Twilio is a leading cloud communications platform (CPaaS) that enables businesses to programmatically make calls, send texts, and integrate various communication channels. If you’re considering Twilio for voice and SMS in the United States, it’s crucial to understand the pricing structure for phone numbers and usage.

This detailed guide provides an overview of Twilio’s services and use cases, breaks down the types of phone numbers (local, mobile, toll-free, short codes), and dives into the costs of voice calls and SMS/MMS messaging.

We’ll also compare Twilio’s pricing with competitors like Vonage (formerly Nexmo), Plivo, and Bandwidth, discuss any setup or hidden fees, and offer best practices to optimise your Twilio costs.

Overview of Twilio Services and Use Cases

Twilio offers a wide range of communication APIs and services that developers and businesses can embed into their applications. With Twilio’s Programmable Voice and Programmable Messaging (SMS/MMS) APIs, you can add phone call capabilities and text messaging to your software without building telephony infrastructure. Companies use Twilio for use cases such as:

• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) and Alerts: Sending one-time passcodes via SMS or voice calls for user verification (using services like Twilio Verify), as well as automated SMS alerts and notifications to customers.
• Customer Support and Call Centres: Powering inbound and outbound calls in customer service centres, IVR systems, or sales dialers using Twilio’s voice API and TwiML (XML instructions for call routing). Twilio Flex is a prebuilt contact centre solution built on these APIs.
• Marketing and Engagement: Sending bulk SMS campaigns, appointment reminders, or personalised promotional messages to customers. Twilio supports high-volume messaging through short codes and toll-free numbers for marketing use cases.
• Business Phone Systems: Providing virtual business phone numbers for startups and applications. Twilio enables click-to-call features, call forwarding to employee cell phones, conference calling, call recording, and other PBX-like features via API.
• IoT and Alerts: Twilio’s platform can integrate with IoT devices for sending SMS or voice alerts triggered by sensors or events. For example, a security system can call or text the owner via Twilio when an alarm is triggered.

Overall, Twilio is valued for its flexibility and pay-as-you-go model. You pay only for what you use with no long-term commitments, which makes it attractive for startups and enterprise teams alike. However, understanding the detailed pricing—especially for phone numbers in the U.S.—is important to budget effectively. In the sections below, we’ll break down Twilio’s phone number types and their costs for both voice and messaging.

Types of Twilio Phone Numbers (Local, Mobile, Toll-Free, Short Code)

Twilio provides several types of phone numbers in the US, each suited for different purposes. The main categories are local long-code numbers (including mobile numbers), toll-free numbers, and short codes.

There are also alphanumeric sender IDs (using a brand name as the sender) and national (non-geographic) numbers, but in the US, these are less common (US messaging relies on numeric originators). Below are the key phone number types and their characteristics:

• Local Long-Code Numbers (10DLC): These are standard 10-digit telephone numbers with local area codes (e.g., a number starting with 415 for San Francisco). Traditionally, long codes were meant for person-to-person calls and texts. Now, A2P 10DLC refers to special registration for using local numbers for Application-to-Person messaging (business texting). A Twilio local number can support voice calls, SMS, and often MMS. These numbers give a “localized” identity (customers see a familiar area code). Local numbers are suitable for two-way communications and low to moderate volume messaging. In Twilio’s inventory, local numbers that support SMS are effectively “mobile” numbers – they can text and call like a cell phone number.
• Mobile Numbers: In some countries, mobile numbers are distinguished from landline numbers. In the U.S., Twilio’s local numbers that are SMS-enabled function as mobile numbers for texting purposes. (When you search Twilio’s inventory, you may just select “SMS capable” local numbers.) Mobile numbers in Twilio’s context simply mean the number can send/receive SMS and is treated as mobile by carriers. So, for U.S. pricing, “mobile” falls under local 10DLC numbers. Twilio does not require you to buy a separate “mobile” category number – any SMS-capable local number works for mobile messaging. (In countries like the UK, mobile and national numbers might have different pricing, but in the US, this distinction isn’t major for Twilio.)
• Toll-Free Numbers: Toll-free numbers are 10-digit phone numbers with prefixes like 800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844, or 833. These are free for the caller to dial from voice networks (the toll-free subscriber – your business – pays for the incoming call). In the U.S., toll-free numbers can also be SMS and MMS enabled for A2P messaging. Businesses often use toll-free numbers for customer support or high-volume messaging because they are nationally recognisable and have higher throughput for texts. Twilio toll-free numbers support both voice and messaging, but they require a verification process for A2P messaging to ensure compliance (more on that later). Toll-free SMS is ideal for mass texting without needing short codes, because many carriers allow high volume on these numbers once verified.
• Short Codes: Short codes are special 5- or 6-digit numbers dedicated to high-volume A2P messaging. Examples: 12345 or 91000, or vanity short codes like 1-800-Flowers uses FLOWER (356937) if it were numeric. Short codes are only used for SMS and MMS, not voice calls (short codes cannot be dialled for voice). They are designed for marketing blasts, one-to-many alerts, and campaigns where you might send thousands of messages per minute. They have very high throughput limits (100+ messages per second) and are pre-approved by carriers for specific use cases, so they are less likely to be filtered or blocked when used properly. The downsides: Short codes are expensive and require a rigorous application process (with specific campaign use-case approval by carriers). They also have a long provisioning lead time (several weeks to get one). We’ll cover the costs in detail, but short codes are typically reserved for large-scale messaging programs due to cost.
• Others: Twilio also offers alphanumeric sender IDs (typically for international one-way messaging; not applicable for US SMS, which requires a phone number originator). Additionally, Twilio can provide national (non-geographic) numbers in some countries, but in the US, toll-free numbers serve a similar nationwide purpose. Twilio supports VOIP-based “numbers” through its Client SDK and Elastic SIP trunking as well, but those aren’t traditional PSTN numbers – they’re used for embedding voice in apps or connecting your own PBX via SIP.

Each number type has different messaging throughput and regulatory rules. For example, U.S. A2P 10DLC long codes have throughput from 1 to 30 messages per second by default (with potential for more if your registered campaign is rated well by carriers), whereas toll-free numbers often allow 3 MPS by default (and higher if approved), and short codes can go 100+ MPS. Also, long codes require formal 10DLC registration for A2P use (to avoid heavy filtering), toll-free numbers require a verification process for A2P, and short codes require carrier approval of your campaign during the provisioning process.

In summary, local (10DLC) numbers are great for localized presence and two-way conversations, toll-free numbers are ideal for nationwide reach and moderate-to-high volume messaging or voice calls where you want the customer to not incur charges, and short codes are best for very high volume messaging campaigns or marketing blasts where a short, memorable number is a plus.

Phone Number Setup and Monthly Costs

When you purchase a phone number from Twilio, you pay a Monthly Recurring Charge (MRC) for as long as the number is active on your account. This is effectively a “rental” fee for the number. The cost depends on the number type:

• Local 10DLC Number (US) – $1.15 per month for a Twilio-provided local phone number in the US. This number supports voice, SMS, and MMS (if enabled).
• Toll-Free Number (US) – $2.15 per month for a Twilio US toll-free number. Toll-free numbers on Twilio also support voice, SMS, and MMS.
• Short Code (US, Random) – $1,000 per month, billed quarterly (i.e. $3,000 per quarter) for a random short code leased from Twilio. “Random” means you cannot choose the number; Twilio will assign a random available short code. There is also a one-time setup fee for short codes (typically to cover carrier onboarding fees). Twilio’s documentation notes that all MMS-enabled short codes incur a $500 one-time fee at purchase (enabling MMS on a short code costs extra). The Twilio Help Centre indicates short code setup fees can be several thousand dollars, depending on the throughput and carriers, though Twilio’s current pricing page doesn’t list an exact figure (it suggests contacting sales).
• Short Code (US, Vanity) – $1,500 per month, billed quarterly (i.e. $4,500 per quarter) for a vanity short code from Twilio. Vanity means you select a specific number or a catchy pattern (if available), like 444-444 or a code that corresponds to a word. This also requires a one-time setup fee (and $500 extra if MMS is enabled). Vanity codes are more expensive monthly than random short codes.
• Bringing Your Own Number (BYON): If you already have a phone number with another carrier and want to use it with Twilio (either by porting it to Twilio or using Twilio’s Hosted SMS for landlines), Twilio charges a reduced hosting fee. For US local and toll-free, the cost is $0.50 per month for a BYO number on Twilio. For short codes, Twilio allows hosting a short code obtained elsewhere – notably, if you port in a vanity short code that you acquired directly, Twilio’s hosting fee is $500 per month (billed quarterly), significantly less than leasing a new vanity code through Twilio. (There is no “random” BYO short code – by definition if you bring one, it’s already a specific code you have.)

The table below summarises Twilio’s phone number monthly costs in the USA:

Number Type	Twilio Monthly Cost (Leased)	Bring Your Own (Hosted) Cost
Local 10DLC (US)	$1.15 per number per month	$0.50 per number per month
Toll-Free (US)	$2.15 per number per month	$0.50 per number per month
Short Code (Random)	$1,000 per month (billed quarterly) + setup fee	N/A (cannot BYO a random code)
Short Code (Vanity)	$1,500 per month (billed quarterly) + setup fee	$500 per month (billed quarterly)

Note: The one-time setup fees for short codes are additional. Twilio’s site hints at these fees but doesn’t publish a fixed price, as they can depend on carriers and whether the code supports MMS. Often, the carrier pass-through fees for provisioning a new short code in the US can range from $2,000 to $3,000 (total) for all carriers – this may be what Twilio passes along. For MMS-enabled short codes, Twilio explicitly adds a $500 fee at purchase. Always confirm current fees with Twilio before proceeding with a short code, as these can change.

Obtaining and Setting Up Numbers: Buying a local or toll-free number on Twilio is instant via the Console or API – you search for an available number and purchase it. Short codes, however, require an application process (you submit your use case, wait for carrier approval, which can take 6-10 weeks or more). Twilio will guide you through provisioning a short code if you choose that route. Also, 10DLC registration is now mandatory for businesses using local numbers for A2P messaging. This involves registering your company and campaign use case (with fees, discussed later in the compliance section). Twilio’s Console and Trust Hub facilitate this process.

Monthly Maintenance: Apart from the number rental fee, there generally aren’t additional Twilio “maintenance” charges just for having the number active (no line fees beyond the monthly number cost). One exception is if you enable Emergency Calling (E911) on a number. In the US, Twilio can provide E911 capability for VoIP numbers by associating an address. Twilio charges $0.75 per month per number for E911 service. If a 911 call is placed without a registered address, Twilio imposes a hefty surcharge ($75) because emergency services require a valid address. So, if emergency calling is needed on your Twilio numbers, ensure you register an address to avoid surprise fees.

In summary, expect to pay $1.15/month for a US local number or $2.15/month for a US toll-free number with Twilio. These rates are slightly higher than some competitors (as we’ll compare later), but Twilio includes the number’s voice, SMS, and MMS capability in that price. Short codes are a significant investment with high monthly and setup costs, only justified for large-scale messaging needs. Now that we’ve covered the cost of renting the number, let’s look at the usage pricing for calls and messages on those numbers.

Twilio Voice Pricing in the USA

If you use Twilio for voice calls in the US, you’ll pay usage charges for inbound and outbound calls, measured per minute. Twilio’s voice pricing is pay-as-you-go with rates that vary by the call’s direction and the type of number. Below, we break down the key components of Twilio’s voice pricing:

Inbound vs Outbound Call Rates

For calls within the United States, Twilio’s outbound calling (calls you place to a US phone number) and inbound calling (calls received on your Twilio number) have different rates. Twilio also differentiates between calls on local vs toll-free numbers for inbound pricing:

• Outbound Voice Calls (US to US): $0.0140 per minute ($0.014/min) to call US phone numbers, whether you’re calling mobile or landline destinations. This rate applies when you initiate a call from your Twilio platform to a US number. It’s the same rate whether your Twilio number is local or toll-free when making the call. (Calls to Canada are also $0.0140/min, as Twilio groups US & Canada together for outbound in this rate.)
• Inbound Voice Calls to Local Numbers: $0.0085 per minute to receive a call on a local US Twilio number. If someone dials your Twilio local number, you are charged $0.0085 for each minute of the call. This is a bit under one cent per minute.
• Inbound Voice Calls to Toll-Free Numbers: $0.0220 per minute on a US toll-free Twilio number. Incoming calls to toll-free numbers cost more because, as the toll-free owner, you’re paying the charges instead of the caller. ~$0.022/min is about 2.2 cents per minute for the inbound leg on a toll-free, notably higher than a local number’s inbound cost.
• Calls Between Twilio Client/App and PSTN: Twilio also has rates for calls that go to/from its SDKs (e.g., browser or mobile app calling via Twilio’s Voice SDK) and SIP interfaces. For completeness: calls using Twilio’s Browser/App (WebRTC) client are $0.0040/min both directions, and calls via SIP Interface (your own PBX or carrier connected via SIP) are $0.0040/min. But if those calls then connect to a PSTN number, you’d also pay the PSTN outbound leg. In general, Twilio-to-Twilio (on-network) calls are very cheap or free (e.g., connecting two Twilio client calls or transferring calls between Twilio subaccounts costs little), whereas any PSTN connection incurs the per-minute rates above.

The table below summarises Twilio’s basic voice call rates in the USA:

Call Type	Rate (USD per minute)
Outbound call (US number)	$0.0140 / min (1.4¢ per minute)
Inbound call to local number	$0.0085 / min (0.85¢ per minute)
Inbound call to toll-free number	$0.0220 / min (2.2¢ per minute)
Twilio Client/App (WebRTC) call	$0.0040 / min (both inbound/outbound)
SIP Interface call	$0.0040 / min (both inbound/outbound)

Note: These are base rates for calls within the US. Calls to international destinations have different prices (for example, calling a UK number might be a few cents per minute). Also, calls to certain US areas can differ – notably, calls to Alaska are much higher at ~$0.0945/min outbound because of high termination costs to Alaska exchanges. Twilio’s pricing page lists $0.0945/min for United States – Alaska outbound, while Hawaii is the same as the rest of the US. So if you call a 907 area code (Alaska) via Twilio, expect ~9.5¢/min rather than 1.4¢. Similarly, certain US territories or special area codes (like satellite phones or premium numbers) may incur higher rates.

Twilio bills voice usage in one-minute increments by default. According to Twilio, any partial minutes are rounded up to the next full minute for billing. For example, a 30-second call will be billed as 1 minute, and a 1-minute 10-second call will be billed as 2 minutes. (In 2021, Twilio announced moving to per-second billing for some calls, but as of now, the official guidance still says full-minute increments for PSTN calls. Check Twilio’s updates for the latest on billing increments.) This means very short calls can effectively cost a few cents due to the minimum minute charge.

Call Forwarding and Multi-Leg Costs

One important concept in Twilio voice pricing is that each call leg is billed separately. If your application forwards a call or creates a conference, you will be paying for multiple call legs simultaneously. For example, consider a simple call forwarding use-case: A customer dials your Twilio phone number, and your Twilio app forwards that call to a cell phone number (by initiating a new outbound call to that number and bridging the two calls). In this case, you have:

• Inbound leg: customer -> Twilio number (you pay $0.0085/min if the Twilio number is local, or $0.0220/min if toll-free).
• Outbound leg: Twilio -> your agent’s phone (you pay $0.0140/min for the outbound call to the cell phone).

Both legs are active during the call, so effectively a one-minute forwarded call costs the sum of both legs. For a local number forward, that’s ~$0.0225 per minute (0.85¢ + 1.4¢) that you’re paying to connect the caller to the target. For a toll-free number forward, it would be ~$0.0360 per minute (2.2¢ + 1.4¢). This is an important consideration: forwarding calls or conferencing multiple parties will multiply the per-minute cost. Twilio’s support confirms that the cost is based on each leg of the call.

Developers should also note that if you use Twilio to a SIP endpoint or Twilio Client, the costs could differ (e.g., dialling out to a SIP trunk might be $0.004/min if using Elastic SIP Trunking). But for typical scenarios of PSTN forwarding, budget for both inbound and outbound minute charges.

Call Recording and Other Voice Features

Twilio offers additional voice features that can incur costs on top of the basic per-minute calling rates. A few notable ones:

• Call Recording: Twilio can record phone calls if you enable it in your TwiML or via API. The pricing for recording is $0.0025 per minute recorded. So if a call lasts 10 minutes and you record the entire call, that’s $0.025 in recording fees. Recording storage on Twilio is free for the first 10,000 minutes stored per month; beyond that, Twilio charges $0.0005 per minute per month for storage. For example, storing 8,000 minutes of recordings in a month would incur $4 in storage (8,000 × 0.0005) after the free tier. Twilio also offers transcription of recordings at $0.0500 per minute if you use their automated transcription service. You can always choose to download recordings and store/transcribe them off-platform to avoid those fees.
• Conference Calls: If you use Twilio’s feature to bridge multiple callers, Twilio charges a small fee per participant in addition to the call legs. The mixing fee is $0.0018 per participant per minute for conference calls in the US. So a 3-person conference for 5 minutes would incur 3 × 5 × $0.0018 = $0.027 in conference mixing charges, plus the normal call charges for each leg of each participant. (Each participant’s leg is either an inbound or outbound call as discussed.)
• Answering Machine Detection (AMD): For outbound call use cases (like outbound IVR or call campaigns), Twilio can perform answering machine detection to see if a human, machine, or fax picked up. Twilio charges $0.0075 per call for AMD on Programmable Voice. This is charged per call attempt where AMD is used, regardless of call duration.
• Voice Insights & Advanced Features: Twilio provides call quality metrics and advanced diagnostics. The basic Voice Insights are free, but Advanced Voice Insights (detailed metrics, etc.) cost $0.0024 per minute of call analysed. This is more for enterprise usage to troubleshoot call quality issues.
• Text-to-Speech and IVR: Using Twilio to speak to callers doesn’t have an extra charge beyond the call minutes. Twilio includes a library of text-to-speech voices as part of the voice API usage. There is also a Speech Recognition feature to do speech-to-text during calls (Transcription for IVR inputs); basic usage of that may incur charges similar to transcription. Twilio’s newer Voice Intelligence add-ons (like sentiment analysis, etc.) have their own pricing as well, but those are beyond the scope of basic number pricing.
• Emergency Calling (E911): As mentioned, Twilio charges $0.75/month per number for enabling emergency calling, and $75 per 911 call that has no registered address. If your use case requires users to dial 911 from a Twilio-powered phone system, ensure you understand these costs and compliance requirements.

Summary of a Sample Voice Scenario: Suppose you have a local Twilio number and you receive a 5-minute customer call, record it, and then forward the caller to a support agent in the middle of the call. The pricing might break down as: inbound 5 min at $0.0085/min = $0.0425; outbound 3 min (if only 3 of the 5 min were bridged to the agent) at $0.0140 = $0.0420; recording 5 min at $0.0025 = $0.0125. The total for that call would be around $0.097 (9.7 cents). This example illustrates how various elements add up.

For pure inbound or outbound single-leg calls, Twilio voice in the U.S. is roughly 0.85 to 1.4 cents per minute on local numbers, which is competitive, though not the absolute cheapest on the market. Next, we’ll explore Twilio’s messaging (SMS/MMS) pricing, which has its own structure and considerations like carrier fees and volume tiers.

Twilio SMS and MMS Pricing in the USA

Twilio’s messaging pricing in the U.S. is also usage-based, charged per message segment for SMS and per message for MMS. The cost depends on the direction (inbound vs outbound), the type of phone number (long code vs toll-free vs short code), and includes any carrier pass-through fees for A2P messaging. Let’s break down the components:

Per-Message Rates (Inbound, Outbound, MMS)

For sending and receiving text messages (SMS) in the U.S. using Twilio numbers, the base price (Twilio’s fee, excluding carrier surcharges) as of 2025 is:

• SMS (outbound): $0.0083 per SMS segment sent from your Twilio number. This is about 0.83 cents per text segment.
• SMS (inbound): $0.0083 per SMS segment received on your Twilio number. Twilio charges the same rate for incoming messages to your number. (Unlike some competitors, Twilio does not provide free inbound SMS on local/toll-free numbers – both directions cost the same per segment.)
• MMS (outbound): $0.0220 per MMS message sent. This covers sending a multimedia message (pictures, etc., up to Twilio’s size limit) from your Twilio number.
• MMS (inbound): The inbound MMS cost on Twilio varies slightly by number type:
  • $0.0165 per MMS received on a local long code or short code.
  • $0.0200 per MMS received on a toll-free number.
    The toll-free inbound MMS is a bit higher (2.0 cents vs 1.65 cents). This may be due to different carrier handling or simply Twilio’s pricing choice.

These are Twilio’s base messaging fees. They apply per message segment for SMS. Remember that SMS messages longer than 160 characters (or 70 chars for Unicode) will be split into multiple segments and charged accordingly. For example, a 200-character text might count as 2 segments (2 × $0.0083 = $0.0166) if sent via a GSM7 charset. Twilio automatically handles segmentation and reassembly, but it will affect the cost. Twilio’s Messaging Pricing page footnotes that “Text messages are charged per segment.”

Below is a summary table of Twilio’s base messaging price per message (excluding carrier fees, which we address next):

Message Type	Twilio Base Price (Outbound)	Twilio Base Price (Inbound)
SMS from Long Code (local)	$0.0083 per segment	$0.0083 per segment
SMS from Toll-Free	$0.0083 per segment	$0.0083 per segment
SMS from Short Code	$0.0083 per segment	$0.0083 per segment
MMS from Long Code	$0.0220 per message	$0.0165 per message
MMS from Toll-Free	$0.0220 per message	$0.0200 per message
MMS from Short Code	$0.0220 per message	$0.0165 per message

Note: All MMS-enabled short codes incur a one-time $500 fee when purchased (for MMS setup), but the per-message MMS cost on short codes is the same as long codes.

At first glance, you might notice Twilio’s SMS price is roughly $0.0075–$0.0085 per message (depending on volume, as we’ll see), which is slightly higher than some competitors. Also, Twilio doesn’t differentiate SMS pricing by number type in the base fees – the $0.0083/segment applies to long code, toll-free, and short code equally. This was a change Twilio introduced to simplify messaging costs. However, the carrier fees can differ by number type and carrier, which effectively means the total cost per message can vary.

Volume Pricing and Discounts for Messaging

Twilio automatically applies volume tier discounts on SMS messaging as your usage scales up. The first 150,000 messages in a month are at the standard rate (0.83¢/segment), and then slightly lower rates kick in at higher tiers. The discount is modest but can add up for very high volumes. The tiers for SMS (long code and toll-free) in the US are:

• 1 – 150,000 messages/month: $0.0083 per SMS segment (no discount).
• 150,001 – 300,000 messages: $0.0081 per segment.
• 300,001 – 500,000: $0.0079 per segment.
• 500,001 – 750,000: $0.0077 per segment.
• 750,001 – 1,000,000: $0.0075 per segment.
• 1,000,001+ messages: $0.0073 per segment.

These apply separately for long code vs toll-free traffic (they are not combined to reach the tier). Short codes have a similar discount schedule for high volumes (essentially the same tier thresholds and rates as above). For example, after 1 million messages in a month, your SMS segments would cost $0.0073 each, which is about 12% cheaper than the base $0.0083 rate.

Twilio’s volume discounts are applied automatically; you don’t need to negotiate or sign a contract for those – it’s baked into the billing system as you cross each threshold. For extremely large senders (well above those volumes), Twilio also offers committed-use discounts through enterprise contracts. That means if you commit to a certain yearly volume, you might get even lower pricing. Those deals require talking to Twilio sales.

For MMS, Twilio’s site doesn’t explicitly show volume tiers, which likely means MMS pricing stays flat (MMS isn’t usually sent in the same massive volumes as SMS segments, and MMS has higher carrier costs).

Carrier Fees and Compliance (A2P 10DLC)

One critical aspect of SMS messaging in the U.S. is carrier surcharge fees for A2P (application-to-person) messages. Starting in 2021, U.S. mobile carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.) introduced fees for business messages to their subscribers as part of the A2P 10DLC system. Twilio, like other messaging providers, passes these fees through to customers. These fees are in addition to the Twilio per-message prices above. They vary by carrier, by message type, and by message direction.

For example, the current carrier surcharge fees per message on Twilio (as of 2025) are roughly:

• AT&T: $0.003 per outbound/inbound SMS on long codes; $0.003 for toll-free; $0.003 for short code outbound and $0.0075 for short code inbound. MMS surcharges to AT&T are $0.0075 for both in and out on long code/toll-free/short code.
• T-Mobile (including Sprint): $0.003 per SMS (in or out) on long code/toll-free; $0.0025 for short code SMS (both in/out). MMS surcharges to T-Mobile are $0.01 per MMS (in/out) for long code/toll-free/short code.
• Verizon: $0.004 outbound and $0.0065 inbound per SMS on long code (Verizon uniquely charges more for inbound from a business to its network); for toll-free, $0.004 outbound, $0.0065 inbound as well; for short code, $0.004 outbound, $0.0065 inbound. MMS to Verizon has $0.01 outbound, $0.01 inbound surcharges listed for toll-free (and presumably similar for others).
• US Cellular and Others: Varying surcharges (US Cellular around $0.005 outbound on long code, and smaller/regional carriers often ~$0.0035). Twilio’s pricing page breaks out “All other carriers” or groups A/B for smaller carriers with fees like $0.0035, etc..

These fees change over time as carriers adjust them, so always refer to Twilio’s “Carrier Fees” section for the latest. As an example of how they add up: sending an SMS to a Verizon mobile phone from a local Twilio number would cost you $0.0083 (Twilio) + $0.0040 (Verizon outbound fee) ≈ $0.0123 total. If that Verizon user replies, the incoming message would cost $0.0083 + $0.0065 = $0.0148. Twilio will typically itemise these carrier fees on your billing as separate lines (e.g., “Carrier Fees – AT&T SMS”, etc.), so you might see an effective per-message cost higher than the base Twilio price.

A2P 10DLC Registration Fees: Besides per-message carrier fees, there are one-time and monthly fees related to 10DLC registration. Businesses must register their Brand (company) and Campaign (use case) in the Campaign Registry (TCR) to use long codes for A2P messaging without heavy filtering. Twilio facilitates this and charges fees accordingly:

• Brand Registration (Standard/Low-Volume): Twilio now charges a one-time $4 registration fee for a Standard Business Brand if you go for the low-volume route. (It used to be $44 or $94 for fully vetted brands, but Twilio worked with carriers to reduce/waive some fees in late 2022.) Essentially, registering your business brand in Twilio’s system costs $4 in many cases.
• Campaign Registration: Twilio has waived the $50 one-time campaign setup fee that was previously required. So registering a messaging campaign (e.g., “Customer Notifications” or “Marketing Promotions”) doesn’t incur a setup cost now, if you’re doing the new Low-Volume Standard or Standard campaigns.
• Monthly Campaign Fees: Once registered, each campaign incurs a monthly fee charged by carriers via Twilio. This depends on your campaign type. For a basic Low-Volume Standard campaign (up to 6,000 SMS/day), the fee is $1.50 per month. For higher throughput Standard campaigns, fees range up to $10 per month (for most typical campaigns like marketing, 2FA, etc., it’s $10). Some special campaign categories have different fees (for example, charitable or emergency might be lower). Twilio notes $1.50–$10 depending on use case, and specifically that the mixed/miscellaneous low-volume campaign fee is $1.50 (reduced from $2).
• Secondary Vetting (optional): If you need higher throughput than the default, you might undergo secondary vetting (to get a higher Trust Score for 10DLC). Twilio passes along a $40 fee for secondary vetting by TCR (this is typically for large enterprises who want to unlock higher daily limits – many smaller businesses won’t need this).

For toll-free numbers, A2P registration is not the same process. Instead, carriers require toll-free verification for businesses that send A2P traffic via toll-free. Twilio provides a form to submit your use case (it’s free to do so). Currently, there’s no fee to verify toll-free; it’s just an approval process. However, until verified, carriers may subject your toll-free SMS to throttling or blocking if traffic is high or if spam is suspected. So it’s strongly recommended to verify any toll-free number used for messaging. Once verified, toll-free numbers can generally send at a higher throughput (up to 100+ MPS in some cases) and get better deliverability.

For short codes, carriers already approved the use case when provisioning the code, so there aren’t additional per-message surcharges like 10DLC (the major carriers have generally included short code fees in their termination cost historically). In Twilio’s carrier fee tables, notice the short code lines have similar small fees (often fractions of a cent) – these are much lower than 10DLC fees because the assumption is short code traffic is sanctioned. The main cost for a short code is the leasing fee itself and the initial setup. No monthly “campaign” fee like 10DLC, since the carriers bill you via the high short code lease cost.

Putting it together: If you use a local number without registering 10DLC, messages will be charged an additional “unregistered” fee, which is even higher (for instance, carriers might charge $0.003 to $0.005 extra per message as a penalty, or some messages might be blocked). Twilio’s system will basically require you to register now because unregistered A2P is not viable long-term. Once registered, you’ll pay: Twilio message fee + carrier fee + monthly campaign fee (plus the one-time reg fees). For a small volume scenario, these extra fees might add a few dollars per month; for large volume, they scale with your messaging.

In summary, Twilio’s SMS pricing for the USA has two parts: Twilio’s base price (~$0.008 per segment, with slight discounts at scale) and carrier surcharges that typically add ~0.3¢ to 0.65¢ (or more) per message depending on carrier and direction. MMS messages have a higher base cost (~2¢) and also have surcharges (~1¢ or so) due to their larger size.

While this may seem complicated, Twilio’s pricing page is transparent about these fees. It’s crucial to account for them, especially if you’re sending millions of messages. Next, let’s compare how Twilio’s pricing stacks up against some popular alternatives, and then discuss any other fees and best practices for cost optimisation.

Comparison: Twilio vs Competitors (Vonage, Plivo, Bandwidth)

Twilio is a well-known market leader, but it’s not the only player. Let’s compare Twilio’s phone number pricing and usage costs with a few competitors: Vonage API (formerly Nexmo), Plivo, and Bandwidth. These providers also offer SMS and voice APIs with similar capabilities. We’ll focus on USA pricing for fairness.

Phone Numbers (Monthly Fees): Twilio’s $1.15 (local) and $2.15 (toll-free) monthly number fees are a bit higher than some competitors:

• Vonage offers virtual numbers at about $0.90 per month for SMS/voice local numbers, and $1.75 per month for toll-free numbers. (These are listed on Vonage’s pricing page; no setup fee for basic numbers.) Vonage also often doesn’t charge for inbound SMS on those numbers.
• Plivo is lower cost: $0.50 per month for a US local number (voice and SMS enabled), and $1.00 per month for a toll-free number. Plivo’s own documentation shows $0.50 for local, mobile, and national numbers, and $1.00 for toll-free. Short codes on Plivo are $500/month (random) and $1000/month (vanity), billed quarterly, with a $1500 one-time setup, which is similar to Twilio (slightly cheaper ongoing cost, perhaps).
• Bandwidth is a carrier-oriented provider and has low-cost numbers. Bandwidth advertises around $0.35 per month for a local number and $1.00 per month for toll-free. (Bandwidth, being a CLEC, can offer very low DID costs.) One source shows Bandwidth’s developer portal pricing at $0.35 per local line per month. Bandwidth also doesn’t charge for number porting and offers volume discounts for large quantities of DIDs.

Voice Call Pricing: Twilio’s voice rates (1.4¢ outbound, 0.85¢ inbound) are reasonable, but competitors can be cheaper:

• Vonage (Nexmo) Voice: Approximately $0.0041 per minute for both inbound and outbound in the US. According to a GetVoIP comparison, Vonage’s voice API was about $0.0041/min (which is less than one-third of Twilio’s outbound rate). Vonage’s own site lists domestic outbound to the US at ~$0.0080 and inbound at ~$0.0079, but some sources and plans indicate even lower for high volume. In any case, Vonage is known to have slightly lower or similar voice prices, and they often bill per second.
• Plivo Voice: $0.0100/min outbound, $0.0055/min inbound for US local calls. Plivo’s published rates show 1.0¢ out, 0.55¢ in – noticeably cheaper than Twilio’s 1.4¢/0.85¢. Plivo even has separate rates for calling Alaska/Hawaii (like Twilio does), but for mainland US, they cite ~$0.0115 outbound and $0.0050 inbound in some docs. Essentially, Plivo is about 20-30% cheaper on voice.
• Bandwidth Voice: $0.0100/min outbound, $0.0055/min inbound (same as Plivo). Bandwidth’s own marketing compares $0.014 vs $0.01 (Twilio vs Bandwidth outbound) and $0.0085 vs $0.0055 (Twilio vs Bandwidth inbound). Bandwidth, being a network carrier, can offer those rates more directly. They often require at least a small monthly commitment or a minimum though.
• It’s worth noting that Twilio’s strength is in its features and support, whereas providers like Bandwidth are more bare-bones (you might need to manage more telecom basics yourself). But purely on price, Twilio Voice per-minute is higher. For large call volumes, the difference can drive people to consider mixing providers or negotiating enterprise deals with Twilio.

SMS Pricing: Twilio’s base $0.0079–$0.0083 per SMS segment is higher than many others, and Twilio also charges for inbound SMS. Competitor comparisons:

• Vonage SMS: ~$0.0064 outbound, $0.0059 inbound per SMS. In fact, Vonage historically did not charge for inbound SMS on virtual numbers (except short codes), but their official pricing now shows a tiny fee. Many Vonage plans effectively treat inbound as free. Vonage also requires registration for 10DLC and passes along similar carrier fees.
• Plivo SMS: $0.0055 per message (outbound or inbound) on local numbers. Plivo has simplified pricing where they charge the same in or out, and notably, it’s about 0.55¢ each, considerably cheaper than Twilio’s 0.83¢. On toll-free, Plivo lists $0.0055 as well (they used to have $0.0072 for toll-free, but current docs show unified pricing). Plivo also doesn’t charge extra for inbound; it’s the same rate. Carrier fees still apply on top.
• Bandwidth SMS: $0.0040 outbound, $0.00 inbound on local (and ~$0.0075 each way on toll-free). Bandwidth’s pricing sheet shows they include carrier fees in a flat rate: e.g., $0.004 per outbound, and they claim free inbound for local A2P (some sources say inbound $0.0015 or $0.003, but effectively low). For toll-free, Bandwidth might charge around $0.0075 for either direction. Bandwidth, being a direct carrier, can bundle costs more aggressively.
• Short Codes: Twilio, Vonage, and Plivo all have similar high costs for leasing short codes ($500-$1500/month range). Per message, all tend to be around $0.005 to $0.008 plus any carrier fee. Short code messaging fees are fairly standard since carriers have fixed tariffs for them. Twilio’s per-message on short code ($0.0083) is a tad higher than Plivo’s ($0.0055), but Twilio includes features and perhaps better tools around opt-out management, etc. If you are in the market for short codes, it’s wise to compare the total cost, including provisioning fees, as those can differ.

In summary, Twilio is not the cheapest option on pure pricing. For example, Vonage’s SMS is about 20–25% cheaper per message, and Plivo’s is ~33% cheaper per message, and Plivo’s voice is ~30% cheaper per minute. Bandwidth can be even cheaper but requires more telecom savvy (and often a contract). Twilio’s premium comes from its robust platform, developer experience, and broad feature set (things like TwiML flexibility, no upfront commitment, etc.). Many businesses are willing to pay a bit more for Twilio’s reliability and support at scale. But if cost is a primary concern and you can work with a more bare-bones API, the competitors are attractive.

To illustrate, here’s a quick comparison table for key pricing metrics (as of 2025):

Provider	Local Number MRC	Voice Outbound	Voice Inbound	SMS Outbound	SMS Inbound
Twilio	$1.15 (local); $2.15 (toll-free)	$0.0140/min	$0.0085/min (local); $0.0220/min (TF)	~$0.0083/msg	~$0.0083/msg
Vonage	~$0.90 (local); $1.75 (TF)	~$0.00798/min (out); $0.0041 (as per some sources)	~$0.0079/min (in)	$0.0064/msg	$0.0059/msg (often $0 inbound)
Plivo	$0.50 (local); $1.00 (TF)	$0.0100/min (out)	$0.0055/min (in)	$0.0055 per SMS	$0.0055 per SMS
Bandwidth	$0.35 (local); $1.00 (TF)	$0.0100/min (out)	$0.0055/min (in)	$0.0040 per SMS (out)	$0.00–$0.0015 per SMS (in)

TF = toll-free. Bandwidth SMS includes carrier fees in the rate; Twilio/Vonage/Plivo add carrier fees on top of the above SMS prices.

As you can see, Twilio tends to be higher on most line items. That said, Twilio’s pricing model (no minimums, instant self-service, rich features) provides value that pure numbers don’t reflect. For many developers, Twilio’s documentation, support, and ecosystem are worth the cost. However, if you have razor-thin margins or huge volume (millions of messages/minutes), it’s common to mix providers or negotiate with Twilio for discounts.

Setup Fees, Regulatory and Hidden Charges

We’ve touched on some one-time fees like short code setup and 10DLC registration. Let’s list out any other “hidden” or additional charges you should be aware of when using Twilio for phone numbers in the US:

• Short Code Setup Fees: When leasing a new short code through Twilio, there are one-time fees (often a few thousand dollars) that cover carrier setup. For MMS, Twilio explicitly charges $500 extra upfront. These fees are on top of the recurring quarterly charges.
• Number Porting Fees: Twilio generally does not charge to port in your phone numbers. Porting a number into Twilio is free in most cases (you initiate in the console). However, porting out a number away from Twilio might incur a small fee if using Twilio’s API to release to another carrier (some carriers charge a port-out fee, but Twilio’s policies on this are not clearly advertised — typically, Twilio doesn’t charge for porting out standard numbers; they don’t believe in holding numbers hostage). Always check Twilio’s porting FAQ for any admin fees.
• Regulatory Fees and Taxes: Twilio, as a communications provider, does add taxes and regulatory fees to your monthly bills. For example, in the US, you might see charges for things like the Federal USF (Universal Service Fund) or other telecom-related taxes, depending on your usage and location. Twilio has a Regulatory Compliance Fee that, in some jurisdictions, is applied per SMS or per phone number to cover the costs of compliance. In the US, Twilio started charging a monthly “Regulatory Fee” of $1.50 per account (plus a very small percentage of usage) a couple of years back, to account for new industry regulations. These aren’t huge, but they are worth noting as they appear in invoices.
• A2P 10DLC Unregistered Fees: If, for some reason, you send messages without completing 10DLC registration, carriers apply heavy fees. For instance, AT&T has a $0.003 additional fee per message for unregistered, T-Mobile charges $0.004, etc., plus possible hefty “campaign violation” fees. Twilio will simply not let you stay unregistered long; they now have an enforced process. So, register your Brand/Campaign or use toll-free/short code.
• Failed Message Fees: Twilio charges a $0.001 fee for each message that fails delivery after leaving their network. This “failed message processing fee” is meant to cover the cost of attempting delivery. If a message is undeliverable (e.g., invalid number format, carrier rejects), Twilio still bills $0.001 for that attempt. This is relatively small, but if you were to send a million messages that all failed, you’d pay $1000 in failed fees – so keep your contact lists clean to avoid waste.
• Long Voice Call Two-Minute Minimum: Twilio previously had a two-minute minimum charge for calls that connect to carrier voicemail or similar on some outbound calls with Answering Machine Detection. However, Twilio’s current policy is simpler: rounding up to the nearest minute. There aren’t special surcharges for things like calls that ring no answer – if the call never connects, you don’t pay.
• Premium Destinations: As mentioned, calling certain area codes (Alaska, rural independents) costs more. Similarly, sending SMS to certain small mobile carriers or speciality providers can incur higher fees. Twilio’s carrier fees table shows, for short codes, separate Group A and Group B carriers with additional surcharges. These are small regional carriers who charge more. It’s a hidden complexity, but if your user base includes obscure carriers, your per-message cost might be a bit higher.
• Service Bundles (Twilio Packages): If you use higher-level Twilio services (like Twilio Conversations, Twilio Frontline, etc.), those have their own pricing (often monthly or per-user fees) on top of these API costs. But for pure voice/SMS via the APIs, you mostly have the costs we’ve described.

To avoid surprises, always review your Twilio invoice’s line items. Twilio is quite transparent, labelling things like “SMS Outbound – Twilio fee” and “SMS Outbound – Verizon surcharge”, etc. The “hidden” fees are usually the pass-through ones, which we’ve covered (carrier surcharges, regulatory taxes). There’s no monthly subscription required for Twilio (you can pay-as-you-go), so you won’t be charged if you’re not using the service aside from maintaining any active phone numbers and the nominal regulatory fee.

Best Practices to Optimise Twilio Costs

While Twilio might not have rock-bottom prices, there are ways to optimise and reduce your spending. Here are some best practices and considerations for developers and businesses using Twilio:

1. Choose the Right Number Type for Your Use Case: If you plan to send high volumes of SMS (e.g., marketing blasts), consider using a toll-free number or short code instead of many long codes. Toll-free numbers have higher throughput by default and don’t require the $10/month campaign fees that a bunch of long-code campaigns might. Short codes have the highest throughput and deliverability for marketing, but come at a premium cost – they only make sense if you’re sending hundreds of thousands of messages a month or need that brand recognition. For person-to-person style or low-volume, local numbers (10DLC) work well and are cheapest monthly.
2. Register for A2P 10DLC or Toll-Free Verification: This isn’t just compliance; it saves money and improves deliverability. Unregistered traffic can be heavily fined by carriers or blocked. By registering your brand and campaign for 10DLC (or verifying your toll-free), you ensure you’re only paying the standard fees and not incurring penalties. The registration fees are minor ($4 one-time and a small monthly fee) compared to potential losses if messages get filtered out.
3. Monitor and Remove Invalid Numbers: If you send SMS to lists of phone numbers, use tools like Twilio Lookup or other validation to clean your list. Twilio charges $0.0075+ per SMS, even if the number is invalid (plus that $0.001 failed fee) – and carriers might still levy their surcharge. It’s wasteful to keep texting landlines or deactivated numbers. Twilio’s Lookup API can identify line type (mobile vs landline) and whether a number is valid, which can save you from unnecessary sends. It costs a small fee per lookup, but that can be worth it to avoid many failed SMS costs.
4. Optimise Message Content to Minimise Segments: Try to keep SMS messages within one segment (160 GSM-7 characters or 70 Unicode characters) to avoid multi-segment charges. If you have to send longer texts, consider using MMS (if suitable) or a short link to convey more info outside the SMS body. Twilio’s Messaging Service can do smart segmentation and allow concatenation (sending as one message), but you still pay per segment. Also, removing unnecessary Unicode (like fancy quotes/emojis) can allow messages to stay in GSM-7 encoding and fit more characters per segment.
5. Leverage Volume Discounts / Commit with Twilio: If you know your volume will be high, reach out to Twilio sales. Committing to a monthly or annual spend can yield custom discounts beyond the automatic tiers. Twilio at enterprise scale is negotiable. For example, if you plan to send 5 million SMS a month, Twilio might offer a rate lower than $0.0073 each in exchange for a contract.
6. Consider Using Multiple Long Codes vs. Short Code: If you can’t justify a short code’s cost, but need more throughput than one long code provides (~1-5 msgs/second for A2P depending on carrier and your trust score), Twilio offers Messaging Services with number pooling (formerly called Copilot). You can buy a set of long code numbers and have Twilio distribute messages across them, effectively increasing aggregate throughput. For instance, 10 numbers could send roughly 10x the MPS of one number. This can also help with delivery by spreading the load. However, note that with 10DLC, each number (or number pool) still needs a registered campaign. Twilio’s Sticky Sender feature in Messaging Service can also preserve having one number per user conversation (so the user sees a consistent sender). This strategy lets you scale without a short code, but be aware you’ll pay $1.15/month for each additional number and manage more complexity.
7. Use Webhooks and Monitor Call Duration: For voice, if you have calls that often run long, monitor if they need to be that long. If using Twilio or IVR, maybe put sensible timeouts. Also, if a call goes to voicemail, you might want to hang up earlier rather than leaving a long voice message that accrues Twilio per-minute charges. Twilio’s Answering Machine Detection (while costing $0.0075 per call) can help you decide not to play a long message to a machine. Depending on your use case (like outbound call campaigns), it can save money if it avoids spending time on non-human answers.
8. Avoid Unnecessary Recording or Use Dual-Channel Recording: If you record calls, remember it’s $0.0025/min. That’s small, but at scale it adds up. Only record the calls you need to. Also, delete recordings when you don’t need them to avoid storage fees (you can auto-delete via API or set retention). Twilio gives 10k minutes of storage free per month, which is generous; just manage beyond that.
9. Use Twilio’s Free Features: Twilio automatically handles carrier lookup for portability (to route SMS, etc.) and includes features like opt-out management for SMS (“Reply STOP to unsubscribe” handling) on their long codes/short codes. Utilise these – for example, Twilio will not charge you for messages that are auto-replies to STOP/HELP messages (those are handled by Twilio’s system). Using the messaging feedback API to mark delivery quality can help Twilio optimise routes. While not directly a cost saver, it can improve deliverability, which improves the value of what you pay.
10. Explore Elastic SIP Trunking for Voice if Applicable: If your use case involves a large number of voice minutes, mostly for outbound or inbound calling through a PBX, Twilio’s Elastic SIP Trunking offers lower rates than the Voice API. For the US, Twilio’s SIP trunking rates can be around $0.0045/min or lower at volume for termination, which is significantly cheaper. You do lose some of the API flexibility, but for pure call transit, it’s an option to reduce the cost per minute.
11. Monitor and Analyse Your Twilio Usage: Twilio provides detailed usage records. Set up alerts or budgets – for instance, use Cloud Watch or Twilio’s Usage Triggers to alert you if spending goes beyond a threshold. This can catch any unintended spend (e.g., a bug in code sending texts in a loop). Also, review which numbers you have in your account – are you paying monthly for numbers you don’t use? Release numbers that aren’t needed to save those MRC fees. Twilio allows releasing a number at any time; you can always buy a new one later (unless it’s a vanity number you want to keep).
12. Consider Alternatives or a Multi-Provider Strategy: If Twilio meets 90% of your needs but is expensive for one aspect (say, termination of calls to a certain country or high-volume SMS), you can use Twilio in combination with another provider. Some businesses use Twilio for most logic but switch to another API for bulk messaging, etc., via a fallback. Just ensure compliance and service quality remain high if you do this. Twilio’s services, like Studio and Runtime, make it easy to integrate logic, but they don’t restrict you from using external APIs within your code.

By following these best practices, you can often trim a significant portion of your Twilio bill without impacting your customer experience. For example, one company reduced costs by using toll-free numbers (free inbound for users) for large SMS sends instead of provisioning dozens of long codes, and by cleaning their contact lists regularly, they saved thousands of messages per month that would have gone to dead ends.

Conclusion

Twilio provides a powerful and developer-friendly platform for voice and SMS communications, and its pay-as-you-go pricing offers transparency and flexibility for businesses of all sizes. In the USA, Twilio phone numbers cost $1.15 (local) or $2.15 (toll-free) monthly, and voice calls range from about $0.0085 to $0.014 per minute, while SMS messages cost around $0.008 to send or receive (plus carrier fees). We’ve seen that while Twilio isn’t the absolute cheapest option on the market, it combines global reach, reliability, and rich features like call control, messaging intelligence, and an ecosystem of add-ons that many competitors lack.

When budgeting for Twilio, remember to factor in the “all-in” costs: number rental, usage (minutes/messages), carrier surcharges, and any applicable registration or compliance fees. Avoid surprises by completing required registrations (10DLC, toll-free verification) and by monitoring your usage patterns. If Twilio’s costs ever become a concern at scale, you can explore volume discounts or hybrid approaches, but for most, the benefits of Twilio’s platform outweigh the higher unit costs.

Ultimately, optimising Twilio cost comes down to using the right tool for the job (e.g., long code vs short code) and keeping an eye on efficiency (don’t pay for what you don’t need). By following best practices and understanding the pricing model, as you now do after reading this guide, you can leverage Twilio’s capabilities while keeping your communications budget under control.

FAQ

Q1: How much does a Twilio phone number cost per month in the US?
A: A Twilio US local phone number costs $1.15 per month, and a US toll-free number costs $2.15 per month. These charges are the monthly leasing fees for the number itself. Short codes are much more expensive: $1000/month (random) or $1500/month (vanity), billed quarterly via Twilio. There is no additional setup cost for regular local/toll-free numbers, but short codes have one-time setup fees. If you port in (bring) your own number, Twilio charges $0.50/month hosting per number instead of the full leasing cost.

Q2: What are Twilio’s voice call rates to the US?
A: For calls within the US, Twilio’s Programmable Voice rates are $0.014/min to make an outbound call to a US number, $0.0085/min to receive a call on a local number, and $0.022/min to receive on a toll-free number. These are per-minute charges. For example, a 10-minute outbound call would cost $0.14. Twilio bills in 1-minute increments (rounding up). Additional voice features like recording add $0.0025/min for the duration recorded.

Q3: How does Twilio charge for SMS messages in the US?
A: Twilio charges about $0.0083 per SMS segment for both sending and receiving on US numbers. This is roughly 0.8 cents per message segment (160 characters). MMS messages cost about $0.022 to send and $0.0165–$0.020 to receive (the higher rate for toll-free MMS). In addition, U.S. carrier surcharges apply for A2P messages, typically adding around $0.003 to $0.005 per message for the major carriers. Twilio’s first 150k messages each month are at full price ($0.0083), and high volumes get slightly discounted (down to ~$0.0073 beyond 1 million messages).

Q4: Does Twilio charge for inbound SMS and calls?
A: Yes. Inbound SMS are charged the same $0.0083 per segment as outbound on Twilio’s platform (unlike some competitors that offer free incoming SMS). Inbound voice calls to Twilio numbers are charged per minute (0.8¢/min on local numbers, 2.2¢/min on toll-free) as described above. The party using Twilio (your app) pays for inbound traffic because Twilio is providing the service of terminating the call/text to your application.

Q5: Are there any hidden fees with Twilio?
A: Twilio is fairly transparent, but you should be aware of pass-through fees and related charges:

• Carrier surcharges on SMS (for A2P 10DLC) as discussed – these will appear on your bill for each message.
• Regulatory fees/taxes, which Twilio may list as a regulatory compliance fee or similar on monthly invoices (to cover things like US telecom relay services or number portability costs). These are usually small.
• 10DLC registration fees: a one-time ~$4 and monthly $1.50-$10, depending on campaign, if you use long codes for business messaging.
• Short code setup fees if you go that route (several thousand dollars possibly).
• Twilio also has a $0.001 fee for each failed message (messages that weren’t delivered due to issues like invalid numbers), which isn’t obvious until you see it.
  There are no monthly subscriptions required beyond your usage and number fees. As long as you properly register your use cases and manage your account, you shouldn’t encounter unexpected charges beyond those categories. Always review Twilio’s pricing page and your billing reports – Twilio provides detailed breakdowns for full clarity.

Q6: How does Twilio’s pricing compare to alternatives like Nexmo or Plivo?
A: Twilio is generally a bit more expensive per unit. For instance, Nexmo (Vonage) SMS is around $0.0065 per message vs Twilio’s $0.0079-$0.0083, and Vonage often doesn’t charge for inbound SMS. Plivo is about $0.0055 per SMS, significantly lower than Twilio. Voice minutes on Plivo or Bandwidth are around $0.01 outbound/$0.0055 inbound, whereas Twilio is $0.014/$0.0085.

Twilio’s phone numbers ($1.15 local) also cost more than Plivo’s ($0.50) or Bandwidth’s ($0.35). The trade-off is that Twilio offers a richer feature set, better tooling, and a more mature ecosystem. Many businesses find the development speed and reliability with Twilio worth the higher price. But if pure cost is key, providers like Plivo or Bandwidth can reduce messaging costs by 30-50%. It often boils down to scale and requirements – for low volumes, the difference is pennies, for extremely high volumes, it could be substantial and might warrant negotiation or switching.