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 | 7 |
| 100M–500M | 1st of 7 → | 25 | 25 |
From February 13th to May 14th, Knock routed 100M–500M messages through Twilio. Twilio reported 25 status page updates over the last 90 days, while Plivo reported 7.
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 67ms, a p90 of 114ms, and a p99 of 149ms from February 13th to May 14th. 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% | Feb 13 | 91 | 0 |
Averaged across February 13th to May 14th, 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
Ongoing since May 16, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT May 16, 23:30 UTC - May 17, 02:30 UTCMay 8, 11:40 UTC Scheduled - Dear Valued Customer, We will perform planned maintenance on our Plivo database to improve the overall availability of our database engines. During that time Plivo customers may find intermittent service failure. When is the maintenance? 16th May 2026 23:30 - 17th May 2026 02:30 UTC 16th May 2026 16:30 - 16th May 2026 19:30 PDT What services will be affected? All Plivo services will be in
Started May 12, 2026 — Resolved May 12, 2026
May 12, 10:50 UTC Resolved - Dear Valued Customer, We recently experienced intermittent Inbound Call failures in India region. Our engineering and operations teams promptly investigated and resolved the issue. The root cause was identified, and corrective actions have been implemented to prevent recurrence. Incident Start Time: 12th May 2026 10:50 UTC Incident End Time: 12th May 2026 11:20 UTC If you have any questions or concerns regarding this incident, please contact Plivo Support. Suppor
Started May 11, 2026 — Resolved May 11, 2026
May 11, 02:30 UTC Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.May 10, 23:30 UTC In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.Apr 27, 06:41 UTC Scheduled - Dear Valued Customer, We will be performing a planned database maintenance to improve the overall availability of our database engines. The impact should be minimal with downtime and should last no more than 180 minutes. When is the maintenance? 11th May 2026 05:00 IST - 11th
Started May 4, 2026 — Resolved May 4, 2026
May 4, 02:30 UTC Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.May 3, 23:30 UTC In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.Apr 21, 11:15 UTC Scheduled - Dear Valued Customer, We will be conducting a series of planned maintenance activities across our database infrastructure to enhance the overall reliability, performance, and availability of our platform. When is the maintenance? 3rd May 2026 23:30 - 4th May 2026 02:30 UTC 3r
Started Apr 26, 2026 — Resolved Apr 26, 2026
Apr 26, 04:30 UTC Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.Apr 26, 00:30 UTC In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.Apr 8, 09:14 UTC Scheduled - Dear Valued Customer, We will be conducting a series of planned maintenance activities across our database infrastructure to enhance the overall reliability, performance, and availability of our platform. When is the maintenance? 26th April 2026 00:30 - 26th April 2026 04:30
Recent Twilio incidents
Recent status page incidents for Twilio
Ongoing since Jun 25, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Jun 24, 20:00 PDT - Jun 25, 00:00 PDTMay 1, 00:52 PDT Scheduled - Twilio is conducting a planned maintenance from 24 June 2026 at 20:00 PDT until 25 June 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 subset of long codes, short codes and toll free numbers.
Ongoing since Jun 18, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Jun 17, 20:00 PDT - Jun 18, 00:00 PDTMay 1, 00:52 PDT Scheduled - Twilio is conducting a planned maintenance from 17 June 2026 at 20:00 PDT until 18 June 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 subset of long codes, short codes and toll free numbers.
Ongoing since Jun 11, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Jun 10, 20:00 PDT - Jun 11, 00:00 PDTMay 1, 00:52 PDT Scheduled - Twilio is conducting a planned maintenance from 10 June 2026 at 20:00 PDT until 11 June 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 subset of long codes, short codes and toll free numbers.
Ongoing since Jun 10, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Jun 9, 20:30 - 21:30 PDTMay 5, 11:42 PDT Scheduled - Our SMS carrier partner in Peru is conducting a planned maintenance from 09 June 2026 at 20:30 PDT until 09 June 2026 at 21:30 PDT. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS to and from Peru handsets via subset of Peru short codes.
Ongoing since Jun 5, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Jun 5, 12:00 - 17:00 PDTApr 30, 14:59 PDT Scheduled - The Volna mobile, Win Mobile and Personnal Communicational networks in Russia are conducting a planned maintenance from 05 June 2026 at 12:00 PDT until 05 June 2026 at 17:00 PDT. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS to Volna mobile, Win Mobile and Personnal Communicational Russia handsets.
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 67ms. We don't yet have enough data for Plivo to make a direct comparison.
Which is more reliable, Plivo or Twilio?
From February 13th to May 14th, 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 February 13th to May 14th. 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.