Telnyx vs Twilio
Compare Telnyx 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 | 4th of 7 → | 58 | 164 |
| 100M–500M | 1st of 7 → | 25 | 25 |
From May 30th to August 28th, Knock routed <1M messages through Telnyx and 100M–500M through Twilio. Telnyx reported 164 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.
The chart above shows each provider's daily median response time (p50) from May 30th to August 28th. The top-line number is an average of these daily values: Telnyx averaged 313ms compared to 55ms for Twilio. Telnyx's highest daily p50 was 743ms; Twilio's was 67ms. Twilio is 258ms 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, Telnyx has a p90 of 727ms compared to 120ms for Twilio. The highest daily p90 was 10103ms for Telnyx and 130ms for Twilio. Twilio handles these slower requests 607ms 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, Telnyx reached 2988ms at p99 while Twilio reached 154ms. The highest daily p99 was 10144ms for Telnyx and 178ms 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% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.80% | 22.09% | Aug 26 | 16 | 57 |
| 0.00% | 0.00% | May 30 | 91 | 0 |
Averaged across the date range, Telnyx shows a 0.80% daily error rate compared to 0.00% for Twilio. The highest single-day error rate was 22.09% for Telnyx and 0.00% for Twilio. Twilio 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 Telnyx incidents
Recent status page incidents for Telnyx
Started Aug 27, 2026 — Resolved Aug 27, 2026
Status: Resolved Issue was resolved Affected components Programmable Wireless (Operational)
Started Aug 27, 2026 — Resolved Aug 27, 2026
Status: Resolved This is resolved Affected components Kimi-K2.6 (Operational)
Ongoing since Aug 27, 2026
Status: Scheduled The Wireless team will be applying configuration updates to Network Functions on the US East site. The work includes UPF configuration changes requiring restarts, timer parameter updates, and logging configuration enablement. There will be rolling restarts of some components, which have the potential to cause disruption to active data sessions. These disruptions are not expected to last more than 5 minutes. This would affect users connected in North, Central and South America
Ongoing since Aug 27, 2026
Status: Scheduled Our Wireless Engineers will perform maintenance on our Wireless services billing infrastructure. Small delays in WDR generation may occur. Affected components Programmable Wireless (Under maintenance)
Started Aug 27, 2026 — Resolved Aug 27, 2026
Status: Complete Maintenance has completed Affected components Europe (Operational) US (Operational) Europe (Operational) US (Operational) Australia (Operational)
Recent Twilio incidents
Recent status page incidents for Twilio
Ongoing since Oct 16, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Oct 16, 14:00 - 22:00 PDT Jul 29, 00:27 PDT Scheduled - Twilio will perform scheduled network maintenance in our IE1 region during an 8-hour window from 16 October 2026 at 14:00 PDT to 16 October 2026 at 22:00 PDT. During this window, customers may experience a brief service interruption of up to 90 seconds affecting the following: Interconnected Customers: All IE1 interconnected customers will experience a brief interconnection service interruption of up to 90 seco
Ongoing since Oct 1, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Sep 30, 20:00 PDT - Oct 1, 00:00 PDT Aug 12, 11:57 PDT Scheduled - Twilio is conducting a planned maintenance from 30 September 2026 at 20:00 PDT until 01 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 via subset of long codes, short codes and toll free numbers.
Ongoing since Sep 24, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Sep 23, 20:00 PDT - Sep 24, 00:00 PDT Aug 12, 11:57 PDT Scheduled - Twilio is conducting a planned maintenance from 23 September 2026 at 20:00 PDT until 24 September 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 via subset of long codes, short codes and toll free numbers.
Ongoing since Sep 22, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Sep 22, 15:00 - 21:00 PDT Aug 24, 23:50 PDT Scheduled - Our Voice carrier partner in the Czech Republic is conducting a planned maintenance from 22 September 2026 at 15:00 PDT until 22 September 2026 at 21:00 PDT. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent call disconnects or call failures from and to Twilio Czech Republic phone numbers.
Ongoing since Sep 21, 2026
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Sep 21, 15:00 - 21:00 PDT Aug 24, 23:49 PDT Scheduled - Our Voice carrier partner in the Czech Republic is conducting a planned maintenance from 21 September 2026 at 15:00 PDT until 21 September 2026 at 21:00 PDT. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent call disconnects or call failures from and to Twilio Czech Republic phone numbers.
Pricing comparison
| Provider | Plan | Per message | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telnyx | Pay-as-you-go | $0.004 | $400 |
| Twilio | Pay-as-you-go | $0.0083 | $830 |
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.
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
Telnyx
Twilio
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
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
- Smaller community and ecosystem compared to Twilio
- No free trial credits for new accounts
- Feature set is narrower than full-suite platforms like 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 Telnyx and Twilio?
Telnyx is a developer-first communications platform with competitive pricing and a private IP network for reliable SMS delivery. Twilio is the most widely adopted cloud communications platform, offering SMS, MMS, voice, and WhatsApp through a unified API. Telnyx is best suited for cost-effective developer sms, while Twilio is geared toward full-featured sms at scale.
Which is cheaper, Telnyx or Twilio?
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. 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, Telnyx or Twilio?
Based on real-world data from Knock, Telnyx has a median SMS API response time (p50) of 313ms compared to 55ms for Twilio.
Which is more reliable, Telnyx or Twilio?
From May 30th to August 28th, Telnyx showed an error rate of 0.80% 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, Telnyx or Twilio?
On the Knock platform, Telnyx handled <1M messages from May 30th to August 28th compared to 100M–500M for Twilio. Telnyx volume has remained stable, while Twilio volume has remained stable.
Can I use both Telnyx and Twilio together?
Yes. Knock enables you to integrate multiple SMS providers into a single notification workflow. You can use Telnyx 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 Telnyx vs Twilio?
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. 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, Telnyx drawbacks include smaller community and ecosystem compared to twilio, 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 Telnyx, 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.