Most pricing pages show only the rate per text. The table adds the carrier fees every US text pays, for seven providers.
SMS API prices compared
| Provider | Price per segment | Carrier fees | Rate + fees | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TextKit | $0.0032 | $0.0035–$0.005 | $0.0067–$0.0082 | $0.95/mo | Pricing |
| Plivo | $0.0077 | $0.0035–$0.005 | $0.0112–$0.0127 | $0.50/mo | Pricing |
| Sinch | $0.0078 | $0.0035–$0.005 | $0.0113–$0.0128 | $1.00/mo | Pricing, fees |
| Twilio | $0.0083 | $0.0035–$0.005 | $0.0118–$0.0133 | $1.15/mo | Pricing |
| Vonage | $0.0086 | $0.0035–$0.005 | $0.0121–$0.0136 | $1.05/mo | Pricing |
| ClickSend | $0.0285 | $0.0041 | $0.0326 | Not listed | Pricing |
| Textmagic | $0.049 | None listed | $0.049 | $10.00/mo | Pricing |
Rate + carrier fees: the published price of one outbound text (one segment, up to 160 plain characters) to a US mobile from a registered 10DLC number, plus the per-segment fees AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon charge, lowest to highest. TextKit passes the same carrier fees through at cost, as Twilio, Plivo, Vonage, and Sinch do. Pay-as-you-go list prices, checked October 24, 2026.
- TextKit's rate, $0.0032 a segment, is lower than the rates of Plivo, Sinch, Twilio, Vonage, ClickSend, and Textmagic, and it costs less on every US carrier once carrier fees are added.
We make TextKit, one of the APIs on this page. Every competitor price was read from that provider's own pricing page on October 24, 2026 and links to its source. Prices change; if one has, tell us and we will fix the page.
The four parts of an SMS bill
- The rate. What the provider charges per outbound segment: the number on the pricing page, $0.0083 at Twilio for example.
- Carrier fees. US carriers charge a fee on every business (A2P) text. For a registered 10DLC number Twilio lists AT&T $0.0035, T-Mobile $0.0045, Verizon $0.005, and US Cellular $0.005 per segment (source). Most providers, TextKit included, pass these through at cost as a separate charge.
- The number. A local number costs $0.50 to $1.15 a month at most providers here. Toll-free numbers cost more at some.
- Registration. Texting the public from a US local number needs an approved A2P 10DLC brand and campaign. Most providers pass the registry's fees through; toll-free numbers need a verification form instead.
Then there are segments: a text is 160 plain characters, or 70 with an emoji. Longer messages are split, and every provider here, TextKit included, bills each part as its own segment.
Price by message length
What one message costs at each provider as it gets longer.
| Provider | 160 characters | 300 characters | 450 characters |
|---|---|---|---|
| TextKit | $0.0075 | $0.0149 | $0.0224 |
| Plivo | $0.012 | $0.0239 | $0.0359 |
| Sinch | $0.0121 | $0.0241 | $0.0362 |
| Twilio | $0.0126 | $0.0251 | $0.0377 |
| Vonage | $0.0129 | $0.0257 | $0.0386 |
| ClickSend | $0.0326 | $0.0652 | $0.0978 |
| Textmagic | $0.049 | $0.098 | $0.147 |
Midpoint of each provider's range, rate plus carrier fees, rounded to a hundredth of a cent. Every provider here bills per segment, TextKit included, and each says so on its own site.
Monthly cost at three volumes
| Provider | 1,000 texts | 10,000 texts | 100,000 texts |
|---|---|---|---|
| TextKit | $8 | $75 | $746 |
| Plivo | $12 | $120 | $1,196 |
| Sinch | $13 | $122 | $1,206 |
| Twilio | $14 | $127 | $1,256 |
| Vonage | $14 | $130 | $1,286 |
| ClickSend | $33 | $326 | $3,260 |
| Textmagic | $59 | $500 | $4,910 |
One local number (where the provider lists one) plus single-segment texts at the midpoint of rate plus carrier fees, list prices. Registration fees are left out.
How TextKit prices
$0.0032 per outbound segment. Carrier fees are passed through at cost, per segment, and shown as their own line on each message. Messages we block, and messages that fail before a carrier accepts them, cost nothing, not even the carrier fee. Registration fees are billed separately. See pricing.
How we counted
- Source
- Each provider's own public pricing page and its carrier-fee page or help article, read on October 24, 2026. No reseller sites, no old blog posts.
- The message
- One outbound SMS to a US mobile, from a registered 10DLC (local) number. That is the case almost every developer starts with.
- The price
- The lowest pay-as-you-go list price, before the volume discounts or contracts most providers here offer.
- Carrier fees
- The per-segment pass-through fees for registered 10DLC traffic on AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, ours included. Smaller carriers are left out. Where a provider includes them, we say so.
- Left out
- Taxes, 10DLC brand and campaign registration (passed through at about the registry's cost by most providers here, TextKit included), MMS, and international traffic.
Related
$0.0032 a segment. Carrier fees at cost.
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