textbee vs Twilio: pricing, own number, self-hosting (2026)
Published and updated
Twilio charges per message on numbers you rent inside its platform, while textbee is a flat monthly plan that includes 5,000 messages on Pro and sends from the SIM already in your phone. Pick Twilio when you need a US short code for high volume campaign traffic. Pick textbee when you send moderate volume from a number you own and want the option to self-host the gateway.
Side by side
| Provider | Pricing model | Free tier | Self-host | Own number | API | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twilio | Per message, plus number rental | Trial credit on signup, sending limited to verified numbers | No, cloud only | No, virtual numbers only | REST and webhooks | 180+ countries |
| textbee | Flat monthly plan, messages included, no per message fee | 300 messages a month on the Free plan; Pro includes 5,000 for $9.99 | Yes, MIT licensed | Yes, your own SIM | REST and webhooks | Any country where your Android phone has a SIM |
Monthly cost at 1K, 5K and 25K messages
At 5,000 messages a month, Twilio costs $41.50 for messages, $1.15 for the number and $22.50 in carrier fees, about $65.15; textbee Pro is $9.99 flat.
At 25,000 messages a month, Twilio costs $207.50 for messages, $1.15 for the number and $112.50 in carrier fees, about $321.15; textbee Scale is $29.99 flat.
| Provider | 1K messages | 5K messages | 25K messages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twilio | $13.95$8.30 messages, $1.15 number, $4.50 carrier fees | $65.15$41.50 messages, $1.15 number, $22.50 carrier fees | $321.15$207.50 messages, $1.15 number, $112.50 carrier fees |
| textbee | $9.99Pro plan, up to 5,000 messages included | $9.99Pro plan, up to 5,000 messages included | $29.99Scale plan, up to 25,000 messages included |
textbee plans include the messages shown. There is no per message fee, number rental or carrier surcharge.
Provider prices checked on September 4, 2026
Twilio lists $0.0083 per outbound SMS segment to the United States, checked on September 4, 2026. Carrier fees and number rental are billed on top of that rate.
Inbound: Inbound messages are billed per message on top of the number rental, and US carrier fees are added to both directions.
Number rental: A Twilio US long code costs $1.15 a month on top of the per message rate.
Carrier fees: US carriers add a per message surcharge on 10DLC traffic; T-Mobile and Verizon charge $0.0045, AT&T $0.0035, on top of the Twilio rate. Canadian carriers add their own: Rogers and Fido $0.0084, Bell and Virgin $0.0087, Telus $0.0073.
When to choose Twilio
- You need a US short code for high volume campaign traffic.
- You need carrier grade throughput of thousands of messages per second.
- You want built in tooling for 10DLC brand and campaign registration.
When to choose textbee
- You own the number and the SIM, so the recipient sees a number they can reply to.
- A flat monthly plan covers the messages, with no per message fee on top.
- You can self-host the gateway or use the hosted app, on the same MIT licensed code.
The limits are worth stating plainly. One phone sends roughly 10 to 15 messages a minute, so a large blast takes time to drain. Carriers can filter bulk patterns on consumer SIMs, which makes textbee a poor fit for campaign traffic. Marketing messages still need consent from the recipient, whichever gateway sends them.
Migrating from Twilio
curl -X POST "https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/$TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID/Messages.json" \
-u "$TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID:$TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN" \
--data-urlencode "To=+15550100" \
--data-urlencode "From=+15550101" \
--data-urlencode "Body=Hello from Twilio"curl -X POST https://api.textbee.dev/api/v1/gateway/send-sms \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"recipients": ["+12015550123"], "message": "Hello from textbee"}'textbee sends from the SIM in your phone, so the sender is your own number and there is no From number to rent or pass in the request.
Twilio SMS pricing by country
- United States: $0.0083 per message
- Canada: $0.0083 per message
- Australia: $0.0515 per message
- United Kingdom: $0.056 per message
- Germany: $0.112 per message
- France: $0.0798 per message
- Spain: $0.0875 per message
- Italy: $0.0927 per message
- Netherlands: $0.1143 per message
- Philippines: $0.241 per message
- India: $0.0832 per message
- Pakistan: $0.4734 per message
- Bangladesh: $0.5962 per message
- United Arab Emirates: $0.1176 per message
- Brazil: $0.0599 per message
- Nigeria: $0.3868 per message
- Kenya: $0.3134 per message
- Ethiopia: $0.3425 per message
Frequently asked questions
Can I use my own phone number with Twilio?
No. Twilio sends from numbers you rent inside Twilio, or from a number you port into the platform. You cannot send from the SIM in a phone you already own.
Can Twilio be self-hosted?
No. Twilio is a hosted cloud service. Your messages and message history live in Twilio infrastructure.
Does Twilio charge for inbound SMS?
Yes. Inbound messages are billed per message on top of the number rental, and US carrier fees are added to both directions.
Sources
- Twilio SMS pricing, United States, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, Canada, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, United Kingdom, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, India, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, Philippines, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, Pakistan, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, Nigeria, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, Bangladesh, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, Kenya, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, Ethiopia, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, Germany, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, France, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, Spain, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, Italy, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, Netherlands, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, Brazil, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, Australia, checked on September 4, 2026
- Twilio SMS pricing, United Arab Emirates, checked on September 4, 2026