Twilio alternatives for AI agents
Prices checked 2026-10-17 on each vendor's own pages.
Short answer: For lower listed SMS and voice rates, Telnyx ($0.004 per SMS part plus carrier fee; numbers from $1.00/month). To have an AI handle the calls, Vapi ($0.05/min hosting plus providers) or Retell AI ($0.07–$0.31/min); both run on top of carrier numbers.
For reference, Twilio: free tier: Free trial, no credit card [source, checked 2026-10-17]; entry paid: US SMS $0.0083 per segment sent or received; local number $1.15/month; local calls $0.0140/min out, $0.0085/min in [source, checked 2026-10-17]
| Tool | Free tier | Entry paid price | Meter | MCP server | Open source | Phone numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telnyx | No platform fee; pay as you go [source, checked 2026-10-17] | SMS $0.004 per message part + carrier fee; Voice API $0.002/min + SIP trunk fee; numbers from $1.00/month [source, checked 2026-10-17] | Per message part, per minute and per number; carrier fees passed through at cost [source] | Official MCP server (TypeScript) in telnyx-node [source] | not verified | From $1.00 per number per month [source] |
| Vapi | $5 free credits, 1 Vapi phone number, 4 concurrent calls [source, checked 2026-10-17] | Pay as you go from $0.05/min plus providers; Core package $29/month: 5 numbers, 10 concurrent calls [source, checked 2026-10-17] | $0.05/min Vapi hosting plus transcriber, model, voice and telephony costs [source] | Vapi MCP server [source] | not verified | not verified |
| Retell AI | $10 free credits; 20 concurrent calls included [source, checked 2026-10-17] | Pay as you go: $0.07–$0.31 per minute for voice agents; chat agents from $0.002 per message [source, checked 2026-10-17] | Per minute: Retell voice infra $0.055/min plus model and voice costs [source] | not verified | not verified | not verified |
FAQ
What is the cheapest Twilio alternative?
Of the tools we checked, Telnyx lists the lowest US SMS base rate: $0.004 per part against Twilio's $0.0083 per segment, before carrier fees.
Do I still need Twilio if I use Vapi?
No. Vapi includes its own numbers (1 free, 5 on Core) and also accepts Twilio, Vonage or Telnyx numbers.
Is there a Twilio alternative with an MCP server?
Telnyx has an official MCP server in its telnyx-node repository, and Vapi documents an MCP server.
Head-to-head
Other alternatives pages: Twilio SendGrid alternatives · Browserbase alternatives · Lemon Squeezy alternatives