7 ms·

First of all, I love Twilio, have used it in production apps, and will continue to use it in production apps. Just want to give a heads up about a very big lim

First of all, I love Twilio, have used it in production apps, and will continue to use it in production apps. Just want to give a heads up about a very big limitation of Twilio SMS: It only delivers to US and Canadian phone numbers (http://www.twilio.com/faq/international http://www.twilio.com/faq/international). If you are building an app with any sort of international user base, you will need to look elsewhere. Clickatell has an API, delivers to almost every country, but their interface, billing, and customer support are painfully terrible. (http://www.clickatell.com/products/gateway.php http://www.clickatell.com/products/gateway.php). So Twilio, do you plan to introduce International SMS support?

johns 15y ago
We currently have it in beta. You can sign up for access here: http://www.twilio.com/international-sms http://www.twilio.com/international-sms (Note that page says 2c/msg, but it is 1c/msg in the beta as well)
- rsoto 15y ago
  It's sad that you alienize your current userbase. Without notice, you guys broke many applications outside the US. I was a client, the service was good. I stopped using it and came back two months ago, I bought additional credits, set up my app.. and it didn't work. This is the second time I apply for the beta, but I think that since I will be sending not so many SMS per month, you guys simply don't give a damn. I'm not angry, but I didn't receive a notification, I spent $20 bucks and I haven't been able to use them. And I don't get a message telling me, at least, that I got rejected to the beta. At least be honest with us, should we (low-volume sending customers) look for another service?
  - johns 15y ago
    For the previous international SMS service (which was also in beta, though admittedly, not very clearly denoted as such) we notified those that we believed would be impacted by the change. I'm sorry that you did not receive a notification. That should not have happened that way. Every customer, regardless of volume, is important to us. We're opening up the intl SMS beta to more and more customers every day. I'm happy to try to work something out with you. If we can't get you up and running, I'll refund your $20. Email me: jsheehan@twilio.com
    - rsoto 15y ago
      Don't get me wrong. It's not about the money. It's about transparency. Maybe you didn't notify me because my account was inactive, but you had the data -- maybe I'd return one day and tried to use the app as usual, just to receive an error that the international service isn't active. I'm contacting you right now. I haven't really looked up for another service because I've been quite comfortable with you. I'm happy this is really the exception in a very good experience.
- rlander 15y ago
  How about ported numbers, do you support it? I pay 8c/SMS on Clickatell but their service is very reliable for intl and ported numbers.
  - johns 15y ago
    You can port numbers to and from us for free and if they are US local numbers, you can use them for SMS. More info: http://www.twilio.com/faq/porting http://www.twilio.com/faq/porting
- ccollins 15y ago
  Awesome - Thanks for the reply. I know international SMS is a pain in the ass, so thank you for trying to make it easier to implement and cheaper to use!
- gte910h 15y ago
  I love HN: you can ask companies questions, they answer.
- chrislomax 15y ago
  I wish I had read the FAQs properly, didn't realise you couldn't send international! I signed up for your beta though, I want to do SMS messaging from the app but I have always found other services so expensive, I used to use Esendex in the UK but the plans drain cash so quickly. I just wanted to send despatch confirmations through an ecommerce application. If you could do it for 3-4p GBP that would still be very cheap. Signed up and ready to go on the beta though
  - jonknee 15y ago
    Their current international pricing matches domestic, so you'd be paying about .6p GBP. Cheap cheap.
- sleepyhead 15y ago
  I'm using Clickatell and they charge about 8c/msg. Does the beta include delivery to Norway? If so, how can you charge 1c? Is Clickatell (and others) overcharging that much, or are you using alternative less stable methods of delivery?
- feint 15y ago
  you used to have in in Beta before as well - and then you suddenly, without telling developers beforehand, just killed it. Why should it be any different this time? I moved to tropo.com and have been much happier
pkirk 15y ago
I never read about it here on hn but I used Cardboardfish.com in a couple of projects. The API is similar to the Clickatell's (they are all pretty the same) but I found most of routes to be cheaper.

johns 15y ago

We currently have it in beta. You can sign up for access here: http://www.twilio.com/international-sms http://www.twilio.com/international-sms (Note that page says 2c/msg, but it is 1c/msg in the beta as well)

rsoto 15y ago
It's sad that you alienize your current userbase. Without notice, you guys broke many applications outside the US. I was a client, the service was good. I stopped using it and came back two months ago, I bought additional credits, set up my app.. and it didn't work. This is the second time I apply for the beta, but I think that since I will be sending not so many SMS per month, you guys simply don't give a damn. I'm not angry, but I didn't receive a notification, I spent $20 bucks and I haven't been able to use them. And I don't get a message telling me, at least, that I got rejected to the beta. At least be honest with us, should we (low-volume sending customers) look for another service?
- johns 15y ago
  For the previous international SMS service (which was also in beta, though admittedly, not very clearly denoted as such) we notified those that we believed would be impacted by the change. I'm sorry that you did not receive a notification. That should not have happened that way. Every customer, regardless of volume, is important to us. We're opening up the intl SMS beta to more and more customers every day. I'm happy to try to work something out with you. If we can't get you up and running, I'll refund your $20. Email me: jsheehan@twilio.com
  - rsoto 15y ago
    Don't get me wrong. It's not about the money. It's about transparency. Maybe you didn't notify me because my account was inactive, but you had the data -- maybe I'd return one day and tried to use the app as usual, just to receive an error that the international service isn't active. I'm contacting you right now. I haven't really looked up for another service because I've been quite comfortable with you. I'm happy this is really the exception in a very good experience.
rlander 15y ago
How about ported numbers, do you support it? I pay 8c/SMS on Clickatell but their service is very reliable for intl and ported numbers.
- johns 15y ago
  You can port numbers to and from us for free and if they are US local numbers, you can use them for SMS. More info: http://www.twilio.com/faq/porting http://www.twilio.com/faq/porting
ccollins 15y ago
Awesome - Thanks for the reply. I know international SMS is a pain in the ass, so thank you for trying to make it easier to implement and cheaper to use!
gte910h 15y ago
I love HN: you can ask companies questions, they answer.
chrislomax 15y ago
I wish I had read the FAQs properly, didn't realise you couldn't send international! I signed up for your beta though, I want to do SMS messaging from the app but I have always found other services so expensive, I used to use Esendex in the UK but the plans drain cash so quickly. I just wanted to send despatch confirmations through an ecommerce application. If you could do it for 3-4p GBP that would still be very cheap. Signed up and ready to go on the beta though
- jonknee 15y ago
  Their current international pricing matches domestic, so you'd be paying about .6p GBP. Cheap cheap.
sleepyhead 15y ago
I'm using Clickatell and they charge about 8c/msg. Does the beta include delivery to Norway? If so, how can you charge 1c? Is Clickatell (and others) overcharging that much, or are you using alternative less stable methods of delivery?
feint 15y ago
you used to have in in Beta before as well - and then you suddenly, without telling developers beforehand, just killed it. Why should it be any different this time? I moved to tropo.com and have been much happier

pkirk 15y ago

I never read about it here on hn but I used Cardboardfish.com in a couple of projects. The API is similar to the Clickatell's (they are all pretty the same) but I found most of routes to be cheaper.