MessageBird vs Twilio
Compare MessageBird 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 | 7th of 7 → | 8 | 12 |
| 25M–100M | 1st of 7 → | 25 | 25 |
From July 9th to October 7th, Knock routed <1M messages through MessageBird and 25M–100M through Twilio. MessageBird reported 12 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.
| Provider | Median (p50) | p90 | p95 | p99 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 249ms | 324ms | 345ms | 374ms |
| 116ms | 140ms | 150ms | 177ms |
The chart above shows each provider's daily median response time (p50) from July 9th to October 7th. The top-line number is an average of these daily values: MessageBird averaged 249ms compared to 116ms for Twilio. MessageBird's highest daily p50 was 353ms; Twilio's was 126ms. Twilio 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, MessageBird has a p90 of 324ms compared to 140ms for Twilio. The highest daily p90 was 376ms for MessageBird and 151ms for Twilio. Twilio handles these slower requests 184ms 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 374ms at p99 while Twilio reached 177ms. The highest daily p99 was 502ms for MessageBird and 271ms 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% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.00% | 0.00% | Jul 9 | 80 | 0 |
| 0.00% | 0.31% | Sep 1 | 90 | 1 |
Averaged across the date range, MessageBird shows a 0.00% daily error rate compared to 0.00% for Twilio. The highest single-day error rate was 0.00% for MessageBird and 0.31% for Twilio. 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 MessageBird incidents
Recent status page incidents for MessageBird
Started Oct 5, 2026 — Resolved Oct 5, 2026
Oct 5, 21:12 CEST Resolved - This incident has been resolved. Oct 5, 21:11 CEST Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results. Oct 5, 20:40 CEST Identified - The issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented. Oct 5, 20:18 CEST Investigating - We are currently investigating an increase in 5xx errors and delayed email deliveries. Please note: There is no impact to our Marketing Platform or SparkPost APIs.
Started Oct 4, 2026 — Resolved Oct 4, 2026
Oct 4, 18:13 CEST Resolved - This incident has been resolved. Oct 4, 17:41 CEST Monitoring - The situation has improved since 3:30 PM UTC. We are monitoring the services. Oct 4, 17:27 CEST Investigating - Since 2:55 PM UTC, we are experiencing increased latency with our SMS service (API, SMPP, Mail to SMS). We are investigating the issue and will provide an update as soon as we have more information.
Started Sep 26, 2026 — Resolved Sep 26, 2026
Sep 26, 18:17 CEST Resolved - Thank you for your patience. We are seeing a full recovery. No more errors are being returned, and all queues have caught up. Sep 26, 18:11 CEST Monitoring - We are monitoring the systems while they recover. All errors have stopped and all queues are recovering. Sep 26, 18:06 CEST Identified - We have found the cause of the issue cycling the bad instances. Recovery expected soon. Sep 26, 17:59 CEST Investigating - We are investigating an issue with the US
Started Sep 21, 2026 — Resolved Sep 21, 2026
Sep 21, 23:36 CEST Resolved - This incident has been resolved. Sep 21, 23:30 CEST Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results. Sep 21, 21:09 CEST Identified - We have identified the issue and are testing a fix. We expect logs to be available again with in an hour. Sep 21, 20:13 CEST Update - The current failure is in log retrieval not flow runs. Flows are running with out impact. Logs are failing to load upon request. Sep 21, 20:12 CEST Update - We are
Started Sep 18, 2026 — Resolved Sep 18, 2026
Sep 19, 01:23 CEST Resolved - This incident is resolved. Processing has returned to normal latency across affected services in our US region, and operations that did not complete during the affected window have been replayed. Sep 19, 00:40 CEST Monitoring - The upstream fault has cleared and processing has returned to normal latency across affected services in our US region. A subset of operations did not complete during the affected window, and we are replaying those now. We are continuing
Recent Twilio incidents
Recent status page incidents for Twilio
Ongoing since Nov 19, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Nov 18, 21:00 PST - Nov 19, 03:00 PST Sep 30, 16:04 PDT Scheduled - Our SMS carrier partner in the United States is conducting a planned maintenance from 18 November 2026 at 21:00 PST until 19 November 2026 at 03:00 PST. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS to and from United States handsets via subset of United States long codes.
Ongoing since Nov 17, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Nov 16, 21:00 PST - Nov 17, 03:00 PST Sep 30, 13:34 PDT Scheduled - Our SMS carrier partner in the United States is conducting a planned maintenance from 16 November 2026 at 21:00 PST until 17 November 2026 at 03:00 PST. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS to and from United States handsets via subset of United States long codes.
Ongoing since Oct 29, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Oct 28, 20:00 PDT - Oct 29, 00:00 PDT Sep 29, 08:15 PDT Scheduled - Our SMS and MMS carrier partner in the United States is conducting a planned maintenance from 28 October 2026 at 20:00 PDT until 29 October 2026 at 00:00 PDT. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS and MMS to United States handsets via subset of United States long codes.
Ongoing since Oct 29, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Oct 28, 20:00 PDT - Oct 29, 00:00 PDT Sep 4, 00:24 PDT Scheduled - Twilio is conducting a planned maintenance from 28 October 2026 at 20:00 PDT until 29 October 2026 at 00:00 PDT. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays or failures delivering SMS and MMS to and from United States and Canada handsets when sending via long codes, short codes and toll free numbers.
Ongoing since Oct 28, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Oct 28, 13:00 - 17:00 PDT Oct 2, 07:46 PDT Scheduled - The Tele2 network in Russia is conducting a planned maintenance from 28 October 2026 at 13:00 PDT until 28 October 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MessageBird | Local number | $0.0003 | $31 |
| Twilio | Pay-as-you-go | $0.0083 | $830 |
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.
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
MessageBird
Twilio
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
- 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
- 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
- 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 MessageBird and Twilio?
MessageBird (now Bird) is an omnichannel communications platform with global SMS coverage and a unified messaging API. Twilio is the most widely adopted cloud communications platform, offering SMS, MMS, voice, and WhatsApp through a unified API. MessageBird is best suited for global omnichannel messaging, while Twilio is geared toward full-featured sms at scale.
Which is cheaper, MessageBird or Twilio?
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. 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, MessageBird or Twilio?
Based on real-world data from Knock, MessageBird has a median SMS API response time (p50) of 249ms compared to 116ms for Twilio.
Which is more reliable, MessageBird or Twilio?
From July 9th to October 7th, MessageBird showed an error rate of 0.00% 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, MessageBird or Twilio?
On the Knock platform, MessageBird handled <1M messages from July 9th to October 7th compared to 25M–100M for Twilio. MessageBird volume has remained stable, while Twilio volume has remained stable.
Can I use both MessageBird and Twilio together?
Yes. Knock enables you to integrate multiple SMS providers into a single notification workflow. You can use MessageBird 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 MessageBird vs Twilio?
MessageBird strengths include strong global coverage with direct carrier connections in 190+ countries and unified api across sms, whatsapp, telegram, and other channels. 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, MessageBird drawbacks include pricing is published as per-country rate cards rather than simple headline rates, making comparison harder, 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 MessageBird, 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.