As of November 10, 2026, a US outbound call minute costs $0.0140 on Twilio, $0.0115 on Plivo, $0.0100 on Bandwidth and $0.007 on Telnyx once its SIP trunk fee is added. For 100,000 minutes a month (60% outbound) on 10 local numbers, our arithmetic gives $638 on Telnyx, $915 on Plivo and $1,191.50 on Twilio.
Outbound, inbound, toll-free and SIP rates, number rental and recording or transcription add-ons on eight programmable voice providers, priced for three call volumes.
Twilio is still the voice API most teams start on, and it is the most expensive per minute of the four providers that print a full US rate card. Telnyx is cheapest on raw minutes, Plivo is cheapest once you record and transcribe calls, and Bandwidth sits between them but keeps number prices behind a quote.
The headline rates are not directly comparable. Telnyx bills two lines per minute: its Voice API fee plus the SIP trunk fee for the call leg, so the advertised API rate is not the price of a call. Bird adds a handling fee to every minute. Twilio and Plivo print one all-in rate per direction. This guide converts all of them into the same unit, a US call minute, then into a monthly bill.
Toolradar data: our communication category covers 296 tools. 51% offer a free or freemium plan and 46% are paid only; programmable voice APIs mostly sit in the usage-billed group, with trial credit instead of a free tier.
Methodology: eight programmable voice providers are compared on the US rates each vendor publishes, as of November 10, 2026, in US dollars. Monthly totals are our arithmetic for raw PSTN minutes and local number rental, before taxes, regulatory fees and volume discounts. Business phone systems with per-seat plans and AI voice agent bundles are outside this comparison.
Top Picks
Selected by pricing the same US calling mix on each provider's published per-minute, number and add-on rates, then ranking on the monthly bill and on how complete the public rate card is. How we rate
Carrier and voice API in one company, billing an API fee plus the SIP trunk fee on each call minute.
Starting price
$0.002 /min API + SIP trunk fee
4.4 (808 reviews)
Best for
High-volume US calling where raw minute cost decides the bill.
Voice and messaging API with a full public US rate card and free call recording.
Starting price
$0.0115 /min out; $0.0055/min in
4.4 (830 reviews)
Best for
Support lines and AI voice apps that record and transcribe most calls.
Direct-to-carrier voice and messaging API on its own US all-IP network, with a short public rate card.
Starting price
$0.0100 /min outbound local
0.8 (69 reviews)
Best for
US companies with heavy call volume that will sign a contract and want carrier-grade routing.
| Tool | Starting price | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telnyx Visit Telnyx website | $0.002/min API + SIP trunk fee | 4.4 808 reviews | Best for: High-volume US calling where raw minute cost decides the bill. |
| Plivo Visit Plivo website | $0.0115/min out; $0.0055/min in | 4.4 830 reviews | Best for: Support lines and AI voice apps that record and transcribe most calls. |
| Bandwidth Visit Bandwidth website | $0.0100/min outbound local | 0.8 69 reviews | Best for: US companies with heavy call volume that will sign a contract and want carrier-grade routing. |
| Bird Visit Bird website | From $0.0049/min + $0.0040 handling | 2.8 431 reviews | Best for: Teams already using Bird for messaging that add moderate outbound calling. |
| Twilio Visit Twilio website | $0.0140/min out; $0.0085/min in | 4.2 2,426 reviews | Best for: Teams already on Twilio for SMS, Verify or Flex that value one console over the lowest rate. |
| Vonage Visit Vonage website | Check the current price on Vonage's site | 3.9 545 reviews | Best for: Companies already buying Vonage business phone or video services that want one vendor. |
| Sinch Visit Sinch website | Check the current price on Sinch's site | 3.9 1,276 reviews | Best for: International apps that need voice, number masking and verification across many countries. |
| Infobip Visit Infobip website | Check current price on Infobip's site | 4.4 73 reviews | Best for: Global brands that buy SMS, WhatsApp and voice from one CPaaS contract. |
Telnyx
Carrier and voice API in one company, billing an API fee plus the SIP trunk fee on each call minute.
- 4.7 on G2 (604 reviews)
- 4.7 on Capterra (196 reviews)
- 2.5 on SourceForge (8 reviews)
- Starting price
- $0.002/min API + SIP trunk fee
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.4 (808 reviews)
Best for: High-volume US calling where raw minute cost decides the bill.
- Pro: Outbound local calls total $0.007 a minute with the trunk fee, half Twilio's rate.
- Pro: Call recording costs $0.002 a minute and recording storage is free.
- Pro: No platform fee, and the Growth plan cuts voice and numbers by 15% at $2,000 of monthly spend.
- Con: The advertised API rate excludes the SIP trunk fee, so quotes need two lines per minute.
- Con: SIP rates are published as starting prices that vary by destination and calling number.
Official messaging pay-as-you-go (page updated 10 August 2026): local/10DLC SMS is $0.004 per part plus a carrier fee.
Watch out
Carrier fees sit on top of the Telnyx rate. Examples on the official table: AT&T SMS $0.0035, T-Mobile SMS $0.0045 outbound, Verizon SMS $0.0045 outbound.
- Starting price
- $0.0115/min out; $0.0055/min in
- Rating
- 4.4 (830 reviews)
Best for: Support lines and AI voice apps that record and transcribe most calls.
- Pro: Call recording and answering machine detection are free; storage is free for 90 days.
- Pro: Transcription costs $0.0095 a minute, about a fifth of Twilio's rate.
- Pro: Local numbers rent for $0.50 a month and toll-free numbers for $1.00.
- Con: Inbound toll-free minutes cost $0.0180, over three times its local inbound rate.
- Con: Raw outbound minutes cost more than Telnyx's combined rate and Bandwidth's.
Plivo US SMS is pay-as-you-go.
Watch out
Carrier surcharges are extra. Official SMS: AT&T $0.0035, T-Mobile $0.0045 out / $0.0025 in, Verizon $0.0045 out.
- Starting price
- $0.0100/min outbound local
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 0.8 (69 reviews)
Best for: US companies with heavy call volume that will sign a contract and want carrier-grade routing.
- Pro: Billing runs in 6-second increments, which keeps short calls cheap.
- Pro: Recording costs $0.0020 a minute and conferencing $0.0015 a minute.
- Pro: In-app calling costs $0.0025 a minute for calls that stay off the phone network.
- Con: Number rental and toll-free minutes are not on the public card, so a full bill needs a quote.
- Con: Standard transcription at $0.0450 a minute makes transcribed calls expensive.
Bandwidth's usage-based pricing is fair and competitive for enterprise communication APIs.
Watch out
Data storage fees for recordings
Bird
Omnichannel messaging and voice platform with per-prefix US call rates and cheap number rental.
- 2.0 on Trustpilot (358 reviews)
- 3.9 on G2 (73 reviews)
- Starting price
- From $0.0049/min + $0.0040 handling
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 2.8 (431 reviews)
Best for: Teams already using Bird for messaging that add moderate outbound calling.
- Pro: Numbers rent for $0.50 a month, including toll-free numbers.
- Pro: Pay as you go needs no monthly plan; deposit plans start at $15 a month as spendable balance.
- Pro: Paid plans lift concurrent calls from 10 on pay as you go to 150 or more on Scale.
- Con: Every call pays a per-minute handling fee on top of the listed rate.
- Con: Calls are billed in whole minutes, rounded up, and outbound rates vary by prefix up to $0.099.
Bird now publishes per-product usage pricing.
Watch out
Voice handling fee of $0.0040/min on every call
- Starting price
- $0.0140/min out; $0.0085/min in
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.2 (2,426 reviews)
Best for: Teams already on Twilio for SMS, Verify or Flex that value one console over the lowest rate.
- Pro: Free trial credit pays for a first phone number and test calls.
- Pro: Browser, app and SIP calls cost under a third of its outbound phone rate, in either direction.
- Pro: Volume pricing applies automatically, with committed-use discounts on top.
- Con: Outbound minutes cost the most of the providers with a full public rate card.
- Con: Transcription at $0.0500 a minute and answering machine detection at $0.0075 a call add up fast.
Twilio is the industry standard for communication APIs, but the pay-as-you-go pricing adds up fast at scale.
Watch out
Carrier surcharges: US carriers charge $0.003-$0.005 per SMS on top of Twilio's rate. A $0.0083 message actually costs $0.011-$0.013 delivered.
Vonage
Communications API vendor whose Voice API covers IVRs, voice bots, text to speech and in-app calling SDKs.
- 4.3 on G2 (503 reviews)
- 3.2 on Trustpilot (42 reviews)
- Starting price
- Check the current price on Vonage's site
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 3.9 (545 reviews)
Best for: Companies already buying Vonage business phone or video services that want one vendor.
- Pro: Text to speech covers more than 50 languages, with speech to text and WebSocket streaming.
- Pro: Web, iOS and Android SDKs embed calls in apps, and SIP trunking is sold alongside.
- Pro: The same account covers the Messages API for SMS, MMS, WhatsApp and Viber.
- Con: Its US per-minute rate is not in the bills above, so price your own mix on Vonage's site before shortlisting.
- Con: Its place on this list rests on features rather than on a computed monthly total.
This pricing is fair for small to medium businesses seeking a comprehensive cloud communications solution.
Watch out
Hardware (IP phones) not included
Sinch
Global communications provider with voice, SIP, number masking and verification APIs.
- 4.4 on G2 (1,274 reviews)
- 1.0 on SourceForge (2 reviews)
- Starting price
- Check the current price on Sinch's site
- Rating
- 3.9 (1,276 reviews)
Best for: International apps that need voice, number masking and verification across many countries.
- Pro: Number masking is billed only on the call legs and numbers used, not as a separate feature.
- Pro: Numbers can be bought directly from its Build dashboard.
- Pro: A free trial is available before committing.
- Con: Its pricing page illustrates rates with example figures, so confirm US rates in the dashboard.
- Con: A masked call pays for two legs, inbound and outbound, plus the rented Sinch number.
Sinch's pay-as-you-go model for all channels (SMS, Voice, RCS, Email) is generally fair and competitive within the CPaaS market, as it directly aligns costs with usage.
- Starting price
- Check current price on Infobip's site
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.4 (73 reviews)
Best for: Global brands that buy SMS, WhatsApp and voice from one CPaaS contract.
- Pro: Inbound, outbound and WebRTC voice are priced per country in one calculator.
- Pro: The same account covers SMS, email, Viber and WhatsApp.
- Pro: A free trial is available before talking to sales.
- Con: Its calculator shows estimates based on average channel prices, not a fixed per-minute card.
- Con: Built for omnichannel contracts more than for a developer buying raw minutes.
Infobip's pricing is not publicly available, which makes a direct fairness assessment difficult.
Watch out
Potential for high minimum spend requirements.
Other Communication tools worth considering
More published tools from our Communication category, ordered by our category ranking. They are not part of the editorial picks above.
What a voice API bill is made of
A programmable voice API lets your software place and receive phone calls: an app dials a customer, an IVR answers a support line, or a browser client talks to a phone. Four lines make up the invoice:
| Bill line | What it pays for | Example rate |
|---|---|---|
| Outbound minutes | Calls your app places to US phone numbers | $0.0060 per minute to a toll-free number on Plivo |
| Inbound minutes | Calls received on your numbers, priced higher for toll-free | $0.0220 per minute on a Twilio toll-free number |
| Number rental | Each local or toll-free number, per month | $1.15 a month for a Twilio local number |
| Add-ons | Recording, transcription, answering machine detection, conferencing | $0.0060 per call for answering machine detection on Bandwidth |
The per-minute rate is only half the story. A support line that records and transcribes every call can pay more for the add-ons than for the minutes themselves. Calls that never touch the phone network, from a browser or over SIP, are billed at a separate, much lower rate.
Two billing details matter more than they look. Bandwidth bills voice in 6-second increments. Bird bills calls in whole minutes, rounded up, which makes short calls relatively expensive.
How much do 10K, 100K and 1M call minutes cost per month?
The scenario: US calls only, 60% outbound to local numbers and 40% inbound on local numbers, with 10 local numbers rented. Rates as of November 10, 2026; totals are our arithmetic at list prices, before taxes and fees.
| Provider | Outbound per min | Inbound per min | 10,000 min | 100,000 min | 1,000,000 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telnyx (API fee plus SIP trunk) | $0.007 | $0.0052 | $72.80 | $638 | $6,290 |
| Bandwidth (numbers not included) | $0.0100 | $0.0055 | $82 | $820 | $8,200 |
| Plivo | $0.0115 | $0.0055 | $96 | $915 | $9,105 |
| Bird (plus handling fee, lowest prefix rate) | From $0.0089 | $0.0130 | From $110.40 | From $1,059 | From $10,545 |
| Twilio | $0.0140 | $0.0085 | $129.50 | $1,191.50 | $11,811.50 |
Telnyx wins on raw minutes at every volume. At 100,000 minutes its own pricing page prints the same split: $200 of Voice API fees, $300 of outbound SIP trunk and $128 of inbound SIP trunk, $628 before numbers. Twilio costs about 1.9 times as much for the same calls, on our arithmetic.
Add-ons can reverse the order. Record and transcribe all 100,000 minutes and the add-ons alone cost $5,250 on Twilio, $4,700 on Bandwidth and $1,700 on Telnyx with its own speech-to-text, but $950 on Plivo, whose call recording is free and whose transcription is $0.0095 per minute. With both add-ons, Plivo's total ($1,865) undercuts Telnyx's ($2,338).
Toll-free inbound is the common trap. Move the 40,000 inbound minutes to a toll-free number and they cost $880 on Twilio and $720 on Plivo, against $340 and $220 on local numbers.
Key Features to Look For
Inbound toll-free pricing (Essential)
Receiving on a toll-free number costs $0.0220 a minute on Twilio and $0.0180 on Plivo, more than double each provider's local inbound rate.
Number rental (Important)
Local numbers cost $1.15 a month on Twilio, $1.00 on Telnyx and $0.50 on Plivo and Bird. Bandwidth keeps number pricing behind a quote.
Recording and transcription (Important)
Recording is free on Plivo and costs up to $0.0025 a minute elsewhere; transcription ranges from $0.0095 a minute on Plivo to $0.0500 on Twilio.
Browser and SIP minutes (Important)
Calls that stay off the phone network cost $0.0040 a minute on Twilio, $0.0033 on Plivo, $0.0025 in-app on Bandwidth and the same rate as the API fee on Telnyx.
Billing increment (Important)
Bandwidth bills in 6-second increments; Bird rounds each call up to a whole minute, so 20-second calls cost a full minute there.
Volume and commit discounts (Nice to have)
Telnyx's Growth plan takes 15% off voice, messaging and numbers for a $2,000 monthly minimum spend; Twilio applies volume pricing automatically and sells committed-use discounts.
What to settle before you pick a provider
-
Split your traffic by direction and number type first: outbound local, inbound local and inbound toll-free are priced very differently.
-
Decide whether every call is recorded or transcribed, because add-ons can cost more than the minutes.
-
Check your average call length. Whole-minute rounding punishes short calls such as verification or reminder calls.
-
Look at where you call. Alaska costs $0.0945 a minute outbound on Twilio and $0.0850 on Plivo, far above the mainland rate.
-
Route browser and app calls over WebRTC or SIP where possible; they cost a fraction of a phone network minute.
Evaluation Checklist
Export last month's call records and total minutes by direction, number type and destination.
Rebuild the bill on each provider's published rates, including number rental and every add-on you use.
For Telnyx, add the SIP trunk fee to the Voice API fee before comparing per-minute rates.
Ask Bandwidth for number and toll-free pricing before treating its minutes as the cheapest full bill.
Test answering machine detection accuracy on a sample of calls, since its per-call fee scales with outbound volume.
Confirm caller ID registration, emergency calling fees and porting timelines before moving production numbers.
Pricing Overview
Trial credit
Testing calls before paying: Twilio's free trial gives $15 of credit and Plivo offers $10 in free credits with no credit card.
$0 to start
Pay as you go
From $0.007 per outbound minute
Deposit plans
A monthly deposit that becomes spendable balance and raises calls-per-second and concurrent-call limits.
$15 to $1,000 a month on Bird
Committed spend
A monthly minimum spend in exchange for a 15% discount on voice, messaging and numbers plus 24/7 support.
From $2,000 a month on Telnyx Growth
Enterprise and quotes
Negotiated rates, dedicated infrastructure and full number pricing, including Bandwidth's number and SIP trunking prices.
Contact sales
Pricing Comparison
| Provider | US outbound local | US inbound local / toll-free | Number rental | 100K minutes, 10 numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Telnyx | $0.002 API + from $0.005 SIP | $0.002 API + from $0.0032 SIP; toll-free SIP from $0.015 | $1.00/mo local or toll-free | $638 |
Bandwidth | $0.0100/min | $0.0055/min local; toll-free by quote | Check the current price on Bandwidth's site | $820 before numbers |
Plivo | $0.0115/min | $0.0055 local; $0.0180 toll-free | $0.50/mo local; $1.00/mo toll-free | $915 |
Bird | From $0.0049/min + $0.0040 handling | $0.0090 local; $0.018 toll-free; + $0.0040 handling | $0.50/mo | From $1,059 |
Twilio | $0.0140/min | $0.0085 local; $0.0220 toll-free | $1.15/mo local; $2.15/mo toll-free | $1,191.50 |
Vonage | Check the current price on Vonage's site | Check the current price on Vonage's site | Check the current price on Vonage's site | Not calculated |
Sinch | Check the current price on Sinch's site | Check the current price on Sinch's site | Check the current price on Sinch's site | Not calculated |
Infobip | Check the current price on Infobip's site | Check the current price on Infobip's site | Check the current price on Infobip's site | Not calculated |
Prices as of November 10, 2026 from Twilio US voice pricing, Telnyx Voice API pricing, Telnyx SIP trunking pricing, Plivo US voice pricing, Bandwidth pricing, Bird US voice pricing, Sinch voice pricing and Infobip pricing. Monthly totals are our arithmetic for 100,000 US minutes, 60% outbound local and 40% inbound local, plus 10 local numbers, before taxes, fees and volume discounts. Telnyx and Bird totals use their lowest published SIP and prefix rates.
Mistakes to Avoid
- ×
- ×
Putting a support line on a toll-free number without pricing inbound toll-free minutes, which cost more than double local inbound on Twilio and Plivo.
- ×
Ignoring add-ons: recording and transcription on every call can outweigh the minutes.
- ×
Choosing a provider with whole-minute rounding for short reminder or verification calls.
- ×
Forgetting number rental when running hundreds of tracking or local-presence numbers.
Expert Tips
- →
Price your real call mix, not the headline outbound rate; inbound and toll-free shares change the ranking.
- →
If you record everything, compare Plivo's free recording with the per-minute fee on Twilio's pricing page before signing anything.
- →
Keep app-to-app and browser calls on WebRTC or SIP; they cost a fraction of a phone network minute on every provider here.
- →
At steady volume above the $2,000 monthly mark, Telnyx's Growth plan discount brings 1 million minutes from $6,290 to about $5,346.50 on our arithmetic.
- →
Building an AI phone agent rather than raw calling? See the AI voice category. For the developer tooling around your integration, browse API tools, and if you are weighing a full switch, compare Twilio alternatives.
Red Flags to Watch For
-
A quote that lists only the API fee per minute, with the carrier or SIP leg billed separately and not shown.
-
Number or toll-free prices available only on request when you plan to rent many numbers.
-
Handling or platform fees added to every minute on top of the advertised rate.
-
Whole-minute rounding on a workload of short calls.
The Bottom Line
For raw US minutes, Telnyx is the cheapest voice API at every volume tested here, as long as you read its price as the API fee plus the SIP trunk fee. Plivo is the better buy for call centers and AI voice apps that record and transcribe most calls, because recording is free and transcription is a fraction of the competition.
Twilio remains the expensive default, worth it mainly when you already rely on its other products. Bandwidth's minutes are competitive, but get its number prices in writing before you compare full bills. For per-seat business phone plans instead of developer APIs, read our cheapest business phone systems guide, and browse the rest of the communication category.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a voice API cost per minute in 2026?
Is Telnyx cheaper than Twilio for voice?
Yes, on list prices. Telnyx charges its per-minute Voice API fee plus a SIP trunk fee starting at $0.005 outbound and $0.0032 inbound. For 100,000 minutes with 60% outbound and 10 numbers, that is $638 a month against $1,191.50 on Twilio, on our arithmetic.
Is there a free voice API?
No provider here offers a permanent free tier for phone calls. Twilio's trial gives $15 of credit and Plivo gives $10 in free credits without a credit card, enough to buy a number and test calls before paying.
How much does it cost to receive calls on a toll-free number?
Inbound toll-free minutes cost $0.0220 on Twilio and $0.0180 on Plivo, more than double what each charges on a local number. Telnyx's toll-free SIP rate starts at $0.015 a minute plus its API fee, and toll-free numbers rent for $2.15 a month on Twilio and $1.00 on Plivo and Telnyx.
Which voice API is cheapest for recording and transcription?
Plivo. Its call recording is free and transcription costs $0.0095 a minute. Recording costs $0.0025 a minute on Twilio and $0.0020 on Bandwidth, and transcription costs $0.0500 on Twilio and $0.0450 on Bandwidth.
Why is Bandwidth's total missing number rental?
Bandwidth's public rate card lists voice minutes and add-ons but not phone number rental or toll-free minutes, so those need a quote. Its minutes alone come to $820 for 100,000 minutes in our 60/40 scenario.
How much do calls to Alaska cost?
Alaska is priced far above the mainland: $0.0945 a minute outbound on Twilio and $0.0850 on Plivo. Hawaii stays close to the mainland, at $0.0125 on Plivo, so check your destination mix before trusting a mainland average.
Cite this page: Toolradar, "Voice API Pricing Compared (2026)", updated November 2026, https://toolradar.com/guides/voice-api-pricing-compared
Spotted an outdated price or a wrong fact? Suggest a correction: we check it against the vendor's own page. Work for one of these vendors? Claim your listing to update it yourself.
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