Bird vs Twilio
Compare Bird and Twilio side by side: iMessage features, channels, developer tools, pricing and compliance, checked on each provider's own site.
Bird
Email, SMS, WhatsApp and Apple Messages APIs
- Starting price
- $0.0035 per US outbound SMS segment plus carrier fees
- Free plan
- Free email tier of 1,000 emails a month; free shared Inbox
Twilio
Global CPaaS for SMS, RCS, WhatsApp and voice
- Starting price
- $0.0083 per US SMS segment
- Free plan
- 30-day free trial, no card, with 100 SMS and 75 voice minutes
Bird supports 36 of the 77 features compared here, and Twilio supports 37.
Where Bird is ahead
Where Twilio is ahead
Feature comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| iMessage messaging | ||
| iMessage | Not supportedNo iMessage support | Not supportedNo iMessage support |
| Group chats | Not supported | Not supported |
| Group management | Not supported | Not supported |
| Group name and photo | Not supported | Not supported |
| Mentions | Not supported | Not supported |
| Tapbacks | Not supported | Not supported |
| Threaded replies | Not supported | Not supported |
| Typing indicators | Not supported | Not supported |
| Read receipts | Not supported | Not supported |
| Edit and unsend | Not supported | Not supported |
| Message effects | Not supported | Not supported |
| Animated text effects | Not supported | Not supported |
| Stickers | Not supported | Not supported |
| Formatted text | Not supported | Not supported |
| Attachments | Not supported | Not supported |
| Live Photos | Not supported | Not supported |
| Rich link previews | Not supported | Not supported |
| Voice messages | Not supported | Not supported |
| Contact cards | Not supported | Not supported |
| Polls | Not supported | Not supported |
| Chat backgrounds | Not supported | Not supported |
| Location sharing | Not supported | Not supported |
| iMessage apps | Not supported | Not supported |
| Live app cards | Not supported | Not supported |
| Sender name and photo | Not supported | Not supported |
| FaceTime calls | Not supported | Not supported |
| Delivery status | Not supported | Not supported |
| iMessage availability check | Not supported | Not supported |
| Focus and Notify Anyway | Not supported | Not supported |
| Numbers and delivery | ||
| Managed lines | Not supportedNo iMessage support | Not supportedNo iMessage support |
| Dedicated numbers | ||
| Shared numbers | ||
| Bring your own number | ||
| Line pooling | ||
| SMS fallback | Not supportedNo iMessage support; RCS and push can fall back to SMS | Not supportedNo iMessage support; RCS falls back to SMS or MMS |
| RCS fallback | Not supportedNo iMessage support | Not supportedNo iMessage support |
| Outbound-first messaging | ||
| Calls on the iMessage number | Not supportedNo iMessage support | Not supportedNo iMessage support |
| Other channels | ||
| SMS | ||
| RCS | ||
| Telegram | Not supportedNot offered | |
| Slack | Not listed | Not supported |
| Phone calls | ||
| Apple Messages for Business | ||
| Unified channel API | ||
| Developer tools | ||
| REST API | ||
| TypeScript SDK | ||
| Python SDK | ||
| Other SDKs | ||
| CLI | ||
| Webhooks | ||
| Signed webhooks | ||
| MCP server | ||
| Open source | ||
| Self-hosting | Not listed | |
| Local testing | ||
| Custom channel providers | Not listed | |
| Event replay | ||
| OpenTelemetry | Not listed | Not listed |
| No-code integrations | ||
| CRM integrations | ||
| Built for AI agents | ||
| Agent framework | ||
| Agent framework integrations | ||
| Streaming replies | Not listedNo edit or streaming API for SMS, WhatsApp or Apple Messages found; Realtime pub/sub serves your own app | |
| Agent group chats | ||
| Human handoff | ||
| Audit logs | ||
| Message history API | ||
| Plans and compliance | ||
| Free plan | ||
| Public pricing | ||
| No per-message fees | ||
| Uptime SLA | ||
| Isolated infrastructure | Not listed | |
| SOC 2 Type II | ||
| GDPR |
Checked on each provider's own site and docs on 2026-10-25. “Not listed” means the provider does not mention it.
Pricing
Bird
Pay as you go from a shared prepaid balance, priced per message or segment by channel and destination, with optional monthly plans that fund the balance.
Pricing model: per message, prepaid balance
SourceTwilio
Pay as you go per message segment, plus carrier fees and monthly number rental, with volume discounts.
Pricing model: per message
SourceWhich should you choose?
Choose Bird if you need Telegram, self-hosting and isolated infrastructure.
Choose Twilio if you need line pooling, custom channel providers, streaming replies and uptime SLA.
Frequently asked questions
Bird supports 36 of the 77 features compared here, and Twilio supports 37. Bird adds Telegram, self-hosting and isolated infrastructure. Twilio adds line pooling, custom channel providers, streaming replies and uptime SLA.
Bird: Pay as you go from a shared prepaid balance, priced per message or segment by channel and destination, with optional monthly plans that fund the balance. Twilio: Pay as you go per message segment, plus carrier fees and monthly number rental, with volume discounts.
Twilio does not support Telegram.
Twilio does not list self-hosting on its site or in its docs.
Twilio does not list isolated infrastructure on its site or in its docs.