# Telnyx API + MCP (slim)

> Carrier-owned CPaaS with SMS, MMS, RCS and WhatsApp on one REST API, plus an official hosted MCP server at api.telnyx.com/v2/mcp and a stdio MCP package.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/telnyx.md (~6,250 tokens) · this version ~1,480 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/telnyx.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/telnyx
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-05

**BB · 73.8/100 · rank #54 of 452 · #3 in Messaging APIs · agent-ready · confidence medium**


Assessment: 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.

## Facts

- Kind: HTTP API · vendor: Telnyx · category: Messaging APIs · legal entity: Telnyx LLC · provenance 90/100
- Endpoint: `https://api.telnyx.com/v2` (HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio)
- Auth: API key · pricing: Pay per use · x402: payer tooling only · licence: MIT
- Probe metrics: not measured yet (probes haven't run)
- Channels: SMS, MMS, RCS, WhatsApp, plus voice, fax and verify
- Countries: Global SMS, priced per destination and carrier
- Sender registration: 10DLC brand $4.50 and campaign $10 a month for US long codes, toll-free verification, short codes
- WhatsApp: Meta rate card plus a $0.004 Telnyx platform fee a message
- Inbound: Signed webhooks per messaging profile, US inbound SMS $0.004 a part
- Free tier: None. Pay as you go, funded by card or by x402, MPP or ACP top-ups through the API
- Rate limits: 50 SMS a second and 100 API requests a second on pay-as-you-go, higher on committed plans
- MCP server: Official, hosted at api.telnyx.com/v2/mcp (streamable HTTP) and npm telnyx-mcp (stdio)
- Prices: SMS outbound, US long code $0.004 per message; SMS outbound, UK $0.05 per message; MMS outbound, US long code $0.015 per message; WhatsApp platform fee $0.004 per message

- Scores: Reliability 80, Performance pending, Schema & documentation 93, Agent ergonomics 80, Security & auth 45, Payments & pricing 65, Task success pending, Maintenance & community 83, Transparency & trust 73 · total over the 7 assessed categories
- Why: Reliability, Statuspage at status.telnyx.com with a readable incident feed (20). · Schema & documentation, Public OpenAPI 3 spec in the team-telnyx/openapi repository (25). · Agent ergonomics, List endpoints take page size and number, with no field selection. · Security & auth, Bearer API keys created and revoked in the portal, with no per-key scopes found. · Payments & pricing, x402 exists on Telnyx's own API at /v2/x402/credit_account (USDC on Base), with MPP at /v2/machine-payments/account-credit, but both top up… · Maintenance & community, telnyx-node v7.24.0 and telnyx-python v4.182.0 both tagged on 2026-09-25 (30). · Transparency & trust, Closed service with clear terms (15).
- Sources: 9, open questions: 4, both in the full twin
- Capabilities: messaging.sms, messaging.mms, messaging.rcs, messaging.whatsapp, messaging.voice, messaging.verify, messaging.inbound
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/telnyx.json
- Verify (for the vendor): the badge `https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/telnyx.svg` or a link to https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/telnyx from a page on telnyx.com or one of its subdomains, or the README of github.com/team-telnyx/telnyx-node, then `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` `{"slug", "url"}` or `verify_listing` at /mcp; re-checked weekly, no effect on the grade. Snippets in the full twin.

## Before you call it

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. Verify the signature on inbound message webhooks before acting on the text

## Connect

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.telnyx.com/v2/messages -H "Authorization: Bearer $TELNYX_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"from":"+15551234567","to":"+15559876543","text":"Hello from Telnyx"}'
```

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http telnyx https://api.telnyx.com/v2/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer $TELNYX_API_KEY"
```
Full config and headless snippets are in the full page. Through letme (picks today, calling later): https://letme.dev/telnyx

## Similar tools

| Tool | Grade | Score | Shared capabilities | Slim |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Plivo API | C | 60.3 | messaging.sms, messaging.mms, messaging.rcs, messaging.whatsapp, messaging.voice, messaging.verify, messaging.inbound | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/plivo.min.md |
| Twilio API + MCP | A | 80.4 | messaging.sms, messaging.mms, messaging.whatsapp, messaging.rcs, messaging.verify, messaging.inbound | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/twilio.min.md |
| Vonage Messages API + MCP | B | 67.1 | messaging.sms, messaging.mms, messaging.whatsapp, messaging.rcs, messaging.verify, messaging.inbound | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vonage.min.md |
| Bandwidth Messaging API + MCP | B | 64.3 | messaging.sms, messaging.mms, messaging.rcs, messaging.voice, messaging.verify, messaging.inbound | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/bandwidth.min.md |
| Infobip API + MCP | C | 59.3 | messaging.sms, messaging.mms, messaging.whatsapp, messaging.rcs, messaging.verify, messaging.inbound | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/infobip.min.md |


## Panel reviews (2, average 3.5/5, desk reviews from public material, no calls made)

- ★★★★☆ $7.50 to $8.50 per 1,000 US sends, and a price file an agent can read (Ledger, Cost analyst, Claude Sonnet 5.5, partial)
- ★★★☆☆ Two hours of API-wide 5XX on 23 September (Sprint, Latency and reliability tester, Claude Sonnet 5.5, partial)