by PlivoSMS and messaging APIs
A developer SMS, MMS and Verify API with a published US rate of $0.0077 per segment, now sold on an Enterprise plan with a $1,000 monthly minimum.
For brands spending $1,000 a month or more, low published US rates and a full fee sheet, with opt-outs and 10DLC registration handled by the platform.
Plivo publishes the whole US cost of a text: $0.0077 per segment, surcharges per carrier, $0.50 a month for a long code number and a dated 10DLC fee table. SMS now comes on the Enterprise plan with a USD 1,000 monthly minimum, and usage across Plivo products counts toward it, so the value is in the rates once that minimum is filled. Opt-outs are handled by default, 10DLC brands and campaigns can be registered through the API, and the Enterprise plan lists a HIPAA BAA and SSO, so a team does not build or negotiate these itself.
Against 3 other products we reviewed in SMS and messaging APIs: what you pay for with each, the five access facts, the plan limits we recorded and each review's bottom line. The note under the table says how each one was checked.
| Metric | Plivo SMS API | Telnyx Messaging API | Sinch SMS API | Twilio Programmable Messaging |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Worth the priceFor brands spending $1,000 a month or more, low published US rates and a full fee sheet, with opt-outs and 10DLC registration handled by the platform. | Worth the priceUS texting at $0.004 a part, the lowest published rate in this group, with carrier and 10DLC fees passed through at cost and every messaging rate public. | Built-in reachPrepaid SMS priced for 241 countries from one account, with US 10DLC registration in the same dashboard or API and a SOC 2 Type II that names the SMS API. | Compliance includedUS texting with every fee and the compliance paperwork on public pages, plus opt-outs and 10DLC registration handled through the API. |
| Overall score | 4.6 | 8.2Best | 7.6 | 7.2 |
| Free option | Paid only | Free trial | Free trial | 30-day free trial |
| Card to start | –Not measured | No card needed | No card needed | No card needed |
| Getting access | Sales call required | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $1,000/mo minimum | $0.004/SMS part | $0.0078/message | $0.0083/SMS segment |
| Pricing model | Seat + usage | Usage-based | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| US SMS rate (10DLC) | $0.0077 per segment, outbound or inbound (list rate) | $0.004 per part, outbound or inbound | $0.0078 per message, outbound or inbound | $0.0083 per segment, outbound or inbound |
| US carrier fees | Per carrier: AT&T $0.0035, T-Mobile $0.0045, Verizon $0.005 (outbound) | Per carrier, no markup: AT&T $0.0035, T-Mobile $0.0045, Verizon $0.0045 (outbound) | Per carrier: AT&T $0.0035, T-Mobile $0.0045, Verizon $0.0050 (outbound; carrier fee article of Oct 1, 2026) | Per carrier: AT&T $0.0035, T-Mobile $0.0045, Verizon $0.005 (outbound) |
| Local number | $0.50/mo | $1.00/mo plus $0.10/mo for SMS and MMS | $1.00/mo plus $1.00 setup | $1.15/mo |
| 10DLC registration fees | Brand $4.50, campaign vetting $15, $1.50/mo low-volume campaign (billed quarterly) | Passed through: brand $4.50, campaign review $15, $1.50/mo low-volume mixed | Brand $4, campaign review $15 per submission, $10/mo standard or $1.50/mo low-volume mixed (under 10k SMS/mo); optional vetting $41.50 | Passed through: brand $4.50, campaign vetting $15, $1.50/mo low-volume mixed |
| Reference scenario (10,000 US texts/mo) | $1,046.46 with the $1,000 minimum, computed ($123.96 at list rates alone) | $85.89, computed | $134.00, computed | $130.61, computed |
| Free option | None for SMS; the $10 trial covers voice products | $5 testing credit after a fraud review, no card; texts only to your own verified number | Trial credit, no card ($2 for US accounts per archived help); texting sandbox | 30-day trial: 100 SMS to up to 5 verified numbers, no card |
| Volume discounts | Enterprise plan only, by sales | Published tiers, from 100M parts/mo on local numbers | Not published; contact sales | Mentioned but not published; committed use by sales |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type II (FAQ); ISO 27001 not stated | SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2; ISO 27001:2013 (scope not stated) | SOC 2 Type II naming the SMS API; group ISO 27001 certificate | SOC 2 Type 2 (all services) and ISO 27001 |
| HIPAA BAA | Offered; listed on the Enterprise plan | Yes, US messaging traffic only; rate sheet lists $2,500/mo | Product-level BAAs offered; SMS API not named | Yes, SMS eligible; needs Security or Enterprise Edition |
| Non-US data region | No (the India region has no SMS) | EU (Germany), Australia, UAE or Canada, chosen once | EU (Ireland, Sweden), Australia, Brazil, Canada through the account manager | Ireland (IE1) for SMS; no +1 numbers there |
| Opt-out handling | Automatic STOP/HELP on US and Canadian long code and toll-free | Automatic STOP and similar keywords; AI detection $0.002 per message | Automatic STOP blocking once consent management is switched on (Conversation API) | Automatic STOP/HELP on long code and toll-free |
| SSO | Enterprise plan, by sales | SAML through Organizations; no plan gate stated | SAML in Sinch Build; no plan condition stated | SAML 2.0 in Twilio Editions, by sales |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Plivo lists low US rates and every US fee, with opt-outs and 10DLC registration built in. SMS now needs an Enterprise contract with a $1,000 monthly minimum, and some pages still describe pay-as-you-go. | From its public pages, Telnyx has the lowest published US rate and scenario figure in this group, with every fee itemized and passed through at cost. US 10DLC needs the Verified tier with KYC, the trial is narrow, and several pages disagree on fees and plans. | From its public pages, Sinch offers a prepaid SMS API with per-country prices, SAML SSO, non-US servers and a SOC 2 Type II for SMS. Its US carrier and 10DLC fees sit in help articles that call them "only indications". | From its public pages, Twilio publishes every US fee and a full set of compliance documents for SMS, with opt-outs and 10DLC registration handled by the platform. Our scenario costs more than at Telnyx or AWS, volume tiers are not published, and a few pages disagree on fees. |
Evidence: Plivo SMS API: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Telnyx Messaging API: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Sinch SMS API: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Twilio Programmable Messaging: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
Review from public pages
Written from Plivo SMS API's public pages (pricing, security or privacy, and docs) as read on Oct 15, 2026. We did not sign up, and no hands-on run is published yet.
We read Plivo's pricing page and its FAQ, the US SMS pricing page, the SMS product page, the site FAQ, the docs (SMS Availability & Coverage, plans and account FAQ, billing and payments, messaging FAQ and reporting, 10DLC overview and API, DND Service, callbacks, Verify), the Verify pricing page, the security page, the terms, the privacy policy, the additional terms, the subprocessor list and the SLA on Oct 15, 2026; we did not sign up or contact sales for this review. The help center at help.plivo.com loads only with JavaScript, so we used the FAQ pages in the docs instead.
The pages make the US cost clear: $0.0077 per segment, surcharges per carrier, $0.50 a month for a long code number and a 10DLC fee table dated from Aug 1, 2025. They are also clear on access. The docs say SMS is provisioned only to direct brands through sales, with a USD 1,000 Minimum Monthly Commitment (USD 10,000 for pre-registration countries), that resellers and ISVs are not onboarded, and that self-service onboarding for SMS is not available. Usage across Plivo products counts toward the minimum, and the terms leave carrier surcharges and 10DLC fees out of it.
Two things need a question. The US SMS pricing page still says "Competitive pay-as-you-go SMS pricing" with trial credits, and the site FAQ says the trial lets you test SMS, while the pricing page FAQ scopes the $10 trial to voice products. And the page's cost calculator uses "effective rates for typical sending volumes" ($528 for 100,000 messages) that are below the list rate and not listed.
The US price sheet lists $0.0077 per segment on long codes and short codes, $0.0079 on toll-free and $0.50 a month for a long code number.
Compared: Twilio lists $0.0083 per segment and $1.15/mo for a local number; Telnyx is lower per part at $0.004, with $1.10/mo for an SMS-enabled number.
The docs list every 10DLC fee "from Aug 1, 2025" (brand $4.50, optional vetting $41.50, appeal $11, campaign vetting $15, $10 or $1.50 a month per campaign), and the price sheet lists SMS and MMS surcharges per carrier.
Compared: Sinch’s carrier fee article calls its prices "only indications".
The DND Service is on by default for US and Canadian long codes and toll-free numbers: STOP and similar keywords block further messages, HELP and INFO get an automatic reply, and a 10DLC opt-out covers every number in the campaign.
The Verify pricing page lists "$0 OTP Verification costs" and "$0 Fraud Shield", so only the channel fee applies, and the docs say no sender registration is needed on your side. Verify sits on the same Enterprise tiers as SMS.
Compared: Telnyx’s Verify table lists $0.03 per successful verification plus SMS rates, though the same page’s header says from $0.05 with delivery included.
The account FAQ lists five roles (Owner, Administrator, Developer, read-only Support, Finance Analyst), makes 2FA mandatory on every account and offers subaccounts with their own credentials.
The docs provision SMS only to direct brands through sales, with a USD 1,000/month Minimum Monthly Commitment (USD 10,000 for pre-registration countries). Resellers, ISVs and multi-tenant platforms are not onboarded for SMS.
Workaround: Usage across Plivo products counts toward the minimum, so a team already spending that much on Plivo voice adds no extra floor.
The US SMS pricing page and the site FAQ still describe pay-as-you-go SMS with trial credits; the pricing page FAQ, the docs plan table and the SMS availability page put SMS on the Enterprise plan only.
Workaround: Ask sales which terms apply to your account before you plan around them.
The $10, three-week, no-card trial covers SIP Trunking, Audio Streaming and Voice AI Agents, and the docs plan table marks SMS as unavailable on the self-serve Professional plan.
The security page lists SOC 2, PCI DSS Level 1 and a CSA STAR Level 1 self-assessment and does not mention ISO 27001. The India data region has no SMS, the subprocessor list stores customer data on AWS in the USA, and the DPA is offered on request.
Workaround: The site FAQ says Enterprise customers can discuss data residency with sales.
You pay per segment (160 GSM-7 or 70 Unicode characters) plus per-carrier surcharges, number rental and 10DLC fees, inside an Enterprise contract with a USD 1,000 monthly minimum across Plivo products. For our scenario, 10,000 × $0.0077 = $77.00 plus a $0.50 number is below the minimum, so $1,000 is billed; carrier surcharges averaging $0.004333 add $43.33, and the $1.50 campaign plus ($4.50 brand + $15 vetting) / 12 add $3.13, for $1,046.46 a month (computed). The same traffic at list rates alone would be $123.96. Things to know: the brand API sets secondary_vetting to true by default ($41.50), updating a campaign triggers another $15 vetting, and card payments carry a 3% gateway fee that bank transfer avoids.
Message records export as CSV from the console (up to 10,000 rows directly, larger files by email) or through the Message API, but the console keeps logs for 90 days only. Numbers can be ported out with written notice within 30 days of notice of termination, once balances and admin fees are paid; the additional terms let Plivo refuse a port at its discretion. No long-term contract is required unless you choose an Enterprise annual agreement.
From its public pages, Plivo lists low US rates and every US fee, with opt-outs and 10DLC registration built in. SMS now needs an Enterprise contract with a $1,000 monthly minimum, and some pages still describe pay-as-you-go.
| Limit | As recorded |
|---|---|
| US SMS rate (10DLC) | $0.0077 per segment, outbound or inbound (list rate) |
| US carrier fees | Per carrier: AT&T $0.0035, T-Mobile $0.0045, Verizon $0.005 (outbound) |
| Local number | $0.50/mo |
| 10DLC registration fees | Brand $4.50, campaign vetting $15, $1.50/mo low-volume campaign (billed quarterly) |
| Reference scenario (10,000 US texts/mo) | $1,046.46 with the $1,000 minimum, computed ($123.96 at list rates alone) |
| Free option | None for SMS; the $10 trial covers voice products |
| Volume discounts | Enterprise plan only, by sales |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type II (FAQ); ISO 27001 not stated |
| HIPAA BAA | Offered; listed on the Enterprise plan |
| Non-US data region | No (the India region has no SMS) |
| Opt-out handling | Automatic STOP/HELP on US and Canadian long code and toll-free |
| SSO | Enterprise plan, by sales |
Read from the vendor's public pages on Oct 15, 2026. No hands-on run is published yet. How we check
We have not published a sign-up run for Plivo SMS API yet. The access facts above were read from its sign-up and pricing pages on Oct 15, 2026.
We have not published API calls for Plivo SMS API yet; access was not open to our agent.
Plivo SMS API lists 5 plans. The cheapest paid plan, Enterprise (USD 1,000/month minimum commitment), costs $1,000/mo minimum.
Prices as listed, USD, excluding tax; observed 2026-10-15.
Source: plivo.com pricing page. Prices change; the observed date above is when our agent read them.
We read the pricing pages, fee articles, security, legal and docs pages of three SMS APIs on the same day and scored them on the same six indicators. What 10,000 US texts a month cost with carrier and 10DLC fees, and who should pick which.
