Talkdesk vs. Twilio

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Talkdesk
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Talkdesk is a cloud-based contact center platform with voice, digital channel, and workforce engagement management capabilities. Talkdesk’s key features are its customizable user interface, built-in AI automation, and its integration with numerous CRM and helpdesk applications.
$85
per month per user
Twilio
Score 7.4 out of 10
N/A
Twilio offers a CPaaS and CCaaS solution, with the combination of its programmable Voice, Video, and Messaging APIs, as well as the Twilio Flex cloud contact center. Additional capabilities include Twilio's Elastic SIP Trunking, as well as API for WhatsApp.
$0
per min per participant
Pricing
TalkdeskTwilio
Editions & Modules
CX Cloud Essentials
$85
per month per user
CX Cloud Elevate
$115
per month per user
CX Cloud Elite
$145
per month per user
Industry Experience Clouds
Contact Sales
Programmable Video
$0.0015
per min per participant
WhatsApp Business API
$0.0042
Per WhatsApp Template message sent
WhatsApp Business API
$0.005
Per WhatsApp session message
Elastic SIP Trunking
$0.007
Per min for termination
Programmable Messaging
$0.0075
per message sent or received
Programmable Voice
$0.0085
per minute to receive a call
Programmable Voice
$0.013
per min to make a call
Elastic SIP Trunking
$0.045
Per min for origination
Twilio Conversations
$0.05
per active user per month
Twilio Authy
$0.09
per authentication
Programmable Wireless
$0.1
per MB
Twilio Flex (Contact Center)
$1
per active user hour (5000 hours free)
Programmable Wireless
$2.00
per SIM card
Twilio SendGrid Email API
$14.95
per month up to 100k emails. (Up to 40k emails free for 30 days)
Twilio SendGrid Marketing Campaigns
$15
per month for 5,000 contacts and 15,000 emails. Your first 2,000 contacts are free
Twilio Flex (Contact Center)
$150
per named user per month (5000 hours free)
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
TalkdeskTwilio
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalOptional
Additional Details1. Pay-as-you-go pricing: Simple usage-based pricing means you don’t get locked into big contracts. 2. Volume discounts: Discounts trigger as your usage grows, so you always get a fair price. 3. Start building today with free trial credit and full API access.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
TalkdeskTwilio
Considered Both Products
Talkdesk
Chose Talkdesk
We switched to Talkdesk because Dialpad could not handle the scale of our company. We were most impressed with Talkdesk compared to other companies because of how modern their product line was, how quickly they iterate on products, and because they had the best API on the market.
Twilio

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
TalkdeskTwilio
Contact Center Software
Comparison of Contact Center Software features of Product A and Product B
Talkdesk
8.4
434 Ratings
1% above category average
Twilio
-
Ratings
Agent dashboard8.4415 Ratings00 Ratings
Validate callers8.1364 Ratings00 Ratings
Outbound response8.4380 Ratings00 Ratings
Call forwarding8.6369 Ratings00 Ratings
Click-to-call (CTC)8.9344 Ratings00 Ratings
Warm transfer8.9391 Ratings00 Ratings
Predictive dialing8.6193 Ratings00 Ratings
Interactive voice response8.3269 Ratings00 Ratings
REST APIs8.1215 Ratings00 Ratings
Call scripts8.0190 Ratings00 Ratings
Call tracking8.7385 Ratings00 Ratings
Multichannel integration8.1280 Ratings00 Ratings
CRM software integration7.9335 Ratings00 Ratings
Workforce Optimization (WFO)
Comparison of Workforce Optimization (WFO) features of Product A and Product B
Talkdesk
8.7
421 Ratings
5% above category average
Twilio
-
Ratings
Inbound call routing8.7383 Ratings00 Ratings
Omnichannel inbound routing8.5271 Ratings00 Ratings
Recording9.3405 Ratings00 Ratings
Quality management9.0366 Ratings00 Ratings
Call analytics8.9380 Ratings00 Ratings
Historical reporting8.5387 Ratings00 Ratings
Live reporting8.8381 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer surveys8.1207 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer interaction analytics8.3237 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
TalkdeskTwilio
Small Businesses
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 9.5 out of 10
Simplify360
Simplify360
Score 7.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Bright Pattern Contact Center
Bright Pattern Contact Center
Score 10.0 out of 10
Bright Pattern Contact Center
Bright Pattern Contact Center
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Google Cloud Contact Center AI
Google Cloud Contact Center AI
Score 8.9 out of 10
Conversica
Conversica
Score 9.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
TalkdeskTwilio
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(447 ratings)
6.6
(70 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.7
(36 ratings)
8.1
(5 ratings)
Usability
8.6
(263 ratings)
9.5
(10 ratings)
Availability
9.8
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(5 ratings)
7.0
(15 ratings)
Support Rating
8.6
(130 ratings)
5.7
(16 ratings)
In-Person Training
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.4
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.1
(204 ratings)
9.5
(2 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
TalkdeskTwilio
Likelihood to Recommend
Talkdesk
Despite the cost, the ease with which you are able to navigate the system is actually tedious. We have to have specialists in the business to aid in getting some of the reports and making changes to the system. Calls are delayed between us and customers as there is no tower on our continent for the system.
Read full review
Twilio
Twilio excels in customer service applications, enabling automated SMS updates or voice calls for order confirmations and support. It's ideal for implementing two-factor authentication, enhancing security for online services. However, it's less suitable for businesses needing in-depth, custom telephony infrastructure, as it primarily offers standard, API-driven solutions, or for regions with limited internet connectivity, where cloud-based services may be unreliable.
Read full review
Pros
Talkdesk
  • We were able to replace on-premise solution with Talkdesk Cloud solution within project timelines
  • We were able to migrate region by region while keeping our existing IVR numbers to minimize the impact on customer.
  • We were able to integrate Talkdesk with our cloud CRM, AWS storage and reporting applications
  • The IVR flow changes are easier to understand and manage and to onboard any new team members to support the agents
Read full review
Twilio
  • Easy to see my team in one place, when they log in and out and what call status they are in.
  • Twilio is a simple, user friendly way to log in and out of work activities.
  • Excellent services and support.
  • The omnichannel feature which allows agents to get request from all channels.
Read full review
Cons
Talkdesk
  • From experience, customer service is terrible, we've had 5 account executives over 18 months, extremely difficult to get timely answers to pressing issues.
  • Integration with other tools, such as ServiceNow, is not truly integration (in my opinion). There was a marked difference between what the salesperson communicated during the evaluation period and what we actually got once we purchased and implemented the product.
  • We continue to have stability issues which force our agents to restart the Talkdesk client. I frequently receive vague error messages ('something went wrong') that can be frustrating as there's no actual detail to what happened. To be fair, it has improved since we implemented the tool, but if you were to ask our agents what frustrated them, Talkdesk would be at the top of their list.
  • Being a multi-channel platform was one of the things that drew us to Talkdesk; however, the chat channel lags way behind voice in customization and reporting.
  • Lack of training resources. The 'Talkdesk Academy' is often very out-of-date. Would be nice to have actual webinars or online training (even paid training) for various functions of the tool like reporting, WFM, IVR, etc.
Read full review
Twilio
  • In my opinion, online support is extremely subpar for clients.
  • In my experience, no way to talk with anyone without a $1,500 investment monthly in their service.
  • In my experience, be prepared to wait at least 2-4 days to receive even one response from their support.
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Likelihood to Renew
Talkdesk
Renewing the use of talkdesk is a cost-effective solution for our company. By continuing to use it, we can leverage potential cost savings and efficiencies. For instance, talkdesk may have features that automate certain processes or enable better resource allocation, resulting in reduced operational costs. Secondly, renewing the contract contributes to enhanced customer service. Talkdesk likely offers specific functionalities that improve customer satisfaction and support. This could include features such as intelligent routing or real-time analytics that help agents provide personalized assistance and resolve issues more effectively. Thirdly, renewing the contract ensures seamless integration and compatibility with other systems or technologies used in our company. Having a unified system across different departments or functions enhances efficiency and reduces potential disruptions caused by incompatible systems. Moreover, there may be benefits gained from data sharing or streamlined workflows enabled by an integrated platform.
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Twilio
We have standardized our processes surrounding Twilio. The entire process just works! There is no significant gap that we need to fill. Instead of thinking about Twilio's replacement, we'd rather focus on our customers with Twilio. It meets all our uses-cases currently. We haven't even explored the entire suite of applications to determine what other use cases we may potentially use.
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Usability
Talkdesk
Talkdesk so far has lived up to its mission grants us a platform to use and engage with our population. They are able to reach us consistently and as they need with very few interruptions in services which for a tech company is not an easy thing to achieve. The platform is very simple to use and understand
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Twilio
Overall the product API is extremely well documented so it is very easy to build a product with their technology. The website is a little bit cumbersome to use as they have greatly expanded the number of products that they have over the years, but the dashboard UI has not been improved much since.
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Reliability and Availability
Talkdesk
I have never had a problem making a phone call or an issue getting a line out. More times than not it is the customer that will have a bad connection or have a lot of noise on their end. I have had experience w/ dropped calls, but never not being able to access a line
Read full review
Twilio
No answers on this topic
Performance
Talkdesk
We have never had a Talkdesk performance issue. As long as you follow the system requirements, which are MINIMAL, neither will you.
Read full review
Twilio
The problem tends to be us, the user, rather than Twilio. We don't reach out to support fast enough (spend time struggling), but when we have, they've solved our issue immediately. We are rural, so there are signal issues to accommodate, however, we find that a few staff on a few cellular networks can triangulate where we all have signal to put up a sign.
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Support Rating
Talkdesk
If Talkdesk had a dedicated phone support line I would have given this rating an overall 10. Their knowledge base is absolutely HUGE and at times very helpful. It's easy to search through and their customer support chat system works perfectly fine, but there are just some times that you need to speak to a human on the phone to ensure you are always on the same page.
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Twilio
I've never had to contact Authy's support. Of course, that's because Authy is so simple and easy to use that there hasn't been any need to. Authy correctly implements the time-based one-time password (TOTP) protocol, and becomes it conforms to the standard, it easily replaces Google Authenticator for your needs.
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In-Person Training
Talkdesk
I was shown how to use Talkdesk and was happy with it. I learned all I needed.
Read full review
Twilio
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Talkdesk
Training was simple as the app is easy to use. The phone has gone through upgrades since but it's very adaptive and doesn't require a complete session. There are articles available for self help in case something is forgotten. There are a lot of functions to talkdesk and we have not used all of them
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Twilio
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Talkdesk
Really easy to get set up out of the box. Anything I needed to understand further, I was able to just hop into the Academy and self-teach. I could then bring my team-members to those same sections so they could learn as well without me having to put together complicated SOP's / etc
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Twilio
The developer APIs and SDKs are super easy to follow.
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Alternatives Considered
Talkdesk
We were unable to easily access call metrics using WM. Since the switch to Talkdesk, we have not had to struggle with our reporting at all. All the information we need is readily available and can be exported. We are also able to modify the metrics that we need and have them compiled in different ways. The information on Talkdesk is modifiable and makes it easy for us to get the numbers that we need at the end of the day.
Read full review
Twilio
Twilio was referred to me by a business colleague, and I can't be more thankful! Twilio has helped my Facebook page by leaps and bounds, and I haven't even considered trying another chat option for my page. It is easy to set up, and customer service is quick to answer any and all questions you may have. I highly recommend it!
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Talkdesk
No answers on this topic
Twilio
Being in South Africa, direct local currency support would be nice
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Scalability
Talkdesk
We have over 200 employees in 11 states across the United States. Everyone uses Talkdesk. I believe that says a lot about the product and its flexibility. We need to be able to rely on system in order to assist our customers. Reliability and sustainability is important to our success
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Twilio
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Talkdesk
  • Decreased average response time on emails - due to proper forecasting by our team but of course by usage of data received from this tool.
  • Increase in quality audit scores through weekly reviews by this tool.
  • Employee morale and company survey as agents are not stressing with the easy use of this tool.
  • Reduced average handle time to ensure first response is addressed or first rings are addressed immediately.
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Twilio
  • Adding in phone numbers onto our onboarding sequence has increased our user activity by about 30%. We believe due to the users being more invested in the application now.
  • On top of that, our first SMS has increased our week 1 retention by about 15%. Pushing users to go on the app more than 2-3 times has been a struggle and SMS seems to be a solid driver in retention.
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ScreenShots

Twilio Screenshots

Screenshot of To access any of the products in Console, head over to the “Explore Products” section and start building.Screenshot of Whether you prefer to build with a drag-and-drop visual editor or with code, Twilio SendGrid Marketing Campaigns helps you engage your customers through email.Screenshot of Flex is a programmable Contact Center that puts you in control.