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OneSignal vs Twilio: What are the differences?

Introduction

OneSignal and Twilio are popular communication platform services that offer distinct features and functionalities. While both platforms enable businesses to engage and interact with their audience, there are key differences that set them apart.

  1. Pricing Model: One key difference between OneSignal and Twilio is their pricing model. OneSignal offers a free plan with limited features along with paid plans that offer additional functionalities and higher message limits. On the other hand, Twilio follows a pay-as-you-go model where customers pay for the specific communication services they use, such as SMS messages, voice calls, or video calls.

  2. Communication Channels: Another significant difference is the range of communication channels supported by each platform. OneSignal specializes in push notifications and supports various platforms like web, mobile apps, and browsers. Twilio, on the other hand, provides a wider array of communication channels including SMS messaging, voice calls, video calls, chat messaging, and even IoT connectivity.

  3. Developer-Focused vs. Business-Focused: OneSignal puts a strong focus on catering to developers' needs with comprehensive APIs, SDKs, and customization options to integrate push notifications seamlessly into applications. In contrast, Twilio is more business-oriented, providing communication tools and APIs that are easy to use and integrate into existing systems, making it more accessible for non-developers as well.

  4. Delivery and Monitoring: OneSignal offers a robust delivery infrastructure with features like delivery tracking, real-time analytics, and A/B testing capabilities. It enables businesses to monitor the efficiency and performance of their push notifications. Twilio, on the other hand, provides advanced monitoring, reporting, and analytics capabilities for all its communication channels like SMS delivery status, voice call quality, and video call metrics.

  5. Global Reach: OneSignal primarily focuses on web and mobile app push notifications and supports a wide range of platforms. It is primarily designed for delivering notifications to app users. Twilio, on the other hand, has a global infrastructure with extensive coverage for SMS, voice calls, and other communication channels. This allows businesses to reach a broader audience and expand their communication capabilities across different countries.

  6. Integration Ecosystem: Both OneSignal and Twilio offer a range of integrations with popular platforms and services. However, OneSignal has more pre-built integrations with various app development frameworks, marketing automation tools, and analytics platforms. Twilio offers integrations with numerous CRM systems, customer support platforms, and popular developer tools, making it easier to seamlessly incorporate communication features into existing workflows.

In summary, OneSignal and Twilio differ in their pricing model, supported communication channels, developer-focused vs. business-focused approach, delivery and monitoring capabilities, global reach, and integration ecosystem. Depending on the specific requirements and priorities of a business, either platform can provide valuable communication solutions.

Advice on OneSignal and Twilio
Needs advice
on
MessageBirdMessageBird
and
TwilioTwilio

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!

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Replies (2)
Recommends

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

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Ryan Hitchler
CEO & Co-founder at Centro · | 1 upvotes · 113.1K views
Recommends
on
TwilioTwilio
at

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.

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Dainis Duļbinskis
Marketing project manager at Colortime · | 2 upvotes · 119.8K views
Needs advice
on
PlivoPlivo
and
TwilioTwilio

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

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Replies (4)
Recommends
on
TwilioTwilio
at

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

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Recommends
on
NexmoNexmo

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

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Recommends
on
TwilioTwilio

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.

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Andrew Voirol
Founder at The Social Diner · | 1 upvotes · 119.3K views
Recommends
on
PlivoPlivo

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..

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Pros of OneSignal
Pros of Twilio
  • 28
    Free of cost
  • 22
    More parametrable
  • 17
    Simple and Easy To Use. Well Documented :)
  • 13
    Device to device
  • 12
    Simple
  • 9
    Many Platforms
  • 9
    Great support
  • 8
    Free
  • 4
    Flexibility in working with web, android and iOS
  • 4
    Phonegap / Cordova / Ionic starters
  • 1
    Good
  • 148
    Powerful, simple, and well documented api
  • 88
    RESTful API
  • 66
    Clear pricing
  • 61
    Great sms services
  • 58
    Low cost of entry
  • 29
    Global SMS Gateway
  • 14
    Good value
  • 12
    Cloud IVR
  • 11
    Simple
  • 11
    Extremely simple to integrate with rails
  • 6
    Great for startups
  • 5
    SMS
  • 3
    Great developer program
  • 3
    Hassle free
  • 2
    Text me the app pages
  • 1
    New Features constantly rolling out
  • 1
    Many deployment options, from build from scratch to buy
  • 1
    Easy integration
  • 1
    Two factor authentication

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Cons of OneSignal
Cons of Twilio
    Be the first to leave a con
    • 4
      Predictable pricing
    • 2
      Expensive

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    What is OneSignal?

    OneSignal is a high volume push notification service for websites and mobile applications. OneSignal supports all major native and mobile platforms by providing dedicated SDKs for each platform, a RESTful server API, and a dashboard.

    What is Twilio?

    Twilio offers developers a powerful API for phone services to make and receive phone calls, and send and receive text messages. Their product allows programmers to more easily integrate various communication methods into their software and programs.

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    What companies use OneSignal?
    What companies use Twilio?
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    What are some alternatives to OneSignal and Twilio?
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    FoxPush
    It’s easy to set up, and no technical skills are required. Using Their services, your website can subscribe users to receive pop-up notifications whenever they are online, regardless of what browser they are using or if they are on a mobile device.
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