# Plivo API vs Telnyx API + MCP > Telnyx API + MCP has a score of 73.8 (BB) against Plivo API's 60.3 (C). Both do messaging sms. The largest gap is schema & documentation, 34 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/plivo-vs-telnyx - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/plivo-vs-telnyx.md (~1,550 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/plivo-vs-telnyx.min.md (~330 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/plivo-vs-telnyx.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json) - Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt) - API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json - Updated: 2026-10-04 Telnyx API + MCP has a score of 73.8 (BB) against Plivo API's 60.3 (C). Both do messaging sms. The largest gap is schema & documentation, 34 points. - Plivo API: grade C, 60.3/100, rank #250 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/plivo.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/plivo.json - Telnyx API + MCP: grade BB, 73.8/100, rank #54 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/telnyx.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/telnyx.json ## Which one, for what Pick Plivo API for nothing in particular (no category where it leads by five points or more). Pick Telnyx API + MCP for schema & documentation (+34), agent ergonomics (+23), payments & pricing (+25), maintenance & community (+5). ## Score by category | Category | Weight | Plivo API | Telnyx API + MCP | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 78 | 80 | Telnyx API + MCP +2 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 59 | 93 | Telnyx API + MCP +34 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 57 | 80 | Telnyx API + MCP +23 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 45 | 45 | even | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 65 | Telnyx API + MCP +25 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 78 | 83 | Telnyx API + MCP +5 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 70 | 73 | Telnyx API + MCP +3 | | Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | | | **Total** | | **60.3 · C** | **73.8 · BB** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | Plivo API | Telnyx API + MCP | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API | | Vendor | Plivo | Telnyx | | Hosted endpoint | `https://api.plivo.com/v1` | `https://api.telnyx.com/v2` | | Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio | | Auth | API key | API key | | Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use | | x402 | no | payer tooling only | | Licence | MIT | MIT | | Tools exposed | none | 3 | | Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a | | p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet | | Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet | | Read-only variant documented | no | no | | llms.txt | yes | yes | | MCP registry | not listed | `io.github.team-telnyx/telnyx` | | Last release | 2026-09-25 | 2026-09-25 | | Popularity | 102 stars, 51k npm/wk, 69k PyPI/wk | 197 stars, 417k npm/wk, 179k PyPI/wk | | Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (2) | ## Verdicts **Plivo API.** US long code SMS $0.0077 a message and numbers $0.50 a month, with carrier surcharges listed per carrier. No OpenAPI spec. **Telnyx API + MCP.** US long code SMS $0.004 a part outbound and inbound, published with carrier fees and as machine-readable pricing.md. No per-key scopes or read-only keys, and the MCP can send or buy numbers without confirmation. ## Before you call either ### Plivo API 1. Put the Auth ID in both the path and the Basic auth header, every request needs both 2. Stay under 300 API requests per 5 seconds, a 429 carries no Retry-After 3. Give each agent its own subaccount to isolate credentials and spend 4. Use the docs MCP to find endpoints, then call the REST API directly to send ### Telnyx API + MCP 1. Register the 10DLC brand ($4.50) and campaign ($10 a month) before sending US long code traffic 2. Back off on error 10011 for as long as the Retry-After header says 3. Call get_api_endpoint_schema before invoke_api_endpoint, the schemas aren't in the tool list 4. Give each agent its own key, since keys can't be scoped 5. 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