The short answer
Telnyx is billed per sms segment. It has a free tier: $20 trial credit. The paid plans we list start at AT&T $0.0035/part, T-Mobile $0.0045/part (Carrier fees (surcharge)).
Plans and prices
| Plan | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Local / 10DLC (pay-as-you-go) | $0.004/part outbound SMS | Inbound SMS $0.004; outbound MMS $0.015, inbound MMS $0.005, all plus per-carrier fee. Volume discounts begin at 100M+ msgs/month (SMS as low as $0.0005/part). |
| Toll-Free | $0.0055/part SMS | Outbound/inbound SMS $0.0055; outbound MMS $0.016, inbound MMS $0.016, plus carrier fee. |
| Short Code | $0.007/part SMS | Outbound/inbound SMS $0.007; outbound MMS $0.018, inbound MMS $0.009. Volume discounts begin at 500K+ msgs/month. |
| RCS | $0.0065/segment rich text | RCS Rich Media $0.016/message, all directions/carriers. |
| Carrier fees (surcharge) | AT&T $0.0035/part, T-Mobile $0.0045/part | Added on top of base rates and vary by carrier and message type; many carriers charge no fee. |
| Volume / committed | Custom | Discounted rates for monthly spend commitments, with dedicated support for larger volumes. |
How Telnyx bills you
The pricing model is per sms segment. Owns its own carrier network to undercut SMS pricing ~50%, with strong modern docs and a fast self-serve console. Best suited to: carrier-owned, price-led sms & voice api.
What to watch for on the bill
- Per-carrier surcharges mean real effective cost is meaningfully above the headline $0.004
- Carrier-fee and segment-based billing makes total cost harder to estimate up front
The pricing page we read
Source: https://telnyx.com/pricing/messaging. Prices change, so confirm there before you commit.
Compare Telnyx with alternatives
Other sms & messaging apis: Twilio, Vonage, Plivo, Sinch, AWS End User Messaging (SNS).
Looking at quality rather than price? See the Telnyx score on APIbenchmarks. Full entry: Telnyx pricing.