Twilio and Sinch are both communications APIs: your code calls them, and they deliver the SMS, WhatsApp message or phone call. Twilio grew as a self-serve API for developers and also owns SendGrid for email and Segment for customer data. Sinch, based in Stockholm, grew from its carrier connections and also owns Mailgun and Mailjet for email.
Where Twilio and Sinch differ
Short answer
| If you need | Choose |
|---|---|
| You want to sign up and send a test SMS today, with no sales call |  Twilio |
| You want a customer data platform from the same vendor | Twilio |
| You want to pay for verification only when the user gets through | Twilio |
| You send high volume and want the lower listed US SMS rate |  Sinch |
| You want users to verify with a flash call instead of typing a code | Sinch |
| An agent will send messages and run verifications through the vendor’s own MCP server | Sinch |
| The same alert also has to reach users by email, push or in-app |  SuprSend, above your SMS provider |
Need a deeper, more automated notification system than an SMS API gives? Choose SuprSend
SuprSend is an agentic notification platform that sits above your SMS provider. It decides whether a message goes, on which channel, when and to whom, and moves to a backup provider if delivery is not confirmed. Tenants, workflows, translations and preferences are built in, and the same trigger also reaches email, push and an in-app inbox. Twilio and Sinch deliver what you hand them; the logic around it stays in your code.
| SuprSend | Twilio | Sinch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Channels from one trigger | Email, SMS, push, WhatsApp, Slack, Teams, in-app | SMS, RCS, WhatsApp | SMS, RCS, WhatsApp, Viber |
| What AI agents can do | Build and change workflows, templates and tenants, test and send, and query logs and analytics | Search docs and API specs; no sending | Send messages, run verifications, place calls |
| Fallback to another provider | Yes, on Essentials and above | Within Twilio only | Within Sinch only |
| G2 rating | 4.8 from 129 reviews | 4.1 from 530 reviews | 3.8 from 35 reviews |
| G2 ease of setup | 9.4 | 7.5 | 6.5 |
Feature by feature
From both pricing pages, both documentation sites and G2, September 2026. US prices are list prices before carrier fees.
Basics
| Capability | Twilio | Sinch |
|---|---|---|
| Billing unit for SMS | Per segment sent or received, plus carrier fees | Per message sent or received, plus carrier fees |
| Free trial | Yes, no credit card needed | Yes |
| Largest G2 reviewer group | Small businesses, 52% of reviews | Small and mid-market businesses, 39% each |
| Published volume | 193 billion messages a year | 900 billion interactions a year across messaging, voice and email |
Messaging and developers
| Capability | Twilio | Sinch |
|---|---|---|
| Channels on the messaging API | SMS, MMS, RCS, WhatsApp, Messenger, Apple Messages for Business | SMS, MMS, RCS, WhatsApp, Viber, Messenger and more, through the Conversation API |
| Fallback between channels | YESSMS fallback in a Messaging Service | YESChannel priority in the Conversation API |
| Official SDKs | Node, Python, C#, Java, PHP, Ruby, Go | Node, Java, .NET, Python |
| Subaccounts per client | YESCreated and managed by API | PARTIALSubprojects API in closed beta |
| MCP server | Hosted, no sign-in; searches docs and returns API specs | Self-hosted; sends messages and email, runs verifications, places calls; a docs MCP too |
Verification
| Capability | Twilio | Sinch |
|---|---|---|
| Verification methods | SMS, WhatsApp, voice, email, push, TOTP, silent network auth | SMS, flash call, phone call, data verification |
| Flash call | NO | YESA missed call carries the code |
| What is billed | $0.05 per successful verification, plus the channel fee | Each attempt, at a fixed flash call price or the SMS rate |
Voice, email, data and security
| Capability | Twilio | Sinch |
|---|---|---|
| YESSendGrid, billed separately | YESMailgun and Mailjet, billed separately | |
| Voice and SIP trunking | YESProgrammable Voice and Elastic SIP Trunking | YESOn its own US voice network |
| Contact centre | YESFlex, $1 per active user hour or $150 per named user a month | YESSinch Contact Pro |
| Customer data platform | YESSegment | NO |
| Security certifications | ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II, PCI DSS Level 1; HIPAA on eligible products | ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, GDPR |
Pricing
A worked example at 100,000 single-segment US SMS a month from one 10DLC number, using the Twilio and Sinch US price lists. Twilio: 100,000 at $0.0083 is $830, plus $1.15 for the number: $831.15. Sinch: 100,000 at $0.0078 is $780, plus $1 for the number: $781, and a $1 setup fee in the first month. Carrier fees come on top with both.
| Capability | Twilio | Sinch |
|---|---|---|
| US SMS, 10DLC or toll-free | $0.0083 per segment, sent or received | $0.0078 per message, sent or received |
| US SMS, short code | $0.0083 per segment | $0.009 per message |
| US MMS sent | $0.022 per message | $0.02 per message on 10DLC; $0.018 on toll-free |
| US 10DLC number | $1.15 a month | $1 a month, plus $1 setup |
| US toll-free number | $2.15 a month | $2 a month, plus $2 setup |
| Failed message fee | YES$0.001 per failed message | NO |
| Verification | $0.05 per success, plus $0.0083 per US SMS | Per attempt, from the dashboard price list |
FAQ
Is Twilio better than Sinch?
TwilioTwilio is better for developer teams that want to sign up and build the same day, pay for verification only on success, and buy customer data from the same vendor.
SinchSinch is better for high-volume senders that want the lower listed US SMS rate, direct carrier routes, flash call verification, and an MCP server an agent can send through.
Which is cheaper, Twilio or Sinch?
Twilio bills SMS per 160-character segment and Sinch per message. On US 10DLC and toll-free numbers Sinch lists $0.0078 against Twilio’s $0.0083, and its numbers cost less each month. On short codes the order flips: Twilio stays at $0.0083 and Sinch lists $0.009. For verification, Twilio’s $0.05 applies only to successful checks, so the cheaper vendor depends on your success rate.
What moves when switching from Twilio to Sinch?
Your phone numbers (ported, or new numbers bought), your 10DLC brand and campaign registration, WhatsApp senders, opt-out lists, webhooks for delivery receipts and inbound messages, and any Verify flows, which move to the Sinch Verification API. Twilio publishes a migration guide for the move in the other direction.
Can I use Twilio and Sinch together?
Yes. Many senders keep both and choose the vendor per country or per message type in their own code, for example Sinch for high-volume US SMS and Twilio Verify for sign-in codes. Each vendor needs its own numbers and registrations.
Can SuprSend send SMS through Twilio or Sinch?
SuprSend, which publishes this page, sits above the SMS provider: Twilio is a built-in SMS vendor, and Sinch connects through its ACL integration for India.