How Twilio Messaging works


Engage customers on their preferred channels including SMS, RCS, MMS, WhatsApp, and more with our centralized business messaging platform. Powered by an intelligent network that monitors over 900 million data points daily, Messaging enables unrivaled reliability at any scale.
Discover developer-friendly APIs for a wide range of use cases:
Build alerts, notifications, and marketing messages with our Programmable Messaging API
Create customer care and commerce solutions with Conversations API
Use Verify API to send one-time passwords (OTP) for two-factor authentication (2FA) and fraud protection


Modernize your messaging with Rich Communication Services (RCS)
Create more interactive messages for your customers. See how RCS with Twilio can provide branded communications, greater deliverability, and improved customer engagement.
Messaging use cases
Creating meaningful engagements through trusted messaging
Reach customers on their favorite channels from a single platform
Explore our latest Messaging products and features
Twilio Messaging is built for enterprises pushing the boundaries of global messaging at scale and innovating in customer engagement.


Twilio Messaging Engagement Suite
Experience simpler development, quicker time to market, and higher deliverability rates.* See how Message Scheduling, Link Shortening with Click Tracking, advanced data, and real-time dashboards can benefit your business.


Customer Deliverability Engine
Get guidance on how to build, iterate, and scale your messaging solution with our newest suite of messaging products that combines messaging traffic, robust data, and AI to create an intelligent and transparent messaging platform.


Traffic Optimization Engine
Scale and manage your messaging traffic with products that provide simpler capacity planning, better traffic prioritization, and granular control of your messaging while avoiding queuing errors and undelivered or late messages.
Features
Omnichannel messaging solutions on a scalable platform
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Verified messaging
Access trusted messaging ecosystems and engage customers over routes that protect consumers from spam and unwanted messages.
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Real-time routing algorithms
Leverage AI to optimize deliverability and reach customers every time with quality messaging.
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Messaging Insights
Get a real-time, out-of-the-box dashboard for transparency into delivery health and tools to troubleshoot issues.
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Trust Hub
Navigate the regulatory landscape, maintain high deliverability, and access our network of trusted senders to establish trust.
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Fraud Guard
Prevent fraudulent traffic with protection against SMS pumping and detect issues as they occur to save time as you scale. -
Messaging Services
Ensure customers receive messages from the same number, from their country/area code, and more. -
Lookup
Validate phone numbers to reduce costs, increase conversion percentages, and reduce risk of fines. -
Content Template Builder
Create and manage templates across SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and more.
Get started with code
Explore quickstart guides, code snippets, SDKs, and more in our comprehensive resource library to kickstart your build for Messaging.
Create a message
Need help building? No problem.
Work with one of our trusted partners to get coding support or explore a pre-built messaging solution. View partners
Why Twilio Messaging
A business text messaging platform with trust, quality, and engagement
messages sent and received annually
within your reach
monthly API uptime
global carrier connections
Next-generation business messaging services, simple pricing
Only pay for what you use with no subscriptions. Additional volume and committed-use discounts are available as you scale.


* In an evaluation of more than 63M messages sent through Twilio with shortened hyperlinks, messages with shortened hyperlinks by 3rd party Link Shorteners were filtered at 1.96% or 28x the rate of Twilio which was filtered at a rate of 0.07%
FAQ
Toll-free numbers
Toll-free numbers are 10-digit numbers that have a standard prefix like 800 or 833 (Example: 1-833-456-78XX).
- Can be used for calls and text messages
- Support high-throughput for high-volume use cases like notifications, alerts, and promotions
- Require a verification process for high-volume use cases
See more about toll-free numbers
A2P 10DLC
Application-to-person 10-digit long codes are numbers with a local prefix, like +1 (415) 568-00XX.
- Specifically for business messaging traffic
- Support both phone calls and text messages
- A verification process is required to prove you're a trusted sender with approved campaigns
Short codes
Short codes are 5-6 character codes (56748) that are recognizable, and can be used for text and picture messaging.
- Throughput starts at 100 messages per second
- Support high-volume use cases like alerts, notifications, verifications, and promotions
A verification process is required to prove you're a trusted sender with approved campaigns
Alphanumeric sender IDs
Alphanumeric sender IDs are based on your company or brand name and used for one-way messaging at high volumes in supported countries.
Sending a high volume of messages in the United States and globally quickly becomes complex. As the complexity of your messaging application grows, it's helpful to organize your account and message logs into separate Messaging Services using Twilio Programmable Messaging.
You can think of a Messaging Service as a higher-level "bundling" of messaging functionality around a common set of senders, features, and configuration. The same settings and feature configuration apply to all of the senders (long code numbers, short codes, toll-free numbers, etc.) in the Messaging Service's pool.
A Messaging Service's features can be managed and configured directly through the Console as well as using the REST API.
Requirements vary widely by communication channel, use case, and region that you are messaging in. Visit the Twilio Trust Center to learn more or download our Global Regulatory & Compliance Guide for Marketers.
Download our Critical capabilities for choosing an SMS API provider to learn more.