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Agora vs Twilio: What are the differences?
Key Differences Between Agora and Twilio
Pricing Model: Agora offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model, where users are charged based on their usage of various communication features, such as voice and video calls. On the other hand, Twilio follows a usage-based pricing model, where users pay for the number of minutes or messages they consume. Agora's pricing model may be more cost-effective for businesses with unpredictable communication needs, while Twilio's pricing may suit those with more consistent usage patterns.
Global Infrastructure: Agora provides a global real-time network infrastructure with data centers distributed across different regions, ensuring low latency and reliable connections for users worldwide. Twilio also has a global infrastructure but is relatively smaller in scale compared to Agora. Agora's extensive network coverage provides an advantage for businesses with a global presence or targeting international audiences.
Developer-Friendly SDK: Agora's SDK (Software Development Kit) and API documentation are known for being developer-friendly, providing detailed code samples, tutorials, and clear documentation. Twilio also offers a well-documented SDK, but some developers find Agora's SDK easier to use and integrate into their applications. Agora's developer-friendly approach can help developers save time and effort during the implementation process.
Video Quality and Scalability: Agora specializes in real-time audio and video communication and is often praised for its superior video quality and low latency. Agora's adaptive video codec and advanced network optimization techniques result in a smoother visual experience compared to Twilio. Additionally, Agora's infrastructure is designed for high scalability, allowing businesses to handle large-scale video conferences or live streaming events effortlessly.
Additional Communication Features: Agora stands out by offering a range of additional communication features beyond voice and video calls. These include interactive live streaming, real-time messaging, and even augmented reality (AR) integration possibilities. Twilio primarily focuses on voice, video, and messaging, with fewer additional features. Agora's broader feature set may appeal to businesses looking to enhance their communication capabilities with innovative functionalities.
Community Support: Agora has a vibrant developer community where users can interact, share knowledge, and seek help from experienced users and Agora's support team. Twilio also has a community and support resources but is relatively smaller compared to Agora. The availability of a supportive community can be valuable for developers and businesses seeking assistance or discussions related to Agora's services.
In summary, Agora and Twilio differ in their pricing models, global infrastructure coverage, developer-friendly SDKs, video quality and scalability, additional communication features, and community support. Agora's pay-as-you-go pricing, extensive global infrastructure, and developer-friendly SDK make it an attractive choice for businesses seeking superior video quality and innovative communication features, with access to a supportive community.
Hey! We need an omnichannel inbox that's housed within Salesforce Sales Cloud that makes it super easy for our reps to respond to inbound communication (needs: clean inbox, provides historical context, etc.). We're a high-volume call center, and we get a ton of incoming SMS and email every day. We'd love a solution that lets us view all of that in one place — ideally Salesforce, as that's where our reps work, and we want to avoid needing them to switch between windows. Thanks!
if the inbound SMS are sales rep specific you could potentially have twilio fwd that msg to a google voice phone number which will in turn put an email in their inbox (so they're looking at 1 inbox instead of multiple places) Just an idea. Probably way off in left field compared to what you're thinking and I also invision. I'm not all familiar with MessageBird nor am I at all familiar w/ your data flow / business process. Would be happy to help brainstorm anytime! 10+ years experience on the sfdc platform
Check out Centro. We built this to solve this exact problem! We used tools like Twilio but wrapped it up in a application that runs on Slack.
Hello! We need to integrate an SMS gateway into our app for user phone verification. As we are just starting, we are searching for the most affordable/best price/performance option for SMS gateway to verify client phone numbers with the code, maybe you can suggest something between those two or maybe something else. We are planning to do business in Europe
Twilio is the leader. Strong API, excellent documentation and reliable service. I suggest Nexmo since their API has smaller learning curve, offering better prices and also reliable solution. Also Nexmo offers more call per sec. 3 vs 2 and 2, out of the box. Good luck
Twilio documentation is very good and as a platform it just works. It's robust and reliable. We road-tested plivo and it wasn't anywhere near in terms of docs or support. In fact their support was terrible at replying to us. 48 hours to answer basic questions.
That's said, were also using sendgrid by twilio and that's not been pleasant . Their email builder appears to be react based but written by a team who don't understand react very well. That's a nightmare as yet
Twilio might be not cheapest, but they have awesome documentation (a lot of examples), easy to use API and libraries. I think it's a very good product to start. If the bill will become too heavy, you can shop around for economical options.
stackshare doesn't seem to have this in the stack list yet, but in my experience Twillio is attractive. It's good for basics, their acquisition of SendGrid gives them a bit more market share.. They are stronger at marketing to those that benefit them. That said from my understanding SendGrid leases the networks, channels, and lines. While their interface is friendly, their pricing suited for lower volume, you want to look at what they are using via an API, a contract, etc. Is it a more friend UI to a combination of others. What redunancies do to they have, try their support. It's not that Twillio is bad, it's about the volume, the use case, the liabiitlies you might have to your end-users if Twillio isn't the right choice. Another option is Bandwidth. You ask for affordable, Twillio is an option, but front end costs v/s the costs of support you'll need to consider. Bandwidth has more reliability but requires more engineering and more skillset. Another option that is worth considering, not the most affordable, but https://www.zipwhip.com/ have perhaps options that might be higher and the cost is relative. Wight costs, of support costs of integration, cost of scale, costs of a volume..
Pros of Agora
- Easy setup8
- RESTful API6
Pros of Twilio
- Powerful, simple, and well documented api148
- RESTful API88
- Clear pricing66
- Great sms services61
- Low cost of entry58
- Global SMS Gateway29
- Good value14
- Cloud IVR12
- Simple11
- Extremely simple to integrate with rails11
- Great for startups6
- SMS5
- Great developer program3
- Hassle free3
- Text me the app pages2
- New Features constantly rolling out1
- Many deployment options, from build from scratch to buy1
- Easy integration1
- Two factor authentication1
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Cons of Agora
Cons of Twilio
- Predictable pricing4
- Expensive2