Communication APIs and telephony pricing
Messaging and voice APIs are pure usage pricing: a fraction of a cent per SMS, email or call minute, with volume discounts that kick in at the millions. Business phone systems in the same list charge per user per month instead, so the two halves of the category barely compare.
Exhibit 1
OneSignal is the cheapest way in at $19, against $239 for CometChat
Entry price of each product, USD per month
- OneSignalGrowth$19
- SendGridEssentials$19.95
- CometChatBasic$239
Communication APIs and telephony compared
Current list prices as last read from each pricing page.
| Product | Starts at | Top listed plan | Priced by | Free plan | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Aircall | $30 per license per month, billed annually, minimum 3 licensesEssentials, USD per license per month, billed annually, minimum 3 licenses | $100 per month minimum, usage-basedAI Voice Agents | One-time license | No | read Nov 2026 |
 CometChat | $239 per month, billed annually ($298.75 monthly), 1,000 monthly active usersBasic, USD per month, billed annually, 1,000 monthly active users | $359 per month, billed annually ($448.75 monthly), 1,000 monthly active usersAdvanced | Per seat | Yes | read Nov 2026 |
 Courier | $0.005 per send, pay as you goBusiness, USD per send, pay as you go | contact sales | unknown | Yes | read Nov 2026 |
 Dialpad | $15 per user per month, billed annually ($27 monthly)Connect Standard, USD per user per month, billed annually | $149 per user per month, billed annually ($179 monthly)Support Premium | Per seat | No | read Nov 2026 |
 OneSignal | $19 per month, billed monthly, starting priceGrowth, USD per month, billed monthly, starting price | contact sales | Flat per account | Yes | read Nov 2026 |
 RingCentral | $20 per user per month, billed annually ($30 monthly)Core, per user per month, billed annually ($30 monthly) | $35 per user per month, billed annually ($45 monthly)Ultra | Per seat | No | read Nov 2026 |
 SendGrid | $19.95 per month, starting price, by email volumeEssentials, USD per month, starting price, by email volume | $89.95 per month, starting price, by email volumePro | Flat per account | Yes | read Nov 2026 |
 Sinch | usage based | usage based | unknown | No | none yet |
 Twilio | $0.005 per message sent or received, pay as you goWhatsApp Business API, USD per message sent or received, pay as you go | $150 per named user per month (or $1 per active user hour, first 5,000 hours free)Twilio Flex | Usage based | No | read Nov 2026 |
Communication APIs and telephony pricing questions
- What does a communication API cost?
- Paid plans start at $30 per license per month, billed annually, minimum 3 licenses for Aircall (USD per license per month, billed annually, minimum 3 licenses), $239 per month, billed annually ($298.75 monthly), 1,000 monthly active users for CometChat (USD per month, billed annually, 1,000 monthly active users), $0.005 per send, pay as you go for Courier (USD per send, pay as you go), $15 per user per month, billed annually ($27 monthly) for Dialpad (USD per user per month, billed annually), $19 per month, billed monthly, starting price for OneSignal (USD per month, billed monthly, starting price), $20 per user per month, billed annually ($30 monthly) for RingCentral (per user per month, billed annually ($30 monthly)), $19.95 per month, starting price, by email volume for SendGrid (USD per month, starting price, by email volume), $0.005 per message sent or received, pay as you go for Twilio (USD per message sent or received, pay as you go). Prices are as shown on each pricing page when it was last read.
- What is communication API pricing based on?
- Aircall: one-time license. CometChat and Dialpad and RingCentral: per seat. OneSignal and SendGrid: flat per account. Twilio: usage based.
- Which communication apis and telephony have a free plan?
- CometChat, Courier, OneSignal, SendGrid list a free plan next to the paid tiers.
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