Plivo vs Twilio
Compare Plivo and Twilio 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 Twilio only. Comparison charts will appear once both providers have sufficient data.
| Provider | Message volume | Growth | Status page updates (30d) | Status page updates (90d) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | — | — | 1 | 10 |
 | 100M–500M | 1st of 7 → | 25 | 25 |
From January 2nd to April 2nd, Knock routed 100M–500M messages through Twilio. Twilio reported 25 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.
Twilio has a median response time (p50) of 74ms, a p90 of 107ms, and a p99 of 139ms 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% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 0.00% | 0.00% | Jan 2 | 91 | 0 |
Averaged across January 2nd to April 2nd, Twilio shows a 0.00% 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 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
Recent Twilio incidents
Recent status page incidents for Twilio
Ongoing since Apr 30, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Apr 29, 20:00 PDT - Apr 30, 00:00 PDTMar 12, 00:34 PDT Scheduled - Twilio is conducting a planned maintenance from 29 April 2026 at 20:00 PDT until 30 April 2026 at 00:00 PDT. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays or failures delivering SMS to and from United States and Canada handsets when sending via long codes, short codes and toll free numbers.
Ongoing since Apr 29, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Apr 29, 13:00 - 17:00 PDTMar 31, 07:43 PDT Scheduled - The Tele2 network in Russia is conducting a planned maintenance from 29 April 2026 at 13:00 PDT until 29 April 2026 at 17:00 PDT. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS to Tele2 Russia handsets.
Ongoing since Apr 27, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Apr 27, 13:00 - 17:00 PDTMar 31, 07:42 PDT Scheduled - The Tele2 network in Russia is conducting a planned maintenance from 27 April 2026 at 13:00 PDT until 27 April 2026 at 17:00 PDT. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS to Tele2 Russia handsets.
Ongoing since Apr 23, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Apr 22, 20:00 PDT - Apr 23, 00:00 PDTMar 12, 00:33 PDT Scheduled - Twilio is conducting a planned maintenance from 22 April 2026 at 20:00 PDT until 23 April 2026 at 00:00 PDT. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays or failures delivering SMS to and from United States and Canada handsets when sending via long codes, short codes and toll free numbers.
Ongoing since Apr 22, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Apr 22, 13:00 - 17:00 PDTMar 31, 07:42 PDT Scheduled - The Tele2 network in Russia is conducting a planned maintenance from 22 April 2026 at 13:00 PDT until 22 April 2026 at 17:00 PDT. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS to Tele2 Russia handsets.
Pricing comparison
| Provider | Plan | Per message | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plivo | Pay-as-you-go | $0.0077 | $770 |
| Twilio | Pay-as-you-go | $0.0083 | $830 |
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.
Twilio
Outbound SMS to US numbers costs $0.0083 per message. Inbound messages are $0.0075 each. Phone numbers start at $1.15/month for local numbers. Carrier surcharges of ~$0.003–$0.005 per message 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
Plivo
Twilio
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
Pros
- Largest ecosystem of SDKs, tutorials, and community resources for SMS
- Trusted by Airbnb, Uber, and Netflix for mission-critical messaging
- Comprehensive compliance tooling with opt-out management and content filtering
- Supports SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and voice in a single platform
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
Cons
- Per-message pricing can add up at high volumes without committed-use discounts
- Phone number provisioning and compliance setup can be complex for new users
- Support response times vary by plan tier
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Plivo and Twilio?
Plivo is a cost-effective communications platform with direct carrier connections, a Twilio-compatible API design, and a 99.99% uptime SLA. Twilio is the most widely adopted cloud communications platform, offering SMS, MMS, voice, and WhatsApp through a unified API. Plivo is best suited for cost-effective high-volume sms, while Twilio is geared toward full-featured sms at scale.
Which is cheaper, Plivo or Twilio?
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. Outbound SMS to US numbers costs $0.0083 per message. Inbound messages are $0.0075 each. Phone numbers start at $1.15/month for local numbers. Carrier surcharges of ~$0.003–$0.005 per message apply on top of the base rate. The best value depends on your sending volume and destination countries.
Which is faster, Plivo or Twilio?
Based on real-world data from Knock, Twilio has a median SMS API response time (p50) of 74ms. We don't yet have enough data for Plivo to make a direct comparison.
Which is more reliable, Plivo or Twilio?
From January 2nd to April 2nd, Twilio showed an error rate of 0.00%. 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, Plivo or Twilio?
On the Knock platform, Twilio handled 100M–500M messages from January 2nd to April 2nd. Twilio volume has remained stable. We don't yet have enough data for Plivo to compare popularity.
Can I use both Plivo and Twilio together?
Yes. Knock enables you to integrate multiple SMS providers into a single notification workflow. You can use Plivo and Twilio 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 Plivo vs Twilio?
Plivo strengths include among the lowest per-message rates with automatic volume discounts and familiar api design modeled after twilio, making migration straightforward. Twilio strengths include largest ecosystem of sdks, tutorials, and community resources for sms and trusted by airbnb, uber, and netflix for mission-critical messaging. On the other hand, Plivo drawbacks include narrower feature set with no native support for whatsapp or other messaging channels, while Twilio drawbacks include per-message pricing can add up at high volumes without committed-use discounts.
Use either provider with Knock
Knock enables you to integrate Plivo, Twilio, or any combination of SMS providers into a single notification workflow. Manage templates, orchestrate cross-channel delivery, and switch providers without changing your code.