Softwr

Telecommunications · head to head

Five9 vs Plivo

Five9 logo

Five9

Telecommunications

Intelligent cloud contact center

From
$149/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Plivo logo

Plivo

Telecommunications

SMS and voice APIs priced to undercut the larger aggregators

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Five9 a 50 seat minimum applies to the published rates, so the entry cost on the $119 Digital plan is $5,950 a month; Plivo the headline per-message saving does not apply to US 10DLC registration fees or carrier surcharges, which are pass-through costs and identical across vendors.
  • They diverge on capability: Five9 covers Intelligent routing, Plivo covers Published country rate card.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Five9 and Plivo actually diverge.

Attributes where Five9 and Plivo differ
AttributeFive9Plivo
Starting price$149/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer message and per minute, priced by destination country
PlatformsWeb, DesktopWeb, APIs, Python, JavaScript, Java, PHP, Ruby, Go
Founded2001Unknown

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

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 Five9

  • Intelligent routing
  • IVR
  • ACD
  • Dialer
  • WFM
  • Quality management
  • Analytics
  • Salesforce

Only in Plivo

  • Published country rate card
  • Programmable SMS and MMS
  • Programmable voice
  • Contact centre product
  • 10DLC registration

What people use each for

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

Five9

  • Cloud contact centre across voice, chat, email and social messagingnot Plivo
  • Routing and managing high volume customer interactionsnot Plivo

Plivo

  • Products sending high volumes of transactional SMS where unit price determines channel viabilitynot Five9
  • Teams migrating from a more expensive aggregator without changing their architecturenot Five9
  • Notification and alerting systems with predictable, steady message volumenot Five9
  • Businesses wanting voice and messaging from one supplier with published ratesnot Five9

Where each one falls short

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

Five9

  • A 50 seat minimum applies to the published rates, so the entry cost on the $119 Digital plan is $5,950 a month
  • Prices are per concurrent user rather than per named agent, which changes what a seat means when shifts overlap
  • Voice is excluded from the Digital plan and requires a quote
  • Usage based charges apply on top of the per seat rate
  • Three of the five tiers publish no price at all

Plivo

  • The headline per-message saving does not apply to US 10DLC registration fees or carrier surcharges, which are pass-through costs and identical across vendors.
  • The feature surface is narrower than the market leader, so products needing video, email or richer verification will need a second supplier.
  • Support is tiered and the entry tier is not appropriate for traffic that a business depends on commercially.
  • Deliverability on some international routes depends on an underlying carrier mix that can change without the customer being informed.
  • Its price advantage is smaller on US A2P traffic than on international routes, so a US-only sender may save considerably less than a headline comparison suggested.

Pricing, plan by plan

Five9

$149/month
  • Core$149/month
    • Inbound/outbound
    • IVR
    • Basic CTI
  • Premium$169/month
    • Core + Chat/email
    • Quality management
  • Optimum$199/month
    • Premium + WFM
    • Proactive chat
  • Ultimate$229/month
    • Full suite
    • Advanced analytics

Plivo

On request
  • Pay as you go$undefined/month
    • Published per-country rate card for SMS and voice
    • Volume discounts negotiated above published tiers
    • US 10DLC registration fees and carrier surcharges billed separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Five9 if

  • You need intelligent routing.
  • You work on Web, Desktop.
  • You also want ivr.
Five9 review

Choose Plivo if

  • You need published country rate card.
  • You work on Web, APIs, Python, JavaScript, Java, PHP, Ruby, Go.
  • You also want programmable sms and mms.
Plivo review

Questions people ask

Is Five9 or Plivo better?
Neither clearly leads. Five9 starts at $149/month and Plivo at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Five9 or Plivo?
Five9 starts at $149/month and Plivo at On request.
Does Five9 or Plivo run on more platforms?
Five9 runs on Web, Desktop. Plivo runs on Web, APIs, Python, JavaScript, Java, PHP, Ruby, Go.
What is Five9 best used for?
Five9 is most often used for cloud contact centre across voice, chat, email and social messaging, routing and managing high volume customer interactions. Of those, cloud contact centre across voice, chat, email and social messaging and routing and managing high volume customer interactions are not what Plivo is typically brought in for.
What can Five9 do that Plivo cannot?
Five9 covers Intelligent routing, IVR, ACD, Dialer. Plivo covers Published country rate card, Programmable SMS and MMS, Programmable voice, Contact centre product.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Five9: What is the minimum team size required to use Five9?

Five9 requires a minimum commitment of 50 seats for any subscription plan.

Source
Plivo: Will switching to Plivo cut our US messaging bill?

Partly. The per-message rate may fall, but 10DLC brand and campaign fees and the per-segment carrier surcharges are pass-through costs that are the same whichever provider you use.

Five9: How is Five9 pricing calculated, per user, flat rate, or usage-based?

Five9 offers flexible pricing models: per concurrent user, per named agent, or pay-per-use. The pricing structure varies depending on the chosen bundle.

Source
Plivo: Does Plivo publish pricing?

Yes, as a per-destination rate card covering SMS and voice by country, so you can model your own destination mix before contacting sales.

Five9: What does the entry-level Digital bundle include, and what does it cost?

The Digital bundle costs $119 per month per seat and supports digital channels only. Higher tiers (Core at $159, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise) are available, with Plus/Pro/Enterprise requiring contact with sales for pricing.

Source
Plivo: How does it compare with Twilio?

Generally cheaper per unit on the same routes and narrower in scope. Twilio wins on ecosystem, channel breadth and documentation.

Five9: Are there additional charges beyond the base subscription?

Yes. All bundles include 3000 AI minutes per seat, but additional AI usage incurs charges. SMS messaging also has usage-based charges applied separately.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Five9

More on Plivo

Keep looking

Other head to heads