Twilio vs. 360Dialog – Which Is Best For WhatsApp API?

Updated on February 7, 2023

WhatsApp today owns over a staggering 2 billion everyday active users and has outperformed the used-to most popular messenger app, Facebook. 

Gone are the days when it was just a mode to connect with your acquaintances. The app now serves a lot more purposes- mainly in the business world. 

In the year 2021, WhatsApp businesses hit 100 million downloads signifying how businesses are leveraging this all-time favourite communication channel.

There are many good reasons to switch to WhatsApp to connect with your customers. 

But, when considering medium or large-scale businesses, a more secure and tailored solution is the need of the hour. Fortunately, for that, we have Whatsapp Business API! 

WhatsApp API – What is it, and why does your business need it? 

WhatsApp API enables medium and large businesses to efficiently connect and interact with their customers globally. The good part is that it doesn’t restrict you with the limit of messages. You can limitlessly talk to your customers, answer their queries and complaints, or even send automated messages via a chatbot. (35% of customers want companies to benefit from chatbots). 

WhatsApp API is a more reliable, secure, and fun way to interact with your customers. However, it is not an application, and you can’t directly access it as there’s no front-end interface. 

To access WhatsApp API, you can install the API, or else, Kommunicate helps you get it fast and conveniently without any hassles. 

But why should you even bother to get Whatsapp API? 

Let’s figure it out!

1. Convenience of scaling : With WhatsApp API, you can send over bulk messages to your customers. Unlike in WhatsApp Business, where you do not get the convenience of interacting with a large number of people at the same time.

2. Cementing healthy relationships with the customers: WhatsApp API enables you to build strong connections by interacting with your customers one-on-one. It’s the right steer as 75% of adults want to interact with businesses the same way they do with their friends and family. And, 71% of customers give an edge to businesses after a WhatsApp interaction. 

3. Interactive and meaningful interactions: With a plethora of ways accessible to interact with your customers, communication has become fun! Not just the boring texts; you have videos, photos, voice messages, and whatnot! What’s more, with WhatsApp, you can track the message status as well. From when it’s being read to the moment the customer starts typing. So, undeniably, it has the upper hand! 

4. Trusted and secure: It’s no secret that people are hard pushed to install or hop onto a new application. They are likely to have numerous objections. Lucky for you, WhatsApp is something their life revolves around. If you ask them to connect on WhatsApp, they won’t disagree. After all, the application is trusted, safe, and easily accessible. 

Let’s now understand what Twilio entails and what it has in store for you! 

Twilio – How does Twilio work?

Twilio is one of the most popular and powerful communication APIs that enables you to establish various communication channels to interact with your customers. It can help with sending SMS, emails, WhatsApp texts, voice, video, and IoT during the customer experience journey.   

Talking about the core idea, Twilio was born with the notion of helping businesses understand their customers better. The aim of the API is to get you more customers, understand them on a deeper level, serve them right, and retain the exciting ones. 

When it comes to accessing WhatsApp API with Twilio, you can just integrate the API with your software, and you’ll be good to go! 

Who’s it for?

Twilio API is the best solution for all sizes of businesses who understand the value of WhatsApp and looking to automate the conversations with their customers. 

Twilio Pricing 

Twilio packages start from as low as $0.01. They also extend a free version so that you go armed with confidence when choosing them. 

Their packages look like this: 

1. Programmable voice: In the programmable voice package, you don’t get restricted by the calling capacity. Call globally, and get advanced call control. The charges are as follows; $0.0085/min for receiving a call and $0.013/min to call your customers. 

2. Programmable messaging: This package allows you to send messages at a 50% faster rate and gets you valuable insights as well. It takes $0.0075 to receive or send a text. 

3. WhatsApp Business API: The WhatsApp Business API charges start from $0.0042 to send a WhatsApp Template message. The charges to send a WhatsApp session message are $0.005.

Their range has more flexible solutions for every need. 

360Dialog – How does it work? 

360dialog brings you an intelligent and impactful API for your business. The core business of 360dialog is to connect you with your customers at every customer touchpoint via personalized one-on-one communication. The notion of the API is to drive the business through data and real-time experiences. 

Their integration platform allows you to integrate all communication channels under one roof and drive them easily. 360dialog makes customer management a cakewalk for businesses in terms of speed, efficiency, and meaningfulness. What’s more, their solutions are the most cost-effective in the market. 

To access 360dialog for your business, all you need to do is integrate the API. 

Who’s it for?

360dialog is a specialist with a great variety of packages for all types of companies. It’s the most cost-effective and reliable solution to extend the finest communication for your customers while they are on the move. 

360Dialog Pricing

With 360dialog, you get 3 WhatsApp API packages to choose from. 

1. Professional: It’s the most scalable option available for business with no limit on the frequency of WhatsApp messages. The pricing starts from 99€ with a peak of up to 20 messages per second. 

2. API only: The API package starts from as low as 49€. It also extends unlimited messages with up to 10 messages per second. 

3. Enterprise: Enterprise is the most high-availability package that starts from 200€. It can process up to 10 messages per second. 

Let’s take a deep look at the side-by-side comparison of Twilio and 360 Dialog and find out that’s the best fit for your business! 

Twilio vs. 360 Dialog-Which one is for you? 

While integrating the two options, users found 360dialog to be more effective and efficient than Twilio. Broadly speaking, the set-up process, convenience of accessing features, and the ease of working with 360 dialog give it the edge. 

Let’s understand the underlying elements to support the above statement.

Sign-up process time 

The sign-up process of both the Twilio and 360dialog is kind of the same. However, 360dialog uses a quicker and easier approach. On the one hand, it takes 10-15 minutes to complete the sign-up process with 360dialog. Twilio takes around 2-4 weeks for the same. 

Features

Talking about the features, which is indeed the most fundamental part, 360dialog excels at meeting Business requirements better than Twilio. Along with that, 360dialog stays ahead when it comes to the updates of new additions and roadmaps. 

Facebook business manager ID verification

360dialog doesn’t necessarily require you to complete Facebook business manager ID verification whereas, with Twilio, it’s necessary, giving the edge to 360dialog. 

Message template fees

Message temples incorporate messages that are already approved. These may include reminders, useful content, and notifications, making it easier for you to reuse the same messages over and over again. 

360dialog doesn’t charge any additional fees for the message templates. However, Twilio asks you to pay $0.005 for every send and receive text. 

Session message fees

Session messages refer to all incoming and outgoing messages within a span of 24 hours.

With WhatsApp, the first 1000 conversations are free every month. 360Dialog charges a fixed monthly license fee of 49 Euros for every hosted WhatsApp Business Account Number, in the Dev plan. There are also Professional and Enterprise plans, the details of which can be found here. 

In the case of Twilio, there is a separate flat rate per message platform fee, and this varies based on the usage and the country. The details of Twilio’s pricing can be found here.

WhatsApp registration number

The method of registration differs with both solutions. You can register at 360dialog with your own number. While at Twilio, they encourage you not to register with your own number and get one from them. 

Purchasing a separate phone number with Twilio costs around $1 per month. The fee may differ depending upon the region. 

Supported template types 

360dialog features every type of template, while Twilio only provides text messages and engaging buttons. 

Pricing

Coming to the most vital point, in terms of Pricing, 360 Dialog again proves to be more effective than Twilio. Their packages are affordable, personalized, and tailored to every need. 

Ease of use and integration

Users feel that using and integrating 360dialog is easier than accessing Twilio. 360dialog incorporates the easiest approach for the customers. 

API call speed

Calling covers a major area when it comes to WhatsApp API. The calling speed largely affects the quality of your customer support. 360dialog outperforms Twilio in terms of API call speed. 

Communication mode varieties

Both Twilio and 360dialog have a great array of communication modes. Their range includes: 

• Messages
• Voice
• Calls
• E-mail
• Video 
• Engaging live-streaming

And more…

Community support 

Community support means that you can turn to their community for any assistance at any time. Fortunately, you get this offer at 360dialog. But, Twilio doesn’t hold you up with community support.

Speaking overall, 360dialog overshadows Twilio. Also, the customer reviews available on Google again give 360dialog an edge over Twilio. 360dialog manages to get a ranking of 4.9 out of 5. Whereas, Twilio received 4.4 out of 5. 

The final verdict- Twilio or 360Dialog?

Choosing the best WhatsApp API is the fundamental step toward extending the finest communication channels and building a good relationship with your customers. Considering the evidence, 360dialog undeniably turns out to be more beneficial than Twilio. 

So, if you’re looking for on-the-go solutions, go ahead with 360dialog. 

However, if accessing WhatsApp API without any hassles is what you want, Kommunicate has got your back! We help you integrate this idea in a few easy steps! Make a smart decision and leverage WhatsApp all the more for your business. It’s easier than you think! 

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At Kommunicate, we are envisioning a world-beating customer support solution to empower the new era of customer support. We would love to have you on board to have a first-hand experience of Kommunicate. You can signup here and start delighting your customers right away.