Twilio SMS pricing and compliance details

Messaging rates and number rentals

Twilio charges $0.0083 per US long code SMS segment for both inbound and outbound messages. This base rate does not include carrier surcharges or registration requirements. Businesses using 10-digit long codes for A2P messaging must register their brand and campaign through The Campaign Registry. Brand registration costs $4.50 for a Low Volume Standard brand or $46 for a Standard brand. Monthly campaign registration fees range from $1.50 to $10 depending on the type.

Registration is mandatory.

You must pay for phone numbers. A standard long code costs $1.15 per month. A toll-free number costs $2.15 per month. Short codes require a higher monthly rental. Random short codes cost $1,000 per month, while vanity short codes cost $1,500 per month. These short code rentals require a one-time setup fee and are billed quarterly.

MMS messages cost more than SMS. Outbound MMS messages cost $0.022 per message. Inbound MMS via long code or short code costs $0.0165. Toll-free inbound MMS costs $0.02. If your message fails, Twilio charges $0.001 per failed message. This fee applies to any message that ends in a failed status.

Carrier fees and A2P registration

Carrier surcharges stack on top of Twilio base rates. AT&T charges $0.0035 per outbound SMS. T-Mobile charges $0.0045. Verizon and US Cellular charge $0.0045 and $0.005 respectively. For an outbound SMS to an AT&T subscriber, the total cost hits $0.0118 because the $0.0083 base rate and the $0.0035 carrier fee combine into one single segment charge for the customer.

Other carriers impose different surcharges. T-Mobile adds $0.01 per MMS. If your message goes to a US Cellular subscriber, the outbound SMS cost is $0.0115. Verizon adds $0.007 per MMS. Registration for 10DLC is a known burden. Standard brand registration costs $46. One-time vetting for a campaign costs $15. If a brand submission has errors, each retry of Authentication Plus costs $12.50.

Registration is mandatory for all.

Do you need to budget for volume discounts? Volume discounts apply automatically once a user reaches 150,000 messages per month.

Voice, verification, and email services

Twilio Verify adds a $0.05 fee for every successful verification. This fee applies regardless of the channel used. A US SMS verification costs $0.058 total when you add the $0.0083 channel fee. This platform fee accounts for 86% of the total cost for 100,000 successful verifications in the US.

You should watch for additional costs like call recording and speech transcription. Call recording costs $0.0025 per recorded minute. Storing recordings on the Twilio cloud costs $0.0005 per minute per month after the first 10,000 free minutes. Transcription costs $0.05 per audio minute.

Voice calls start at $0.014 per minute for standard local calls. Inbound calls on a local number cost $0.0085. Inbound calls to a toll-free number cost $0.022. WhatsApp messaging costs $0.005 per message plus Meta fees. WhatsApp authentication messages cost less than SMS in many markets. Sending OTPs over WhatsApp can be 50% to 90% cheaper than SMS.

Conversations API uses a pay-per-active-user model starting at $0.05 per user per month. An active user is anyone who sends or receives messages based on their phone number, email, or other ID. Media storage for Conversations costs $0.25 per GB per month.

SendGrid Email includes a free tier before paid plans begin. The Essentials plan starts at $19.95 per month and includes 50,000 emails. The Pro plan starts at $89.95 per month and provides 100,000 to 2,500,000 emails. Video API usage costs $0.004 per participant per minute in a Group Room.

Twilio remains the best choice for developers.