carrier fee (Long Code) | segment | $0.004 | source |
| All other carriers MMS outbound carrier fee (Long Code) | message | $0.01 | source |
| AT&T SMS outbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | segment | $0.0035 | source |
| AT&T SMS inbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | segment | $0.0035 | source |
| AT&T MMS outbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | message | $0.009 | source |
| AT&T MMS inbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | message | $0.009 | source |
| T-Mobile SMS outbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | segment | $0.0045 | source |
| T-Mobile SMS inbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | segment | $0.0025 | source |
| T-Mobile MMS outbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | message | $0.01 | source |
| T-Mobile MMS inbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | message | $0.01 | source |
| Verizon SMS outbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | segment | $0.0045 | source |
| Verizon MMS outbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | message | $0.007 | source |
| US Cellular SMS outbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | segment | $0.0045 | source |
| US Cellular SMS inbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | segment | $0.0025 | source |
| US Cellular MMS outbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | message | $0.01 | source |
| US Cellular MMS inbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | message | $0.01 | source |
| All other carriers SMS outbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | segment | $0.004 | source |
| All other carriers MMS outbound carrier fee (Toll-Free) | message | $0.01 | source |
| AT&T SMS outbound carrier fee (Short Code) | segment | $0.0035 | source |
| AT&T SMS inbound carrier fee (Short Code) | segment | $0.0035 | source |
| AT&T MMS outbound carrier fee (Short Code) | message | $0.009 | source |
| AT&T MMS inbound carrier fee (Short Code) | message | $0.009 | source |
| T-Mobile SMS outbound carrier fee (Short Code) | segment | $0.0045 | source |
| T-Mobile SMS inbound carrier fee (Short Code) | segment | $0.0025 | source |
| T-Mobile MMS outbound carrier fee (Short Code) | message | $0.01 | source |
| T-Mobile MMS inbound carrier fee (Short Code) | message | $0.01 | source |
| Verizon SMS outbound carrier fee (Short Code) | segment | $0.0045 | source |
| Verizon MMS outbound carrier fee (Short Code) | message | $0.007 | source |
| US Cellular SMS outbound carrier fee (Short Code) | segment | $0.0045 | source |
| US Cellular MMS outbound carrier fee (Short Code) | message | $0.01 | source |
| US Cellular MMS inbound carrier fee (Short Code) | message | $0.01 | source |
| Other - Group A SMS outbound carrier fee (Short Code) | segment | $0.0025 | source |
| Other - Group B SMS outbound carrier fee (Short Code) | segment | $0.004 | source |
| AT&T SMS outbound carrier fee (FTEU Short Code) | segment | $0.02 | source |
| T-Mobile SMS outbound carrier fee (FTEU Short Code) | segment | $0.02 | source |
| Verizon SMS outbound carrier fee (FTEU Short Code) | segment | $0.02 | source |
| AT&T RCS rich text outbound carrier fee | segment | $0.0045 | source |
| AT&T RCS rich text inbound carrier fee | segment | $0.0045 | source |
| AT&T RCS rich media outbound carrier fee | message | $0.01 | source |
| AT&T RCS rich media inbound carrier fee | message | $0.01 | source |
| T-Mobile RCS rich text outbound carrier fee | segment | $0.0062 | source |
| T-Mobile RCS rich text inbound carrier fee | segment | $0.0025 | source |
| T-Mobile RCS rich media outbound carrier fee | message | $0.0125 | source |
| T-Mobile RCS rich media inbound carrier fee | message | $0.0125 | source |
| Verizon RCS rich text outbound carrier fee | segment | $0.0045 | source |
| Verizon RCS rich text inbound carrier fee | segment | $0 | source |
| Verizon RCS rich media outbound carrier fee | message | $0.007 | source |
| Verizon RCS rich media inbound carrier fee | message | $0 | source |
| US Cellular RCS rich text outbound carrier fee | segment | $0.0062 | source |
| US Cellular RCS rich text inbound carrier fee | segment | $0.0025 | source |
| US Cellular RCS rich media outbound carrier fee | message | $0.0135 | source |
| US Cellular RCS rich media inbound carrier fee | message | $0.0135 | source |
| All other carriers RCS rich text outbound carrier fee | segment | $0.0045 | source |
| All other carriers RCS rich text inbound carrier fee | segment | $0.0045 | source |
| All other carriers RCS rich media outbound carrier fee | message | $0.01 | source |
| All other carriers RCS rich media inbound carrier fee | message | $0.01 | source |
| Long code phone number (Twilio leased) | month | $1.15 | source |
| Long code phone number (BYO) | month | $0.5 | source |
| Toll-free phone number (Twilio leased) | month | $2.15 | source |
| Toll-free phone number (BYO) | month | $0.5 | source |
| Random short code (Twilio leased) | quarter | $1000 | source |
| Vanity short code (Twilio leased) | quarter | $1500 | source |
| Vanity short code (BYO) | quarter | $500 | source |
| MMS short code enablement | one-time | $500 | source |
Capabilities
- Supported actions
- send_message, fetch_message, list_messages, update_message, delete_message, schedule_message, send_message_with_shortened_links, track_message_feedback, fetch_media, list_media, delete_media, create_messaging_service, fetch_messaging_service, list_messaging_services, update_messaging_service, delete_messaging_service, manage_phone_number_senders, manage_short_code_senders, manage_alpha_senders, manage_channel_senders, fetch_deactivated_numbers, submit_toll_free_verification, update_toll_free_verification, delete_toll_free_verification, check_messaging_pricing [9]
- Regions
- 180+ countries [10]
- Input types
- application/x-www-form-urlencoded, multipart/form-data [11]
- Output types
- JSON, XML, CSV [12]
- Webhooks
- ✓ Yes [13]
- Sandbox / test mode
- ✓ Yes [14]
- SDK languages
- Python, Node.js, Java, C# / .NET, PHP, Ruby, Go [15]
- MCP server
- ✓ Yes [16]
Trust & compliance
- SOC 2
- SOC 2 Type II [17]
- HIPAA
- ✓ Yes [18]
- GDPR
- ✓ Yes [19]
- ISO 27001
- ✓ Yes [20]
- PCI DSS
- ✓ Yes [21]
- Published SLA
- ✓ Yes [22]
- Rate limits
- 1 message segment per second (MPS) per long code phone number (default); A2P 10DLC MPS varies by trust score; queue holds up to 10 hours of message segments per number [23]
- Known restrictions
- You can call or message only verified recipients from a trial account., During your trial, SMS messages and voice calls are restricted to your sign-up country., To complete A2P 10DLC registration, you must have a paid Twilio account., Messages with shortened hyperlinks by 3rd party Link Shorteners were filtered at 1.96% or 28x the rate of Twilio (0.07%)., Twilio monitors messages to prevent content violating the Acceptable Use Policy. [24]
Developer surface
Integration
- API style
- rest
- Base URL
- https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01
- Version
- 2010-04-01
- Versioning
- url
- Stability
- ga
- Auth methods
- basic, api_key
- Idempotency keys
- ✗ No
- Error format
- vendor-specific
- Webhook signing
- hmac_sha1
Adoption & maturity
- Launched
- 2008-01-01
- Notable customers
- Duolingo, Lyft, Yelp, Intuit, Uber, Indeed, Reddit, IBM, Zendesk, Asana, Nubank, Rocket Mortgage, Toyota Connected, Lime, Vacasa
Other SMS APIs
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Bird
The global SMS API that scales with you
Telnyx SMS API
Carrier-grade SMS API with direct routing. No aggregator markup, no middleman margin. Programmable messaging on infrastructure Telnyx owns end-to-end.
Infobip SMS API
Send business text messages with a leading SMS service provider
Vonage SMS API
Our SMS API helps you create customer journeys through conversations - even within the context of your app.
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.
References
- ↑Description: twilio.com
- ↑Pricing model: twilio.com · twilio.com
- ↑Published pricing: twilio.com · twilio.com
- ↑Free tier: twilio.com
- ↑Free tier details: twilio.com
- ↑Self-serve signup: twilio.com · twilio.com
- ↑Requires sales call: twilio.com
- ↑Enterprise plan: twilio.com
- ↑Supported actions: twilio.com · twilio.com · twilio.com
- ↑Regions: twilio.com · twilio.com
- ↑Input types: twilio.com · twilio.com
- ↑Output types: twilio.com
- ↑Webhooks: twilio.com · twilio.com
- ↑Sandbox: twilio.com · twilio.com
- ↑SDK languages: twilio.com
- ↑MCP server: twilio.com · twilio.com · github.com
- ↑SOC 2: twilio.com · twilio.com
- ↑HIPAA: twilio.com · security.twilio.com
- ↑GDPR: twilio.com · twilio.com
- ↑ISO 27001: twilio.com · twilio.com
- ↑PCI DSS: security.twilio.com · twilio.com
- ↑Published SLA: twilio.com · twilio.com · twilio.com
- ↑Rate limits: help.twilio.com · help.twilio.com
- ↑Known restrictions: help.twilio.com · twilio.com
Change history
- 2026-06-15 Score Docs Quality: 50 → 70
- 2026-06-15 Score Agent Friendliness: 65 → 85
- 2026-06-15 Llms Txt URL: https://www.twilio.com/llms.txt → https://docs.twilio.com/llms.txt
- 2026-06-15 API Reference URL: (none) → https://docs.twilio.com/docs/api/errors
- 2026-06-15 Robots Allows Agents: (none) → Yes
- 2026-06-15 Has Structured Data: (none) → Yes
- 2026-06-14 Score Docs Quality: 0 → 50
- 2026-06-14 Score Agent Friendliness: 40 → 65
- 2026-06-14 Rendering: (none) → static
- 2026-06-14 Llms Txt Present: (none) → Yes
- 2026-06-14 Llms Txt URL: (none) → https://www.twilio.com/llms.txt
- 2026-06-14 Status Page URL: (none) → https://status.twilio.com
- 2026-06-14 Changelog URL: (none) → https://www.twilio.com/changelog
- 2026-06-14 Markdown Docs Served: (none) → Yes
- 2026-06-14 Markdown Docs URL: (none) → https://www.twilio.com/en-us/messaging/channels/sms.md
- 2026-06-14 Docs URL: (none) → https://docs.twilio.com
- 2026-06-10 Last Verified At: 2026-06-06T00:00:00.000Z → 2026-06-10T00:00:00.000Z
- 2026-06-10 Score Pricing Transparency: (none) → 85
- 2026-06-10 Score Agent Friendliness: (none) → 40
- 2026-06-10 Best For: (none) → Regulated or enterprise workloads - compliance attestations and an enterprise p…
- 2026-06-10 Avoid If: (none) → You want to try it free before paying
- 2026-06-10 Scoring Methodology: (none) → Scores are computed deterministically from this profile's published, sourced fi…
- 2026-06-10 Score Docs Quality: (none) → 0
- 2026-06-10 Score Procurement Friction: (none) → 85
- 2026-06-10 Score Setup Speed: (none) → 75
- 2026-06-10 Score Trust Readiness: (none) → 100
- 2026-06-10 Starting Price Usd: 0.0083 → 0.0083
- 2026-06-10 SDK Packages: Python, Node.js, Java, C# / .NET, PHP, Ruby, Go → Python, Node.js, Java, C# / .NET, PHP, Ruby, Go
- 2026-06-10 HIPAA: set to Yes
- 2026-06-10 GDPR: set to Yes
- 2026-06-10 ISO 27001: set to Yes
- 2026-06-10 PCI DSS: set to Yes
- 2026-06-10 SLA Published: set to Yes
- 2026-06-10 SLA URL: set to https://www.twilio.com/en-us/legal/service-level-agreement/twilio-apis
- 2026-06-10 Data Retention Policy URL: set to https://help.twilio.com/articles/4410585868443
- 2026-06-10 Documented Rate Limits: set to 1 message segment per second (MPS) per long code phone number (default); A2P 10…
- 2026-06-10 Known Restrictions: set to You can call or message only verified recipients from a trial account., During …
- 2026-06-10 Auth Methods: set to basic, api_key
- 2026-06-10 Auth Docs URL: set to https://www.twilio.com/docs/iam/api
- 2026-06-10 API Style: set to rest
- 2026-06-10 Base URL: set to https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01
- 2026-06-10 API Version: set to 2010-04-01
- 2026-06-10 Quickstart URL: set to https://www.twilio.com/docs/messaging/quickstart
- 2026-06-10 Idempotency Supported: set to No
- 2026-06-10 Error Format: set to vendor-specific
- 2026-06-10 Webhook Signing: set to hmac_sha1
- 2026-06-10 Webhook Events URL: set to https://www.twilio.com/docs/usage/webhooks/messaging-webhooks
- 2026-06-10 Requires Verification: set to Yes
- 2026-06-10 Starting Price Usd: set to 0.0083
- 2026-06-10 Price Basis: set to message segment
Suggest an edit / leave a review
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curl -X POST https://apio.sh/api/feedback/twilio-messaging \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"kind":"review","rating":5,"body":"Your experience with this API…"}'Suggest a correction to a field (cite a source)
curl -X POST https://apio.sh/api/suggest/twilio-messaging/FIELD \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"value":"corrected value","citations":[{"url":"https://source.example/page","excerpt":"supporting quote"}],"note":"what changed and why"}'