Softwr

Communication · head to head

Gupshup vs Plivo

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
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: 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.; 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: Gupshup covers WhatsApp Business API, 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 Gupshup and Plivo actually diverge.

Attributes where Gupshup and Plivo differ
AttributeGupshupPlivo
Starting price$0.001/messageOn request
Pricing modelPer message sentPer message and per minute, priced by destination country
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, APIs, Python, JavaScript, Java, PHP, Ruby, Go
CategoryCommunicationTelecommunications

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 Gupshup

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

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.

Gupshup

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

Plivo

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

Where each one falls short

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

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

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

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 Gupshup if

  • You need whatsapp business api.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want flat platform fee.
Gupshup 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 Gupshup or Plivo better?
Neither clearly leads. Gupshup starts at $0.001/message and Plivo at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Gupshup or Plivo?
Gupshup starts at $0.001/message and Plivo at On request.
Does Gupshup or Plivo run on more platforms?
Gupshup runs on Web, API. Plivo runs on Web, APIs, Python, JavaScript, Java, PHP, Ruby, Go.
What is Gupshup best used for?
Gupshup is most often used for an e-commerce brand sending order and delivery notifications over whatsapp to customers across india and southeast asia, a bank or fintech running one-time passcodes and transactional alerts with fallback from whatsapp to sms, a company deploying a whatsapp chatbot for tier one support with handover to human agents for anything it cannot resolve, a marketing team running whatsapp template campaigns to opted-in lists in markets where email engagement is low. Of those, an e-commerce brand sending order and delivery notifications over whatsapp to customers across india and southeast asia and a bank or fintech running one-time passcodes and transactional alerts with fallback from whatsapp to sms are not what Plivo is typically brought in for.
What can Gupshup do that Plivo cannot?
Gupshup covers WhatsApp Business API, Flat platform fee, RCS messaging, SMS and voice. Plivo covers Published country rate card, Programmable SMS and MMS, Programmable voice, Contact centre product.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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