Africa's Talking vs Telnyx
Compare Africa's Talking and Telnyx 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 | 5th of 7 ↑ | 0 | 0 |
| <1M | 4th of 7 → | 61 | 174 |
From June 18th to September 15th, Knock routed <1M messages through Africa's Talking and <1M through Telnyx. Africa's Talking reported 0 status page updates over the last 90 days, while Telnyx reported 174.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 325ms | 362ms | 405ms | 778ms |
| 458ms | 777ms | 871ms | 1107ms |
The chart above shows each provider's daily median response time (p50) from June 18th to September 15th. The top-line number is an average of these daily values: Africa's Talking averaged 325ms compared to 458ms for Telnyx. Africa's Talking's highest daily p50 was 349ms; Telnyx's was 704ms This peak coincided with a major incident reported on Telnyx's status page (Edge Compute StatefulActor deploys and invocations degraded).. Africa's Talking is 133ms 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, Africa's Talking has a p90 of 362ms compared to 777ms for Telnyx. The highest daily p90 was 1581ms for Africa's Talking and 1038ms for Telnyx. Africa's Talking handles these slower requests 415ms 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, Africa's Talking reached 778ms at p99 while Telnyx reached 1107ms. The highest daily p99 was 10763ms for Africa's Talking and 3509ms for Telnyx, indicating the worst-case response time during spikes or provider-side congestion. Africa's Talking 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% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.01% | 0.53% | Jul 1 | 89 | 1 |
| 0.02% | 0.55% | Aug 10 | 80 | 11 |
Averaged across the date range, Africa's Talking shows a 0.01% daily error rate compared to 0.02% for Telnyx. The highest single-day error rate was 0.53% for Africa's Talking and 0.55% for Telnyx. Both providers show similar reliability levels, with error rates well within acceptable thresholds. 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 Africa's Talking incidents
Recent status page incidents for Africa's Talking
No incidents reported in the last 90 days
Recent Telnyx incidents
Recent status page incidents for Telnyx
Ongoing since Sep 16, 2026
Status: Scheduled We will be doing a maintenance on wireguard server in the Ashburn (DC2) region. No IP addresses will be changed, so impact should be limited to client re-handshake with the server. No customer action required. Affected components Programmable Wireless (Under maintenance)
Started Sep 16, 2026 — Resolved Sep 16, 2026
Status: Complete Maintenance has completed Affected components Programmable Wireless (Operational)
Ongoing since Sep 16, 2026
Status: Scheduled This maintenance has been rescheduled from September 18th to September 21st (06:00-09:00 UTC). The scope of work is unchanged. Affected components Programmable Wireless (Under maintenance)
Started Sep 16, 2026 — Resolved Sep 16, 2026
Status: Resolved The elevated latency affecting messaging outbound requests has been resolved. We are continuing to monitor the service. Affected components API V2 (Operational) API V1 (Operational)
Ongoing since Sep 16, 2026
Status: In progress Maintenance has started Affected components Chennai, India (Under maintenance) Melbourne, Australia (Under maintenance) Chicago, IL (Under maintenance) London, UK (Under maintenance) Frankfurt, Germany (Under maintenance) Dubai, UAE (Under maintenance) Mumbai, India (Under maintenance) Montreal, Canada (Under maintenance) Sydney, Australia (Under maintenance) Toronto, Canada (Under maintenance) San Jose, CA (Under maintenance) Ashburn, VA (Under mainte
Pricing comparison
| Provider | Plan | Per message | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Africa's Talking | Pay-as-you-go | $0.03 | $2,960 |
| Telnyx | Pay-as-you-go | $0.004 | $400 |
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.
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.
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
Telnyx
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 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
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
- Smaller community and ecosystem compared to Twilio
- No free trial credits for new accounts
- Feature set is narrower than full-suite platforms like Twilio
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Africa's Talking and Telnyx?
Africa's Talking is a Pan-African communications platform with deep carrier integrations across the continent. Telnyx is a developer-first communications platform with competitive pricing and a private IP network for reliable SMS delivery. Africa's Talking is best suited for africa-focused messaging, while Telnyx is geared toward cost-effective developer sms.
Which is cheaper, Africa's Talking or Telnyx?
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. 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. The best value depends on your sending volume and destination countries.
Which is faster, Africa's Talking or Telnyx?
Based on real-world data from Knock, Africa's Talking has a median SMS API response time (p50) of 325ms compared to 458ms for Telnyx.
Which is more reliable, Africa's Talking or Telnyx?
From June 18th to September 15th, Africa's Talking showed an error rate of 0.01% while Telnyx showed 0.02%. 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, Africa's Talking or Telnyx?
On the Knock platform, Africa's Talking handled <1M messages from June 18th to September 15th compared to <1M for Telnyx. Africa's Talking is currently trending upward in adoption, while Telnyx volume has remained stable.
Can I use both Africa's Talking and Telnyx together?
Yes. Knock enables you to integrate multiple SMS providers into a single notification workflow. You can use Africa's Talking and Telnyx 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 Telnyx?
Africa's Talking strengths include best-in-class coverage across african countries with local carrier relationships and competitive per-message pricing for african destinations. 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. On the other hand, Africa's Talking drawbacks include limited coverage outside of africa, while Telnyx drawbacks include smaller community and ecosystem compared to twilio.
Use either provider with Knock
Knock enables you to integrate Africa's Talking, Telnyx, or any combination of SMS providers into a single notification workflow. Manage templates, orchestrate cross-channel delivery, and switch providers without changing your code.