SMSTunnel vs Twilio

A Twilio alternative for texts from your own phone and number

Checked November 2026 on the official websites. See the sources.

The short version

Twilio is an SMS API provider: your software sends texts from numbers you rent from Twilio, and you pay for each text. It's built for volume and reach, with short codes, toll-free numbers, sender names and more than 180 countries.

With SMSTunnel, your own Android phone sends the texts from its SIM, from your own number. There's a free plan, and paid plans from $9 a month, with no per-message fees; the texts go over your own mobile plan.

The prices aren't like for like: Twilio delivers every text over the carrier networks itself, and its price per text pays for that. With SMSTunnel your phone does the delivery, so each text is paid for by your mobile plan (often unlimited texts), not by SMSTunnel.

Choose SMSTunnel for texts a phone sends comfortably, from a number people already know. Choose Twilio for high volumes, US 10DLC numbers, short codes or numbers in many countries.

Side by side

SMSTunnel and Twilio compared
Topic SMSTunnel Twilio
Who sends the text Your own Android phone, from its SIM Twilio, from numbers you rent from it
What people see Your own number, which people can reply to A Twilio number, a toll-free number or a short code; a sender name in some countries
Plan A free plan, and paid plans from $9 a month No plan: you pay for each text and each number
Each text (US) No per-message fees from SMSTunnel. Your mobile plan's SMS charges or allowance apply $0.0083 per segment sent or received, plus carrier fees
A US number The SIM you already have: nothing to rent $1.15 a month (local), $2.15 a month (toll-free)
US registration SMSTunnel registers no numbers. Texts go out over your own mobile plan, under its terms A2P 10DLC for local numbers: $4.50 to $46 once, $15 per use case, $1.50 to $10 a month
Short codes and sender names Your phone's own number only US short codes from $1,000 a month; sender names where the country allows them
Countries Any number your SIM can text, at your carrier's rates 180+ countries
Volume What one phone sends: 30 send requests a minute, with daily caps on Free, Starter and Standard By default 3 segments a second (toll-free) or 100 (short code); up to 225 on registered 10DLC numbers
Replies They reach your phone. Optional sync to your dashboard and the API A webhook to your own app
Status of a text Pending, sent or failed, as your phone reports it, through the API Status callbacks to your URL, with delivery receipts
Sign-in codes Your software makes the code, SMSTunnel sends it, with a separate daily allowance Twilio Verify sends codes and checks them for you: $0.05 per successful verification plus $0.0083 per text (US)
Pictures and other channels No: texts only MMS in some countries, WhatsApp and RCS
Availability Your phone must be on and online; texts wait for it up to 3 days 99.95% monthly API availability in its SLA, 99.99% with Enterprise Edition
To start Free plan, no credit card: 25 texts and 50 sign-in codes a day 30-day free trial with free units such as 100 texts, to up to 5 verified numbers
Libraries and integrations More than 40 ready-made: WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, n8n, Home Assistant and more Libraries for C#, Java, Node.js, PHP, Python, Ruby and Go

Twilio's prices are its US list prices; they differ by country, and Twilio offers volume discounts through its account team. SMSTunnel's current prices are on its pricing page.

What you pay

Twilio, for texts to US numbers

  • $0.0083 for each segment you send or receive (a segment holds up to 160 characters).
  • The carrier's fee for each segment, passed on at cost: for example $0.0035 (AT&T), $0.0045 (T-Mobile) or $0.005 (Verizon) for each one you send.
  • $1.15 a month for a local number, or $2.15 for a toll-free one.
  • A2P 10DLC registration for a local number: a one-time brand fee ($4.50, or $46 for a standard brand), $15 to review each use case, and $1.50 to $10 a month for each one.
  • $0.001 for each text that ends up failed.

Other countries have other prices: see Twilio's pricing page and pick the country.

SMSTunnel

  • There's a free plan, and paid plans from $9 a month. The current prices and each plan's daily allowance are on the pricing page.
  • Nothing per text and nothing per number from SMSTunnel.
  • The texts go over your own mobile plan, so your carrier's SMS charges or allowance apply, including for texts to other countries.

When to choose Twilio instead

  • You send high volumes: Twilio's registered 10DLC numbers send up to 225 segments a second, and short codes 100 a second by default. SMSTunnel sends what one phone can.
  • You need a short code, a toll-free number or a sender name instead of a phone number.
  • You text US customers as a business from a local number: Twilio registers your brand and use case for A2P 10DLC, which it requires for these texts.
  • Delivery mustn't depend on a phone being on and online. Twilio's SLA covers the availability of its API (99.95% a month), and it sends status callbacks with delivery receipts.
  • You need numbers in many countries without a SIM in each: Twilio sends to more than 180.
  • You want MMS, WhatsApp or RCS from the same API, or a service that sends sign-in codes and checks them for you (Twilio Verify).
  • You have no Android phone to keep on and online.

When SMSTunnel fits better

  • People should see your own number, the one they already know, and reply to it.
  • Your texts are ones a phone sends comfortably: order updates, booking reminders, sign-in codes, alerts to yourself and your team.
  • You prefer a flat plan to paying per text, per number and per registration.
  • You want to start today: install the app, sign in and create an API key. There's no number to rent.
  • Your site or tool already has an SMSTunnel plugin or guide: WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, Odoo, n8n, Supabase Auth, Auth0, Clerk and more.
  • You want end-to-end encryption: your software encrypts the text for your phone, and SMSTunnel can't read it.

How switching works

The call your software makes changes a little; the rest is setting up your phone.

  1. 1Install SMSTunnel from Google Play on the phone whose number should send the texts, and sign in.
  2. 2In your dashboard, open Apps → Add an app and copy the API key.
  3. 3Change the send call. To becomes to and Body becomes message (both take up to 1,600 characters). From or MessagingServiceSid goes away: your phone's number is the sender, and with several phones deviceId picks one. The key goes in an X-API-Key header, and the body is JSON.
  4. 4Instead of a StatusCallback, poll GET /api/v1/sms/status/{messageId}. Instead of the incoming message webhook, turn on Sync received texts in the app and read GET /api/v1/sms/received with a key allowed to read them.
  5. 5Using a plugin with Twilio? Check SMSTunnel's integrations for the same tool first.
Before: Twilio
curl -X POST "https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/$TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID/Messages.json" \
  --data-urlencode "From=+15557122661" \
  --data-urlencode "Body=Your order has shipped." \
  --data-urlencode "To=+15558675310" \
  -u $TWILIO_API_KEY:$TWILIO_API_SECRET
After: SMSTunnel
curl -X POST https://smstunnel.io/api/v1/sms/send \
  -H "X-API-Key: sk_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"to": "+15558675310", "message": "Your order has shipped."}'

Every field and answer is in the API reference. If your phone is offline, the text waits and goes out when it is back, for up to 3 days.

Ready-made integrations

Tools that often send texts through an SMS API provider, set up for your own phone instead.

Odoo
"Send via SMSTunnel", next to Odoo's own SMS options
Supabase Auth
Phone sign-in codes through the Send SMS hook
Auth0
MFA and passwordless codes with an Action
Clerk
Verification codes through a webhook
WooCommerce
Order texts to your customers
Laravel
A notification channel for your app

More on the integrations page, and any other software can use the REST API.

Questions people ask

Is SMSTunnel a Twilio alternative?

For texts a phone sends comfortably, yes: order updates, reminders, sign-in codes and alerts, from your own number, with no per-message fees. For high volumes, short codes, sender names, US 10DLC numbers or many countries, Twilio fits better, and you can use both.

How much does Twilio charge for a text in the US?

Twilio's US pricing page lists $0.0083 per segment sent or received, plus carrier fees that Twilio passes on, such as $0.0045 for each segment sent to T-Mobile customers. A US local number is $1.15 a month, and A2P 10DLC registration has one-time and monthly fees. Prices differ by country.

Do I need A2P 10DLC registration with SMSTunnel?

SMSTunnel registers no numbers: your phone sends the texts over your own mobile plan, from your own number, so your carrier's terms apply to them. If you text US customers at business volumes, a registered 10DLC number from a provider such as Twilio is the route US carriers set for that.

Does SMSTunnel check sign-in codes, like Twilio Verify?

No. Your software makes the code and checks it, and SMSTunnel sends the text, with a separate allowance for codes (50 a day on Free, no daily cap on paid plans). Twilio Verify sends the codes and checks them for you, for $0.05 per successful verification plus $0.0083 per text in the US.

Can my customers reply?

Yes, with both. With SMSTunnel, replies reach your phone like any text; turn on Sync received texts in the app to see them in your dashboard and read them through the API. With Twilio, replies reach your app through a webhook.

Can I keep using Twilio?

Yes. Texts sent through SMSTunnel come from the number of the SIM in your phone, and your Twilio numbers keep working. You can send everyday texts from your own number with SMSTunnel and keep Twilio for high volumes, short codes or other countries.

Sources

Checked November 2026 on Twilio's own website and documentation. Prices and features change, and some depend on the country, so check these pages before you decide.

Responsible use

Send only texts people expect from you: sending business texts from a personal SIM can break some carriers' terms, so check your plan.

Twilio and the other product names on this page are trademarks of their owners. SMSTunnel is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by them.

More comparisons

SMSTunnel vs Vonage
An SMS API provider with the SMS and Messages APIs: rented numbers, paid per text.
SMSTunnel vs Plivo
An SMS API provider for businesses at scale: SMS on its Enterprise plan, from $1,000 a month.
SMSTunnel vs textbee
An open-source tool that also sends texts from your Android phone, installed from its own APK.
SMSTunnel vs httpSMS
An open-source tool that also sends texts from your Android phone, installed from GitHub.
All comparisons
Who SMSTunnel fits, and who it doesn't.

Try it with your own phone

Start on the free plan: no credit card. Install the app, sign in, and your own software can hand texts to your phone.

Create your free account See pricing