Softwr

Telecommunications · head to head

Bandwidth vs Gupshup

Bandwidth logo

Bandwidth

Telecommunications

Voice, messaging and emergency calling APIs run on the company's own US carrier network

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Gupshup logo

Gupshup

Communication

Conversational messaging and CPaaS with a flat platform fee stacked on top of Meta per-message rates

From
$0.001/message
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bandwidth commercial terms are negotiated contracts rather than a published rate, so a small team cannot start without going through a sales process.; Gupshup the Gupshup platform fee of about 0.001 dollars per message is negligible next to Meta pass-through rates, so comparing providers on their own fee is misleading, and the country and category mix of your traffic determines almost the entire bill.
  • They diverge on capability: Bandwidth covers Owned US carrier network, Gupshup covers WhatsApp Business API.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bandwidth and Gupshup actually diverge.

Attributes where Bandwidth and Gupshup differ
AttributeBandwidthGupshup
Starting priceOn request$0.001/message
Pricing modelquotePer message sent
PlatformsWeb, APIs, Python, JavaScript, Java, C#, RubyWeb, API
CategoryTelecommunicationsCommunication

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Bandwidth

  • Owned US carrier network
  • Programmable voice
  • Messaging APIs
  • Emergency calling
  • Global numbering

Only in Gupshup

  • WhatsApp Business API
  • Flat platform fee
  • RCS messaging
  • SMS and voice
  • Bot Studio
  • Agent inbox
  • Campaign manager
  • Emerging market reach

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Bandwidth

  • Unified communications and contact centre providers needing wholesale voice termination under their own brandnot Gupshup
  • Enterprises with high call volumes where a wholesale margin on every minute is materialnot Gupshup
  • VoIP deployments with US emergency calling obligations requiring E911 and dynamic locationnot Gupshup
  • Platforms needing local numbers across many countries from a single suppliernot Gupshup

Gupshup

  • An e-commerce brand sending order and delivery notifications over WhatsApp to customers across India and Southeast Asianot Bandwidth
  • A bank or fintech running one-time passcodes and transactional alerts with fallback from WhatsApp to SMSnot Bandwidth
  • A company deploying a WhatsApp chatbot for tier one support with handover to human agents for anything it cannot resolvenot Bandwidth
  • A marketing team running WhatsApp template campaigns to opted-in lists in markets where email engagement is lownot Bandwidth

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Bandwidth

  • Commercial terms are negotiated contracts rather than a published rate, so a small team cannot start without going through a sales process.
  • US A2P messaging still requires 10DLC brand and campaign registration, and those fees plus per-segment carrier surcharges are charged on top of the negotiated message rate.
  • The self-serve developer experience is weaker than the aggregators it competes with, so teams prototyping quickly start elsewhere and migrate later, if ever.
  • Its owned-network advantage is a United States advantage; international coverage arrived through the Voxbone acquisition and does not rest on the same model.
  • Committed volume pricing means an organisation whose traffic falls short of forecast pays for capacity it did not use.

Gupshup

  • The Gupshup platform fee of about 0.001 dollars per message is negligible next to Meta pass-through rates, so comparing providers on their own fee is misleading, and the country and category mix of your traffic determines almost the entire bill.
  • Gupshup publishes no single flat rate for a full send, so accurate cost modelling requires you to build a country by country and category by category forecast before any provider comparison is meaningful.
  • Meta moved from conversation-based to per message billing in July 2025, which materially changed the economics of high-frequency messaging, and any budget or ROI model built on the old conversation pricing is now wrong.
  • Template approval sits with Meta rather than Gupshup, so rejections and category reclassifications can stall a campaign regardless of provider, and support quality on chasing them is a common complaint.
  • The product surface is broad, spanning CPaaS APIs, bot building and campaign tooling, and the non-API tools are less refined than dedicated conversational marketing platforms, so many buyers use Gupshup purely as a pipe.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bandwidth

On request
  • Bandwidth$undefined/year
    • Committed volume contracts quoted per customer
    • Per-minute and per-message rates negotiated by destination
    • US 10DLC registration and carrier surcharges billed in addition

Gupshup

$0.001/message
  • Messaging$0.001/message
    • About 0.001 USD Gupshup platform fee per outgoing template message
    • Same fee on outgoing and incoming session messages
    • Meta per-message charges passed through on top, varying by country and category

Which should you pick?

Choose Bandwidth if

  • You need owned us carrier network.
  • You work on Web, APIs, Python, JavaScript, Java, C#, Ruby.
  • You also want programmable voice.
Bandwidth review

Choose Gupshup if

  • You need whatsapp business api.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want flat platform fee.
Gupshup review

Questions people ask

Is Bandwidth or Gupshup better?
Neither clearly leads. Bandwidth starts at On request and Gupshup at $0.001/message, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bandwidth or Gupshup?
Bandwidth starts at On request and Gupshup at $0.001/message.
Does Bandwidth or Gupshup run on more platforms?
Bandwidth runs on Web, APIs, Python, JavaScript, Java, C#, Ruby. Gupshup runs on Web, API.
What is Bandwidth best used for?
Bandwidth is most often used for unified communications and contact centre providers needing wholesale voice termination under their own brand, enterprises with high call volumes where a wholesale margin on every minute is material, voip deployments with us emergency calling obligations requiring e911 and dynamic location, platforms needing local numbers across many countries from a single supplier. Of those, unified communications and contact centre providers needing wholesale voice termination under their own brand and enterprises with high call volumes where a wholesale margin on every minute is material are not what Gupshup is typically brought in for.
What can Bandwidth do that Gupshup cannot?
Bandwidth covers Owned US carrier network, Programmable voice, Messaging APIs, Emergency calling. Gupshup covers WhatsApp Business API, Flat platform fee, RCS messaging, SMS and voice.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bandwidth: Is Bandwidth a carrier or a reseller?

It is a licensed carrier operating its own US network. That removes the wholesale margin an aggregator pays its upstream and gives direct control over routing and regulatory functions such as E911.

Gupshup: What does Gupshup charge?

About 0.001 USD per outgoing template message and per session message in each direction, plus roughly 0.0001 USD per second on voice. Meta per-message charges are passed through on top.

Bandwidth: Do 10DLC fees apply on top of Bandwidth's rates?

Yes. US A2P messaging requires brand and campaign registration with The Campaign Registry, and the registration fees plus per-message carrier surcharges are billed in addition to whatever per-message rate you negotiated.

Gupshup: Is Gupshup cheaper than other WhatsApp providers?

On its own platform fee it is competitive, but that fee is a small fraction of the total. Meta pass-through rates dominate, so provider choice rarely changes your bill much.

Bandwidth: Did Bandwidth acquire Voxbone?

Yes, in 2020, for 519.4 million dollars. Voxbone supplied international phone numbering and became the basis of Bandwidth's coverage outside the United States.

Gupshup: Did WhatsApp pricing change?

Yes. Meta retired per 24-hour conversation pricing on 1 July 2025 and moved to per message billing, and Gupshup followed.

Gupshup: Is it only for India?

No, but its strongest carrier and operator reach is in India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Share

Related pages

More on Bandwidth

More on Gupshup

Keep looking

Other head to heads