Africa's Talking vs Plivo
Compare Africa's Talking and Plivo based on observed SMS API performance, features, and pricing
Live performance comparison
Real-world performance data from messages sent through Knock
We don't have enough message volume through Knock for Plivo to publish statistically meaningful benchmarks yet. The data below reflects Africa's Talking only. Comparison charts will appear once both providers have sufficient data.
| Provider | Message volume | Growth | Status page updates (30d) | Status page updates (90d) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | <1M | 6th of 7 ↓ | 0 | 0 |
 | — | — | 1 | 10 |
From January 2nd to April 2nd, Knock routed <1M messages through Africa's Talking. Africa's Talking reported 0 status page updates over the last 90 days, while Plivo reported 10.
Response time
Response time measures how long each provider takes to accept an SMS API request from Knock, including connection overhead and any automatic retries. Lower values mean faster message hand-off.
| Provider | Median (p50) | p90 | p95 | p99 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 320ms | 361ms | 396ms | 528ms |
| — | — | — | — |
Africa's Talking has a median response time (p50) of 320ms, a p90 of 361ms, and a p99 of 528ms from January 2nd to April 2nd. Comparison charts for Plivo will appear once enough data is available.
Error rate
Error rate tracks the ratio of 5xx responses and timeouts to total SMS API requests. Knock automatically retries failed requests, so transient provider errors rarely affect end-user delivery.
| Provider | Avg. daily error rate | Highest daily rate | Peak error date | Zero-error days | Days above 0.01% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.16% | 20.37% | Jan 14 | 89 | 2 |
| — | — | — | — | — |
Averaged across January 2nd to April 2nd, Africa's Talking shows a 0.16% daily error rate. Comparison data for Plivo will appear once enough message volume is available. Knock automatically retries failed requests to minimize the impact of transient errors on end-user delivery.
About these metrics: Data represents messages sent through Knock during the specified period. Response time measures time from Knock to provider acceptance. Error rate includes only provider 5xx responses and timeouts.
Recent Africa's Talking incidents
Recent status page incidents for Africa's Talking
No incidents reported in the last 90 days
Recent Plivo incidents
Recent status page incidents for Plivo
Started Mar 28, 2026 — Resolved Mar 28, 2026
Mar 28, 14:52 UTC Resolved - This incident has been resolvedMar 28, 14:46 UTC Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the resultsMar 28, 14:13 UTC Identified - Issue has been identified. Fix is being implemented.Mar 28, 13:23 UTC Investigating - Some webhook events for voice calls are not being generated in the India region. We are actively investigating and working to resolve this as quickly as possible. Updates will be provided as they become available.
Started Feb 9, 2026 — Resolved Feb 9, 2026
Feb 9, 15:59 UTC Resolved - This incident has been resolved.Feb 9, 15:41 UTC Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.Feb 9, 15:14 UTC Update - We are continuing to investigate this issue.Feb 9, 14:59 UTC Investigating - Please be advised that voice calls in the US region are currently being impacted by an infrastructure issue. We are investigating the matter alongside our infrastructure partner to resolve this as quickly as possible. We will provide further
Started Feb 9, 2026 — Resolved Feb 9, 2026
Feb 9, 12:52 UTC Resolved - This incident has been resolved.Feb 9, 12:26 UTC Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.Feb 9, 12:25 UTC Investigating - Dear Valued Customer, We are observing failures to retrieve CDR and recordings. All other services are operating normally. Our engineers are actively working to resolve the issue and restore service. Please contact Plivo Support for any questions. Support portal: https://support.plivo.com/hc/en-us
Started Feb 8, 2026 — Resolved Feb 8, 2026
Feb 8, 17:11 UTC Resolved - This incident has been resolved.Feb 8, 14:49 UTC Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.Feb 8, 13:41 UTC Investigating - Dear Valued Customer, We are currently experiencing intermittent message failures affecting a subset of Messaging traffic. Our engineering teams have identified the issue and are actively working to stabilize the service. Other platform services continue to operate normally. We are closely monitoring the situa
Started Feb 8, 2026 — Resolved Feb 8, 2026
Feb 8, 06:48 UTC Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.Feb 8, 06:47 UTC Verifying - Verification is currently underway for the maintenance items.Feb 8, 03:30 UTC In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.Jan 20, 08:17 UTC Scheduled - Dear Valued Customer, We will perform planned maintenance on our Plivo database on Sunday, 8th February 2026 to improve the overall availability of our database engines. During that time
Pricing comparison
| Provider | Plan | Per message | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Africa's Talking | Pay-as-you-go | $0.03 | $2,960 |
| Plivo | Pay-as-you-go | $0.0077 | $770 |
Africa's Talking
Free sandbox for testing. Production SMS pricing varies by country. US outbound messages cost approximately $0.0296 per message. African destinations range from $0.001 to $0.05 per message depending on the country.
Plivo
Pay-as-you-go with no minimums or monthly fees. US outbound SMS costs $0.0077 per message. Inbound messages are $0.0055 each. Volume discounts available for high monthly usage. Carrier surcharges apply on top of the base rate.
US carrier surcharges
All US A2P SMS sent via 10DLC incurs mandatory carrier fees on top of the provider base rate. Most providers pass these through at cost.
| Carrier | Outbound SMS | Inbound SMS |
|---|---|---|
| T-Mobile | $0.0045 | $0.0025 |
| AT&T | $0.003 | $0.003 |
| Verizon | $0.004 | $0.00 |
| US Cellular | $0.005 | $0.00 |
Pros and cons
Africa's Talking
Plivo
Pros
- Best-in-class coverage across African countries with local carrier relationships
- Competitive per-message pricing for African destinations
- Free sandbox environment for development and testing
- Supports USSD, voice, and airtime in addition to SMS
Pros
- Among the lowest per-message rates with automatic volume discounts
- Familiar API design modeled after Twilio, making migration straightforward
- 99.99% uptime SLA with direct carrier connections to 190+ countries
- Free inbound messages and no monthly minimums or base fees
Cons
- Limited coverage outside of Africa
- Smaller developer ecosystem and fewer SDKs than global providers
- US messaging rates are higher than domestic-focused providers
Cons
- Narrower feature set with no native support for WhatsApp or other messaging channels
- Smaller community and fewer third-party tutorials compared to Twilio
- Web dashboard is functional but not polished for managing large number inventories
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Africa's Talking and Plivo?
Africa's Talking is a Pan-African communications platform with deep carrier integrations across the continent. Plivo is a cost-effective communications platform with direct carrier connections, a Twilio-compatible API design, and a 99.99% uptime SLA. Africa's Talking is best suited for africa-focused messaging, while Plivo is geared toward cost-effective high-volume sms.
Which is cheaper, Africa's Talking or Plivo?
Free sandbox for testing. Production SMS pricing varies by country. US outbound messages cost approximately $0.0296 per message. African destinations range from $0.001 to $0.05 per message depending on the country. Pay-as-you-go with no minimums or monthly fees. US outbound SMS costs $0.0077 per message. Inbound messages are $0.0055 each. Volume discounts available for high monthly usage. Carrier surcharges apply on top of the base rate. The best value depends on your sending volume and destination countries.
Which is faster, Africa's Talking or Plivo?
Based on real-world data from Knock, Africa's Talking has a median SMS API response time (p50) of 320ms. We don't yet have enough data for Plivo to make a direct comparison.
Which is more reliable, Africa's Talking or Plivo?
From January 2nd to April 2nd, Africa's Talking showed an error rate of 0.16%. We don't yet have enough data for Plivo to compare reliability directly. Knock automatically retries failed requests to minimize the impact of transient errors.
Which is more popular, Africa's Talking or Plivo?
On the Knock platform, Africa's Talking handled <1M messages from January 2nd to April 2nd. Africa's Talking is currently seeing declining volume. We don't yet have enough data for Plivo to compare popularity.
Can I use both Africa's Talking and Plivo together?
Yes. Knock enables you to integrate multiple SMS providers into a single notification workflow. You can use Africa's Talking and Plivo side by side, route traffic between them, or migrate from one to the other without changing your application code.
What are the main pros and cons of Africa's Talking vs Plivo?
Africa's Talking strengths include best-in-class coverage across african countries with local carrier relationships and competitive per-message pricing for african destinations. Plivo strengths include among the lowest per-message rates with automatic volume discounts and familiar api design modeled after twilio, making migration straightforward. On the other hand, Africa's Talking drawbacks include limited coverage outside of africa, while Plivo drawbacks include narrower feature set with no native support for whatsapp or other messaging channels.
Use either provider with Knock
Knock enables you to integrate Africa's Talking, Plivo, or any combination of SMS providers into a single notification workflow. Manage templates, orchestrate cross-channel delivery, and switch providers without changing your code.