Bird (formerly MessageBird) vs Twilio
Twilio scores 7.42 out of 10 against 5.67 for Bird, and is higher on features, reliability, compliance and customer service. Bird is higher on value for money and reputation. At 1,000 texts a month, message charges come to $3.50 on Bird against $8.30 on Twilio, before number rental and carrier fees. MessageBird is now Bird. The company trades under the Bird name at bird.com, and messagebird.com redirects there (checked 21 September 2026).
Alain Grossbard OAM, with Justin Grossbard Updated How we rate Reader supported, we may earn a commission Reader supported. We may earn a commission when you sign up through a link on this page, and it never changes a score. How we make money.
Compare costs at your volume
| Provider | What applies | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Bird | 0.35c, long code (10DLC) | $3.50Message charges |
| Twilio | 0.83c, long code (10DLC) | $8.30Message charges |
At 1,000 texts a month on a long code, Bird costs $4.80 less in message charges.
Message charges exclude number rental and carrier fees. Plan months include only captured plan fees. Number type applies to message rates, not plan eligibility. Registration, setup, inbound SMS, MMS and tax excluded. Unknown fees are not zero.
Bird and Twilio side by side
| What we compared | Bird (formerly MessageBird) | Twilio | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Our scores | |||
| Overall score | 5.67 | 7.42 | Twilio higher |
| Value for money | 8 | 7 | Bird higher |
| Features | 6 | 8 | Twilio higher |
| Reliability | 2 | 8 | Twilio higher |
| Reputation | 6.5 | 4.5 | Bird higher |
| Compliance | 8.5 | 10 | Twilio higher |
| Customer service | 3 | 7 | Twilio higher |
| US prices | |||
| How the rate is published | By number type | By number type | Same basis |
| Published reference rate per SMS | 0.35c | 0.83c | Bird lower |
| Rate per SMS, long code (10DLC) | 0.35c | 0.83c | Bird cheaper |
| Rate per SMS, toll-free number | 0.35c | 0.83c | Bird cheaper |
| Rate per SMS, short code | 0.70c | 0.83c | Bird cheaper |
| Message charges, 1,000 SMS a month | $3.50 | $8.30 | Bird cheaper |
| Long code rental | $1 a month | $1.15 a month | Bird cheaper |
| Toll-free number rental | $2 a month | $2.15 a month | Bird cheaper |
| Carrier fees on top | Billed per message on top, by carrier: AT&T $0.0035, T-Mobile $0.0045, Verizon $0.0045, US Cellular $0.0050 (long code outbound; others from $0.0035) | Billed per message on top, by carrier: AT&T $0.0035, T-Mobile $0.0045, Verizon $0.0045, US Cellular $0.005, all other carriers $0.004 (long code outbound) | Read each |
| Numbers and sending | |||
| 10DLC long codes | Yes | Yes | Both |
| Toll-free numbers | Yes | Yes | Both |
| Short codes | Yes | Yes | Both |
| REST API for sending | Yes | Yes | Both |
| Send to a whole list from the web app | No | No | Neither |
| Two-way SMS | Not published | Yes | Only Twilio states it |
| Email to SMS | Not published | Not published | Not comparable |
| Trial and reputation | |||
| Free trial | A free test API key only; no SMS free allowance | Free 30 day trial, no credit card, 100 free SMS; trial accounts text only verified numbers | Read each |
| Trustpilot | 1.6 out of 5 from 22 reviews (21 September 2026) | 1.1 out of 5 from 965 reviews (21 September 2026) | Bird higher |
Every row names the winner in words. Scores are out of 10 on the six equally weighted criteria; Rate, volume-band and fee read dates are listed in the pricing evidence above. Not captured means our capture holds no value for that field, which is not the same as the provider lacking it. Not published means the provider's own pages were checked and state no figure.
Message charges at your volume
Both providers priced by the same rule from their own published rates: the band, top-up or number type your volume reaches. Number rental and carrier fees are billed on top and are listed in the table above.
Read the two reviews
Each review carries the scores behind this table and the dated quotes they come from: the Bird review and the Twilio review. Both are ranked with the other 43 providers: where Bird and Twilio rank among the best SMS gateway providers.
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