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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 5 | 12 |
| 100M–500M | 1st of 7 → | 25 | 25 |
From March 26th to June 24th, Knock routed 100M–500M messages through Twilio. Twilio reported 25 status page updates over the last 90 days, while Plivo reported 12.
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 58ms, a p90 of 119ms, and a p99 of 157ms from March 26th to June 24th. 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% | Mar 26 | 91 | 0 |
Averaged across March 26th to June 24th, 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 Jun 19, 2026 — Resolved Jun 19, 2026
Jun 19, 13:57 UTC Resolved - This incident has been resolved. Jun 19, 13:27 UTC Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results. Jun 19, 13:01 UTC Investigating - Dear Valued Customer, We are experiencing call failures in the India and US region.
Started Jun 15, 2026 — Resolved Jun 15, 2026
Jun 15, 06:00 UTC Resolved - Dear Valued Customer, We recently experienced call failures in the India region for the 911600 series numbers. After initial investigation, our carrier partner was notified, who took corrective action and the incident was resolved Incident Start Time: 15th June 2026, 11:15 IST Incident End Time: 15th June 2026, 11:45 IST If you have any questions or concerns regarding this incident, please contact Plivo Support. Support portal: https://support.plivo.com/hc/en-us
Started Jun 12, 2026 — Resolved Jun 12, 2026
Jun 12, 17:21 UTC Resolved - This incident has been resolved. Jun 12, 16:30 UTC Monitoring - Dear Valued Customer, We are aware of elevated error rates and message delays affecting WhatsApp messaging on the Plivo platform. This is caused by an ongoing disruption with WhatsApp's Cloud API, part of a broad Meta platform outage currently affecting multiple Meta services. The issue originates upstream at Meta and is not specific to Plivo's infrastructure. Impact: Messages sent to or received f
Started Jun 12, 2026 — Resolved Jun 12, 2026
Jun 12, 09:13 UTC Resolved - This incident has been resolved. Jun 12, 05:21 UTC Investigating - Dear Valued Customer, We are observing intermittent outbound call failures in the India region. Calls from specific series of 9180 Caller IDs are impacted. All other services are operating normally. We are working with our carrier partner to resolve this
Started Jun 6, 2026 — Resolved Jun 6, 2026
Jun 6, 13:00 UTC Resolved - Incident Summary — Elevated Call Failure Rate on 9180 Number Series. Specific number series of 9180 were impacted for outbound calls. Incident Window: 5th June 2026, 6:30 PM IST — 6th June 11:30 AM IST Impact: Outbound calls to the 9180 number series were affected throughout the incident window. The failure rate reached approximately 34% at peak. Other number series and carrier paths were unaffected. The issue appeared to partially ease during low-traffic overnig
Recent Twilio incidents
Recent status page incidents for Twilio
Ongoing since Jul 30, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Jul 29, 20:00 PDT - Jul 30, 00:00 PDT Jun 1, 16:39 PDT Scheduled - Twilio is conducting a planned maintenance from 29 July 2026 at 20:00 PDT until 30 July 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 Jul 23, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Jul 23, 16:00 - 18:00 PDT Jun 22, 08:03 PDT Scheduled - Twilio will conduct planned maintenance on the Ireland network from 23 Jul 2026 at 16:00 PDT until 23 Jul 2026 at 18:00 PDT. During this window, overall service impact is expected to be minimal. As part of our preparation for a future hardware replacement, we will relocate the backup (BT) router to a new rack and shift traffic to it. During this specific transition, there may be a brief traffic interruption of up
Ongoing since Jul 23, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Jul 23, 16:00 - 18:00 PDT Jun 22, 08:01 PDT Scheduled - Twilio will conduct planned maintenance on the Ireland network from 23 Jul 2026 at 16:00 PDT until 23 Jul 2026 at 18:00 PDT. During this window, overall service impact is expected to be minimal. As part of our preparation for a future hardware replacement, we will relocate the backup (BT) router to a new rack and shift traffic to it. During this specific transition, there may be a brief traffic interruption of up
Ongoing since Jul 23, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Jul 22, 20:00 PDT - Jul 23, 00:00 PDT Jun 1, 16:39 PDT Scheduled - Twilio is conducting a planned maintenance from 22 July 2026 at 20:00 PDT until 23 July 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 Jul 21, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Jul 21, 16:00 - 18:00 PDT Jun 22, 07:52 PDT Scheduled - Twilio will conduct planned maintenance on the Ireland network from 21 Jul 2026 at 16:00 PDT until 21 Jul 2026 at 18:00 PDT. During this first window, no service impact is expected. As part of our preparation for a future hardware replacement, we will relocate the backup (BT) router to a new rack. During this specific transition, no service disruptions are expected. Although redundancy may be temporarily lost, th
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 58ms. We don't yet have enough data for Plivo to make a direct comparison.
Which is more reliable, Plivo or Twilio?
From March 26th to June 24th, 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 March 26th to June 24th. 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.