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Should I Use Twilio (SendGrid)?

sendgrid.com·Analyzed 15 hours ago··Based on 10 sources

SendGrid's trusted email API and marketing campaigns platform is now available through Twilio.com.

Depends

Depends

Buy it if you have developers embedding high-volume SMS, voice, or email into a product, with fraud controls and usage alerts.

Powerful developer-grade comms API. Great if you code; risky if you want simple texting without surprise bills or weak support.

Confidence: High

4.2/5

G2 rating

1,917 verified seller reviews

$19.95/mo

Starting price

SendGrid Email API paid plans

$0.0083

US SMS rate

per segment, pay-as-you-go

2008

Founded

public company, 9,328+ companies detected using it

Value for money3

Low per-message rates, but rivals claim 2x cheaper

Ease of use3

Fine to start, harder at scale per users

Feature depth5

Supports almost every communication channel

Support quality2

Customer service widely panned by developers

Security posture2

Authy breach, webhook replay CVE, account takeovers

Pros

  • 4.2/5 across 1,917 verified G2 seller reviews¹
  • Per-message rates among the lowest reviewers have found³
  • Powerful, reliable platform supporting nearly every communication channel⁴
  • Quick to get started for basic integrations

Cons

  • Customer service repeatedly described as horrible by developers
  • Users report scam-like surprise charges and billing disputes²
  • Painful to scale for some users despite good start
  • Same APIs available 2x cheaper from competitors10
  • Painful onboarding: users report slow activation and abandonment

Gotchas

  • highUsage-based billing plus fraud means compromised accounts bill fast — one user lost $3,000 to API abuse
  • highAuthy breach exposed 33M phone numbers — a trust issue if you send OTPs through Twilio⁵
  • mediumCheaper rivals (Telnyx, Plivo) claim 30–40%+ savings on identical APIs — factor migration costs before committing10
  • mediumVerification and activation friction: some users say Twilio 'doesn't want my money' after weeks of waiting

Best for

  • Developer teams embedding SMS/voice/email APIs
  • High-volume transactional messaging
  • Multi-channel customer engagement products
  • Teams with engineering resources and fraud controls

Not for

  • Small businesses sending occasional texts — overkill and complex
  • Non-technical teams: it's an API, not a texting app
  • Tight budgets without usage alerts — hijacked accounts rack up charges
  • Anyone needing responsive customer support

Companies that use it

  • Toyota Connected
  • Central Group

Pricing

SendGrid Email API

from $19.95/mo

  • Email API and marketing campaigns
  • Paid plans, usage scales

Pay-as-you-go Messaging

$0.0083 per US SMS segment

  • Per-message pricing
  • Phone numbers billed separately

Security

Active issues: Authy breach (33M numbers), webhook replay CVE, integration auth bypass, account takeovers via API abuse.

  • Authy data breachHackers leaked 33M Authy user phone numbers; Twilio confirmed the breach.⁵
  • CVE-2026-4984Twilio integration webhook handler authentication bypass allowing information disclosure.⁷
  • CVE-2026-32053Attackers can replay Twilio webhook events.⁶
  • Account takeovers via API abuseUsers report compromised accounts with thousands in unauthorized charges.

What users say

Developers praise the platform's breadth and reliability but consistently complain about support quality, surprise charges, and scaling friction.

“TWILIO is a SCAM, the fake cyber attacks so they can run up charges”
— Reddit, r/VOIP
“Twilio is absolutely HORRIBLE. Their customer service sucks, their dev...”
— Reddit, r/twilio
“Makes SMS and email automation easy and affordable!”
— Capterra user review

Alternatives

Compare Twilio (SendGrid) with each alternative.

Full analysis

Based on 30+ public sources including G2, Reddit, Trustpilot, Capterra, NVD, and SecurityWeek.

Sources

  1. Twilio Products | Read 1917 Reviews on G2g2.com
    review
  2. Is Twilio a scam or WTF? : r/VOIPreddit.com
    review
  3. Twilio Messaging Review — business.combusiness.com
    review
  4. Twilio Reviews and Pricing (2026)happyrobot.ai
    review
  5. Twilio Confirms Data Breach After Hackers Leak 33M Authy User Phone Numberssecurityweek.com
    security
  6. NVD-CVE-2026-32053 - NISTnvd.nist.gov
    security
  7. CVE-2026-4984: Twilio Integration Information Disclosuresentinelone.com
    security
  8. Twilio Pricingtwilio.com
    official
  9. Twilio SMS Review (2026): Pricing, API and Verdict — DDIYddiy.co
    review
  10. Switch from Twilio to Telnyxtelnyx.com
    official

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