MessageBird vs Telnyx
Compare MessageBird 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 → | 4 | 12 |
| <1M | 3rd of 7 ↑ | 25 | 25 |
From February 15th to May 14th, Knock routed <1M messages through MessageBird and <1M through Telnyx. MessageBird reported 12 status page updates over the last 90 days, while Telnyx 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.
| Provider | Median (p50) | p90 | p95 | p99 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 328ms | 429ms | 454ms | 552ms |
| 219ms | 389ms | 488ms | 638ms |
The chart above shows each provider's daily median response time (p50) from February 15th to May 14th. The top-line number is an average of these daily values: MessageBird averaged 328ms compared to 219ms for Telnyx. MessageBird's highest daily p50 was 519ms; Telnyx's was 313ms. Telnyx is 109ms 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, MessageBird has a p90 of 429ms compared to 389ms for Telnyx. The highest daily p90 was 862ms for MessageBird and 19505ms for Telnyx. Telnyx handles these slower requests 40ms 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, MessageBird reached 552ms at p99 while Telnyx reached 638ms. The highest daily p99 was 7528ms for MessageBird and 19738ms for Telnyx, indicating the worst-case response time during spikes or provider-side congestion. MessageBird 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% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.00% | 0.00% | Feb 15 | 80 | 0 |
| 0.21% | 24.57% | Feb 20 | 57 | 26 |
Averaged across the date range, MessageBird shows a 0.00% daily error rate compared to 0.21% for Telnyx. The highest single-day error rate was 0.00% for MessageBird This peak coincided with a major incident reported on MessageBird's status page (Data Platform Degraded Performance - US-WEST region). and 24.57% for Telnyx. MessageBird 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 MessageBird incidents
Recent status page incidents for MessageBird
Started May 13, 2026 — Resolved May 13, 2026
May 13, 15:33 CEST Resolved - This incident has been resolved.May 13, 14:25 CEST Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.May 13, 14:16 CEST Identified - The issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented.May 13, 13:33 CEST Investigating - We are currently experiencing an issue where journeys are not displaying in the user interface. Journey runs are not affected and continue to execute normally. At this time, the issue is limited to the listing/viewin
Started May 12, 2026 — Resolved May 12, 2026
May 12, 16:16 CEST Resolved - This incident has been resolved.May 12, 15:58 CEST Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.May 12, 15:41 CEST Investigating - We are currently experiencing delays in processing journeys. The team is actively working to increase processing speed and reduce delays.
Started May 8, 2026 — Resolved May 8, 2026
May 8, 12:55 CEST Identified - KPN Netherlands has reported issues with A2P delivery to a small subset of their customer base, which may cause messages to be delivered with a delay or not at all. We are working closely with their engineering teams to have this resolved.
Started May 1, 2026 — Resolved May 1, 2026
May 1, 23:37 CEST Resolved - This incident has been resolved.May 1, 23:14 CEST Identified - The issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented.May 1, 22:06 CEST Investigating - We are seeing elevated errors with conversations involving bots in the EU region and we are currently investigating this issue.
Started Apr 7, 2026 — Resolved Apr 7, 2026
Apr 7, 10:32 CEST Resolved - All backlog fully processed.Apr 7, 09:28 CEST Monitoring - We've identified the cause of the issue affecting wait steps in automations. A rapid spike in automation activity outpaced our infrastructure's autoscaling response, leading to a temporary processing backlog. Our systems have since scaled to meet demand and the backlog is expected to clear completely in 30mins.Apr 7, 07:49 CEST Investigating - We are currently investigating this issue.
Recent Telnyx incidents
Recent status page incidents for Telnyx
Ongoing since May 28, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT May 28, 09:00 - 11:00 UTCMay 11, 14:41 UTC Scheduled - Our Telephony Engineers will perform maintenance on our SIP proxy servers in the US region. Our TLS certificate for our SIP proxy server(s) of sip.telnyx.com (192.76.120.10 and 64.16.250.10) will be changed during this deployment. This is important for some customers who use an SBC (or other appliance) and have our certificate (or the CA certificate) loaded into the SBC. This information also applies to some custom
Ongoing since May 26, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT May 26, 17:00 - 19:00 UTCMay 11, 14:32 UTC Scheduled - Our Telephony Engineers will perform maintenance on our SIP proxy servers in the Europe region. Our TLS certificate for our SIP proxy server(s) of sip.telnyx.eu (185.246.41.140 and 185.246.41.141) will be changed during this deployment. This is important for some customers who use an SBC (or other appliance) and have our certificate (or the CA certificate) loaded into the SBC. This information also applies to some
Ongoing since May 15, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT May 15, 08:30 - 10:30 UTCMay 12, 16:23 UTC Scheduled - The Telnyx team will be performing maintenance on the network nodes carrying data traffic for IMSI1 sessions in the Americas. Connected devices may experienec a brief (about a minute) period of disconnection during this window.
Started May 14, 2026 — Resolved May 14, 2026
May 14, 13:00 UTC Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.May 14, 12:30 UTC In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.May 14, 12:24 UTC Scheduled - Our Telephony Engineers will perform maintenance on our TeXML services in the Europe/US region. This maintenance should not disrupt service.
Ongoing since May 14, 2026
May 14, 11:03 UTC Identified - The issue partially persists and is being worked on by our engineers.May 14, 00:26 UTC Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.May 13, 21:44 UTC Investigating - We've spotted that something has gone wrong. We're currently investigating the issue, and will provide an update soon. All cloud storage operations on buckets in us-central-1 might be not operational.
Pricing comparison
| Provider | Plan | Per message | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| MessageBird | Local number | $0.0003 | $31 |
| Telnyx | Pay-as-you-go | $0.004 | $400 |
MessageBird
Bird (formerly MessageBird) publishes per-country rate cards rather than a single headline price. US outbound SMS via local numbers costs $0.00031 per message, with short codes at $0.0009 and toll-free at $0.00147. Carrier surcharges apply on top. International rates vary widely by destination.
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
MessageBird
Telnyx
Pros
- Strong global coverage with direct carrier connections in 190+ countries
- Unified API across SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, and other channels
- Visual flow builder enables non-technical users to create messaging workflows
- Now part of Bird, offering an expanded platform for customer engagement
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
- Pricing is published as per-country rate cards rather than simple headline rates, making comparison harder
- Rebranding to Bird has caused some confusion in documentation and branding
- Smaller developer community compared to Twilio
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 MessageBird and Telnyx?
MessageBird (now Bird) is an omnichannel communications platform with global SMS coverage and a unified messaging API. Telnyx is a developer-first communications platform with competitive pricing and a private IP network for reliable SMS delivery. MessageBird is best suited for global omnichannel messaging, while Telnyx is geared toward cost-effective developer sms.
Which is cheaper, MessageBird or Telnyx?
Bird (formerly MessageBird) publishes per-country rate cards rather than a single headline price. US outbound SMS via local numbers costs $0.00031 per message, with short codes at $0.0009 and toll-free at $0.00147. Carrier surcharges apply on top. International rates vary widely by destination. 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, MessageBird or Telnyx?
Based on real-world data from Knock, MessageBird has a median SMS API response time (p50) of 328ms compared to 219ms for Telnyx.
Which is more reliable, MessageBird or Telnyx?
From February 15th to May 14th, MessageBird showed an error rate of 0.00% while Telnyx showed 0.21%. 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, MessageBird or Telnyx?
On the Knock platform, MessageBird handled <1M messages from February 15th to May 14th compared to <1M for Telnyx. MessageBird volume has remained stable, while Telnyx is trending upward.
Can I use both MessageBird and Telnyx together?
Yes. Knock enables you to integrate multiple SMS providers into a single notification workflow. You can use MessageBird 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 MessageBird vs Telnyx?
MessageBird strengths include strong global coverage with direct carrier connections in 190+ countries and unified api across sms, whatsapp, telegram, and other channels. 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, MessageBird drawbacks include pricing is published as per-country rate cards rather than simple headline rates, making comparison harder, while Telnyx drawbacks include smaller community and ecosystem compared to twilio.
Use either provider with Knock
Knock enables you to integrate MessageBird, 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.