Twilio vs MessageBird: What to Consider Before You Decide

Twilio and MessageBird offer a wide range of communication tools that help you stay connected with customers.

Twilio supports APIs and customization options, but that often means you need technical resources to build and maintain your solution. MessageBird, by contrast, is easier to adopt but may feel restrictive as your needs grow more complex.

This leaves you at a crossroads. Do you commit to a technical platform that demands ongoing development, or opt for a simpler one that risks limiting your long-term strategy? It’s a trade-off that makes the decision harder than it should be.

In this article, we will compare Twilio and MessageBird in detail, outlining their features, pricing, and usability. We’ll also introduce an alternative business texting solution that brings together ease of use and advanced functionality.

What Is Twilio?

Twilio is a cloud-based communications service that gives developers APIs to embed messaging, voice, video, and email features into their applications.

Twilio lets you programmatically send SMS texts, handle WhatsApp or chat messages, make phone calls, and more through its flexible APIs and SDKs.

Image Source: twilio.com

Its key features include programmable messaging for SMS, conversations API for two-way chats, and Twilio Flex for building a contact center. It offers global reach and a wide range of features developers can mix and match to create custom customer engagement solutions.

What Is MessageBird?

MessageBird, which was recently rebranded as Bird, is a communications platform known for its SMS and WhatsApp APIs.

The platform provides omnichannel messaging, allowing businesses to reach customers via text messages, voice, chat apps, and email. It launched tools like Flow Builder and a multi-channel inbox for customer support.

Image Source: bird.com

With the new Bird CRM platform, the company is expanding into a full customer engagement solution for marketing, sales, and payments across channels like SMS, WhatsApp, and email.

What Is Textellent?

Textellent is a dedicated business texting platform that stands out as an easy-to-use, all-in-one solution for SMS marketing and customer communications.

Unlike Twilio and MessageBird, which began as developer-centric toolkits, Textellent is built for business users who want powerful texting capabilities without writing code.

The platform lets you send and receive texts using your existing business phone number, manage two-way conversations in a centralized inbox, send bulk SMS campaigns, and automate text messages.

You can immediately start texting one-on-one with customers or schedule a text blast to thousands, and the system will handle the details like contact management, opt-outs, and scheduling.

Textellent’s approach to customer support and onboarding includes personal setup assistance for every client and is hands-on to ensure you succeed.

The platform is purpose-built for business texting and combines advanced campaign and automation capabilities. It’s easier for you to implement text messaging to grow and service your business.

Sign up for a free trial or request a demo consultation with Textellent today!

MessageBird vs Twilio vs Textellent: Feature Comparison

Now that we’ve introduced each platform, let’s compare them head-to-head across the areas.

Feature Breakdown and Ease of Use

Both MessageBird and Twilio offer a broad range of communication features, but they can be overwhelming if you primarily need SMS capabilities.

Twilio provides almost every channel, and it expects you to pick the features you need by integrating its APIs. This flexibility is great for developers, but from a usability standpoint, it means the Twilio console is more of a toolbox than a ready-to-go solution.

MessageBird similarly started as a multi-channel API platform. But to its credit, it recognized the need for better usability and introduced products like the omnichannel inbox.

However, the fact that MessageBird felt the need to build Inbox and other tools highlights the complexity of its raw platform.

Textellent Focuses on Practical Texting Features

Textellent takes a feature-focused yet user-friendly approach. It supports sending one-to-one messages from your existing business number, and automates text reminders and follow-ups based on real-world triggers.

Developer Tools and Dashboard

Engineering teams favor Twilio and MessageBird because of their developer tools and APIs.

Twilio offers well-documented REST APIs, official SDKs in multiple programming languages, a CLI tool, and even a serverless environment called Twilio Functions to write and deploy code. If you have developers on staff, you can create communications within your product in custom ways.

MessageBird similarly provides robust APIs for SMS, voice, and chat. Its Flow Builder is analogous to Twilio Studio, which lets you drag and drop steps to automate interactions.

Textellent Delivers Powerful Tools Without Developers

Textellent approaches this area differently by catering to organizations that may not have a developer at all. You won’t find yourself in the weeds of writing code or hiring a specialist to launch a texting campaign.

That said, Textellent does offer APIs if you want to integrate it with custom applications. Its rich texting APIs help with advanced workflows and have no-code integration options like Zapier connectors. 

So, developers can extend Textellent if needed. But you are not required to, which is a key difference.

System Integrations

Twilio, being an API-first SMS provider, can be integrated with almost anything if you have the technical means. Its ecosystem includes many partner integrations and a marketplace of third-party services.

Twilio can work with CRM systems like Salesforce or HubSpot, but typically via custom development or intermediary services, like syncing data through Twilio Segment or using Zapier. However, it doesn’t come pre-integrated with your specific software.

MessageBird also provides integration capabilities through its APIs and has some native integrations for multiple platforms. With Inbox and Flow Builder, MessageBird offered pre-built connectors to systems like Slack, Zendesk, or Shopify.

Textellent Simplifies Integrations With Ready-to-Use Connections

Textellent takes an integration-friendly approach. It comes with built-in integration options aimed at common use cases. 

For example, Textellent can seamlessly integrate with 800+ business applications through one-click or low-code connections. These include popular CRMs, scheduling apps, payment systems, forms, and more.

Textellent’s “Text Us Now” web widget lets you invite visitors on mobile to start texting with your business. This turns inbound inquiries from your site into customer interactions in Textellent, integrating your website with your texting platform.

Pricing Structure and Value

SMS marketing cost is often a deciding factor when comparing the most popular messaging platforms, and here we see different models.

Twilio’s pricing structure is pay-as-you-go. You pay per message, per phone number, per call minute, with no minimums, but volume discounts apply as you scale. For local SMS messages in the U.S., Twilio’s rate is $0.0083 per SMS for incoming SMS and outbound texts.

There’s also a value consideration. Twilio’s pricing is purely for the messaging infrastructure and doesn’t include marketing features, campaign management, or hands-on customer support in that price.

Some users have felt they end up paying unexpected fees for things like carrier registrations or international delivery surcharges on Twilio.

MessageBird’s pricing is similar to Twilio’s, and the SMS rate for the U.S is $0.0073 per message. 

They also offer the Monthly Targeted Contacts plan, which starts from $45 per month and delivers 30,000 messages for 3,000 contacts.

Textellent Delivers Predictable Pricing

Textellent’s pricing model is quite different from both. Textellent offers subscription plans with included SMS credits.

It offers the Essentials plan that’s targeted at small businesses and includes 750 SMS credits per month and all the core features for $59/month. 

Above that, the Standard plan consists of 2,000 SMS credits per month and more users, and the custom Premium plan, which is for high-volume needs.

If you choose annual billing, you will save 15%.

The benefit of this approach is predictability and value-added. You’re not just paying for each message but for a whole solution that includes the texting, software capabilities, and customer engagement support.

Even 10DLC carrier registration is handled for you at no extra cost in Textellent’s plans. Whereas with Twilio, you’d pay registration fees and possibly need to navigate that yourself. Many businesses prefer this kind of flat-rate plan because it’s easier to budget.

Global Coverage and Compliance

Twilio has phone numbers available in many countries and can deliver messages to over 180 countries reliably. It also offers localized sender options to comply with different country rules.

However, global messaging comes with compliance hurdles as each country has its own anti-spam laws and carrier requirements.

Twilio provides documentation on how to register and comply, but many users reported difficulties during the 10DLC rollout. This led to some Twilio customers having messages blocked or facing downtime because their campaigns weren’t properly registered.

MessageBird also works for international messaging, and it is interconnected with carriers worldwide. It can reach hundreds of countries and supports messaging on channels like WhatsApp.

Bird likely provides guidance, but again expects users to follow the rules of each channel. One potential advantage of Bird’s new model is pricing transparency across regions, so that you might see fewer hidden fees for things like carrier passthrough costs.

Textellent Prioritizes Compliance and Customer Trust

Textellent, while focused primarily on SMS/MMS texting, has helped clients with SMS compliance and regulations. 

It includes free 10DLC registration assistance, where they will handle registering your brand and campaigns with U.S. carriers so that your messages are approved and compliant.

Also, Textellent builds compliance features into the product. One standout feature is its AI-powered compliance tools, which use AI to monitor outgoing and incoming messages for signs of opt-out requests.

If a customer replies with something that indicates they don’t want messages, Textellent’s system recognizes it and treats it as an opt-out automatically. 

This goes beyond the industry-standard “STOP” filter and helps protect your security and reputation by preventing unwanted outreach.

Support, SLAs, and Community

When something goes wrong or you need advice, how do these providers support you? This is a crucial consideration beyond features and cost.

For large enterprise contracts, Twilio offers premium support plans and will commit to service-level agreements (SLAs) for uptime and response times. Its infrastructure has a 99.95% uptime SLA on many services, and they have status pages and transparency around issues.

However, you primarily rely on the Help Center, community forums, and email support with no guaranteed response time. Many users have voiced that Twilio’s standard support can be slow or unhelpful for smaller customers.

MessageBird’s support has been similar, but sometimes slow for critical ones. Some users noted that they take forever to respond to requests and are left with unresolved issues. 

In terms of community, MessageBird is smaller than Twilio, so there are fewer third-party tutorials and Q&As.

Textellent Provides Hands-On Guidance

Textellent’s support is one of its standout qualities. Because Textellent positions itself as a full-service solution, it treats customer support and success as part of the product. Every Textellent plan includes a live onboarding session to get you started.

Beyond onboarding, Textellent provides ongoing support 24/7, where you can call or text their support line and get help when you need it. This constant availability is something you typically only get with premium support from other providers. 

Reliability and Uptime

Twilio is a cloud platform distributed across multiple data centers. It has failover mechanisms to route messages through alternate carriers if one path fails.

MessageBird also operates on a similar infrastructure by connecting to global carriers for SMS termination. In terms of uptime, MessageBird hasn’t published a specific number publicly, but user experiences suggest it’s reliable for message delivery.

Textellent Guarantees Reliable Delivery

Textellent has architected its service for enterprise-grade reliability. The platform cites a 99.99% uptime for its cloud system, designed to be up virtually all the time. 

Its infrastructure is built to maintain consistent message delivery and performance even during peak demand. This thoughtful design provides businesses with dependable messaging that supports growth and customer trust.

What Makes Textellent the Better Alternative to Twilio and MessageBird

Given all of the above comparisons, it’s evident that Textellent offers exceptional advantages if you want to implement text messaging. Let’s highlight the key features and capabilities that make Textellent stand out among popular messaging platforms.

Turnkey SMS Marketing Automation

Textellent provides built-in tools for automated drip campaigns and text workflows that enable businesses to keep their audience engaged. You can set up sequences that trigger texts based on customer actions or schedules that engage customers over time.

This kind of sophisticated campaign automation would require custom coding or other solutions if using Twilio, whereas Textellent gives it to you out of the box.

Personalized SMS Services

With Textellent, every message can feel one-to-one, even if you send it to thousands. This text messaging service supports merge fields and smart tags to insert customer-specific info into your texts.

You can segment your contact list using tags and then send SMS campaigns to those groups. It drives better customer engagement and would require a lot more manual work to implement on a generic platform.

Rich Template Library and MMS Support

Textellent comes with a library of pre-designed text templates for common scenarios like promotional messages, reminders, and reviews, which you can also customize and reuse.

The platform supports MMS with a media library to store your graphics and short videos for campaigns. Visual content can make your messages far more engaging for product photos, coupons, or instructional images.

Flexible Integration With Existing Systems

Textellent stands out for how easily it connects to your other software. It offers one-click or API integrations with popular CRMs like Salesforce, HubSpot, Keap, and scheduling apps.

These integrations keep your data in sync if you need to schedule an appointment in your calendar app or send an appointment confirmation text.

Additionally, the Chrome extension brings Textellent into any web app you use, offers hundreds of integrations, and the Zapier integration opens the door to thousands of other connections. It becomes part of your existing workflow.

Appointment Scheduling & Reminders Built-In

One of Textellent’s best features is its complete appointment scheduling integration.

Apart from sending reminder texts, it includes a scheduling module that can handle bookings, sync with your calendars, and allow customers to self-book via text or web link. Then, it automates all the reminder and follow-up messaging around those appointments.

Neither Twilio nor MessageBird offers a dedicated scheduling solution. You’d have to integrate a third-party scheduler and do custom work to achieve what Textellent does natively.

AI-Powered Tools

Textellent uses AI to make texting smarter and safer. Its AI Rewriter can suggest improvements to your message text, just like having a writing assistant to optimize your SMS copy. It can also auto-translate messages, which is useful if you serve multilingual communities.

Textellent’s AI Sentiment analysis also detects opt-out requests or negative sentiments that imply a customer doesn’t want messages, even if they don’t use standard keywords. This proactive approach to compliance protects your business reputation.

Don’t Compromise Between Control and Simplicity—Switch to Textellent!

If you’ve been weighing Twilio against MessageBird, you’ve likely noticed the same tradeoffs most businesses face. One platform offers deep customization but demands technical expertise, while the other promises simplicity but can feel limiting as your needs change.

Textellent is built with business texting in mind. From automated campaigns and appointment reminders to compliance features, it provides the tools you need without requiring a developer on your team. 

You can focus on engaging customers instead of managing code or piecing together add-ons.

It’s time to stop choosing between difficult or limited platforms and start using one that works the way your business does. Textellent delivers the balance of power and simplicity you’ve been looking for.

Sign up for a free trial or request a demo consultation today!

FAQs About Twilio vs MessageBird

Who is Twilio’s biggest competitor?

Twilio has several competitors in the communications-platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) market, with MessageBird positioning itself against Twilio with aggressive pricing and broad support for multiple channels.

Textellent is another strong alternative that focuses on SMS automation, making it easier for businesses to run campaigns without the complexity of raw APIs.

Is MessageBird good?

Yes, MessageBird excels at global reach and flexibility, offering user-friendly interfaces like Inbox to simplify communication. It also offers integrations with CRMs and eCommerce tools that help you expand your marketing efforts.

However, reviews note limited phone support, and for advanced workflows, you may need a developer to work with its simple API. On the other hand, Textellent comes ready to use, which engages customers with automation and built-in tools.

What is the new name for MessageBird?

In 2024, MessageBird is brought under a simplified identity: Bird. The rebrand highlights the company’s focus on chat commerce and real-time communication across multiple channels.

What is the difference between SendBird and MessageBird?

SendBird and MessageBird serve different purposes. SendBird is built for in-app chat with a simple API designed for embedding two-factor authentication or two-way communication.

MessageBird delivers SMS and voice calls. It integrates with Facebook Messenger and makes it more suitable for marketing efforts.

Textellent is unique because it goes beyond infrastructure. It combines automation, compliance, and user-friendly tools to help you make an informed decision without needing extra software.