Telnyx vs Twilio
Compare Telnyx and Twilio based on observed SMS API performance, features, and pricing
Live performance comparison
Real-world performance data from messages sent through Knock
| Provider | Message volume | Growth | Status page updates (30d) | Status page updates (90d) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | <1M | 3rd of 7 ↓ | 25 | 25 |
 | 100M–500M | 1st of 7 → | 25 | 25 |
From January 2nd to April 2nd, Knock routed <1M messages through Telnyx and 100M–500M through Twilio. Telnyx reported 25 status page updates over the last 90 days, while Twilio reported 25.
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.
The chart above shows each provider's daily median response time (p50) from January 2nd to April 2nd. The top-line number is an average of these daily values: Telnyx averaged 275ms compared to 74ms for Twilio. Telnyx's highest daily p50 was 313ms; Twilio's was 79ms. Twilio is 201ms faster at the median, which can add up at high volumes.
The 90th percentile (p90) captures the slowest 10% of requests, revealing how each provider handles moderate stress. Averaged across all days, Telnyx has a p90 of 451ms compared to 107ms for Twilio. The highest daily p90 was 19505ms for Telnyx and 117ms for Twilio. Twilio handles these slower requests 344ms faster, suggesting more consistent performance across the board.
The 99th percentile (p99) represents the long tail — the slowest 1% of requests. Averaged across all days, Telnyx reached 662ms at p99 while Twilio reached 139ms. The highest daily p99 was 19738ms for Telnyx and 192ms for Twilio, indicating the worst-case response time during spikes or provider-side congestion. Twilio shows a tighter tail, which may matter for time-sensitive SMS notifications like one-time passwords or real-time alerts where even rare delays can impact user experience.
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% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.42% | 24.57% | Feb 20 | 57 | 34 |
| 0.00% | 0.00% | Jan 2 | 91 | 0 |
Averaged across the date range, Telnyx shows a 0.42% daily error rate compared to 0.00% for Twilio. The highest single-day error rate was 24.57% for Telnyx and 0.00% for Twilio. Twilio demonstrates a lower error rate, indicating slightly more consistent availability during this period. Knock automatically retries failed requests to both providers, minimizing 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 Telnyx incidents
Recent status page incidents for Telnyx
Started Apr 3, 2026 — Resolved Apr 3, 2026
Apr 3, 10:39 UTC Resolved - This incident has been resolved.Apr 3, 09:45 UTC Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.Apr 3, 09:03 UTC Investigating - We are aware of instability affecting our Wireless Products API endpoints. The incident began at approximately 08:25 UTC. Our engineering team is actively investigating the root cause. Further updates will be provided as information becomes available.
Started Apr 2, 2026 — Resolved Apr 2, 2026
Apr 2, 17:00 UTC Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.Apr 2, 12:00 UTC In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.Apr 2, 11:12 UTC Scheduled - Engineering will run updates on voice services on all regions.
Ongoing since Apr 2, 2026
Apr 2, 13:00 UTC In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.Apr 2, 11:13 UTC Scheduled - Our Telephony Engineers will be performing an update on our Voice Services across all regions Impact: This update is not expected to disrupt service. Action Required: If you experience any audio issues or dropped calls during this maintenance window, please report them immediately to Telnyx Support.
Started Apr 2, 2026 — Resolved Apr 2, 2026
Apr 2, 05:30 UTC Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.Apr 2, 04:30 UTC In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.Apr 1, 12:53 UTC Update - We will be undergoing scheduled maintenance during this time.Mar 25, 09:44 UTC Update - We will be undergoing scheduled maintenance during this time.Mar 31, 05:30 UTC Scheduled - The Telnyx Wireless teams will perform upgrades to mobile data infrastructure in the North America reg
Started Apr 1, 2026 — Resolved Apr 1, 2026
Apr 1, 14:00 UTC Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.Mar 31, 18:30 UTC In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.Mar 31, 17:06 UTC Scheduled - Our Telephony Engineers will be performing an update on our Voice Services servers servers across all regions Impact: This update is not expected to disrupt service. Action Required: If you experience any audio issues or dropped calls during this maintenance window, please repo
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telnyx | Pay-as-you-go | $0.004 | $400 |
| Twilio | Pay-as-you-go | $0.0083 | $830 |
Telnyx
No free tier. Outbound SMS to US numbers costs $0.004 per message. Inbound messages are $0.004 each. Phone numbers start at $1.00/month for local numbers. Carrier surcharges are passed through at cost with no markup.
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
Telnyx
Twilio
Pros
- Among the lowest per-message rates for US domestic SMS
- Private IP network provides lower latency than providers using the public internet
- Transparent, pay-as-you-go pricing with no monthly minimums
- Strong developer experience with well-documented APIs and SDKs
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
- Smaller community and ecosystem compared to Twilio
- No free trial credits for new accounts
- Feature set is narrower than full-suite platforms like Twilio
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 Telnyx and Twilio?
Telnyx is a developer-first communications platform with competitive pricing and a private IP network for reliable SMS delivery. Twilio is the most widely adopted cloud communications platform, offering SMS, MMS, voice, and WhatsApp through a unified API. Telnyx is best suited for cost-effective developer sms, while Twilio is geared toward full-featured sms at scale.
Which is cheaper, Telnyx or Twilio?
No free tier. Outbound SMS to US numbers costs $0.004 per message. Inbound messages are $0.004 each. Phone numbers start at $1.00/month for local numbers. Carrier surcharges are passed through at cost with no markup. 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, Telnyx or Twilio?
Based on real-world data from Knock, Telnyx has a median SMS API response time (p50) of 275ms compared to 74ms for Twilio.
Which is more reliable, Telnyx or Twilio?
From January 2nd to April 2nd, Telnyx showed an error rate of 0.42% while Twilio showed 0.00%. Both rates are within acceptable thresholds for production SMS delivery, and Knock automatically retries failed requests to minimize the impact of transient errors.
Which is more popular, Telnyx or Twilio?
On the Knock platform, Telnyx handled <1M messages from January 2nd to April 2nd compared to 100M–500M for Twilio. Telnyx is currently seeing declining volume, while Twilio volume has remained stable.
Can I use both Telnyx and Twilio together?
Yes. Knock enables you to integrate multiple SMS providers into a single notification workflow. You can use Telnyx 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 Telnyx vs Twilio?
Telnyx strengths include among the lowest per-message rates for us domestic sms and private ip network provides lower latency than providers using the public internet. 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, Telnyx drawbacks include smaller community and ecosystem compared to twilio, 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 Telnyx, 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.