TalkJS vs Twilio
Twilio Conversations connects in-app chat with SMS and WhatsApp. TalkJS gives you a customizable pre-built chat UI with notifications built in. Here’s how they compare, with sources and dates.
This page compares TalkJS with Twilio Conversations, Twilio’s chat API, not with all of Twilio. If you need SMS and WhatsApp users in the same conversation as your app users, or a HIPAA BAA, Twilio covers them, while TalkJS is ISO 27001 certified and GDPR compliant. TalkJS includes a pre-built, customizable chat UI for web and mobile, with notifications built in.
TalkJS is a chat API with a pre-built, customizable chat UI for web and mobile apps. Its UI works with JavaScript, React, Vue, Angular, Svelte, and Web Components, plus React Native and Flutter, and its Data APIs let you build your own UI on live data. Email, SMS, and push notifications and a profanity filter are built in. TalkJS is ISO 27001 certified, GDPR compliant, and hosted in Europe.
- You want a working chat UI for web and mobile on day one, and to customize it rather than build every screen
- You want email, SMS, and push notifications, with reply by email, on every plan
- You want a profanity filter with word blocklists and regex, without building it on webhooks
- You want to build and test with every feature in a free development mode
- ISO 27001 and GDPR, with data hosted in Europe, cover your compliance needs
- You want chat and email support from engineers on every plan
Twilio Conversations is Twilio’s omnichannel messaging API. One conversation can include chat users on its web, iOS, and Android SDKs and participants on SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. It has no pre-built chat UI: you build the screens on the SDKs, with open-source React demo apps to start from. Conversations replaced Twilio Programmable Chat, whose API was sunset on July 25, 2022.
- SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, or Facebook Messenger users need to join the same conversation as your chat users
- You want voice and video calling from the same vendor: Twilio Voice and Twilio Video, as separate products
- You need a HIPAA BAA: Twilio signs one with Security or Enterprise Edition, for the chat, SMS, MMS, and group texting channels
- You need SOC 2: Twilio has SOC 2 Type II company-wide, though its security page doesn’t list which products it covers
- You need a higher published uptime SLA: 99.95% for Twilio APIs, or 99.99% with Enterprise Edition
- Your users send files up to 150 MB
Compare TalkJS and Twilio
This table compares TalkJS with Twilio Conversations, as of October 2026, from each vendor’s docs and pricing pages. Twilio leads on SMS and WhatsApp users in the same conversation, voice and video, HIPAA, SOC 2, its published uptime SLA, and file size. TalkJS includes pre-built web and mobile chat UIs and a profanity filter, which Twilio Conversations doesn’t.
| Feature | TalkJS | Twilio | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core messaging | |||
| 1-on-1 chat | Yes. | Yes. | |
| Group chat | Yes. Hundreds or thousands of users per chat | Yes. Up to 1,000 participants (including up to 50 SMS or WhatsApp participants) | |
| Typing indicators | Yes. | Yes. | |
| Read receipts | Yes. | Yes. | |
| Delivery receipts | Yes. | Yes. For SMS and WhatsApp participants | |
| Online status | Yes. Online status indicator | Yes. Off by default | |
| Message features and interactions | |||
| Edit and delete messages | Yes. Per user role | Yes. | |
| Content and media | |||
| File sharing | Yes. 100 MB max file size, unlimited storage | Yes. Up to 150 MB per file and 10 files per message (media storage charged separately) | |
| User experience | |||
| Pre-built web UI | Yes. JavaScript, React, Vue, Angular, Svelte and Web Components | No. Open-source React demo apps only | |
| Pre-built mobile UI | Yes. React Native and Flutter | No. Build your own UI on the SDK | |
| Real-time client SDKs | Yes. JavaScript (web and React Native), Kotlin, Swift and Flutter (Android) | Yes. JavaScript (browser), iOS and Android | |
| Notifications and channels | |||
| Push notifications | Yes. Mobile and browser push | Yes. Mobile and browser push (APNs and FCM) | |
| SMS and WhatsApp users in the same conversation | No. SMS and email notifications, with reply by email | Yes. SMS, MMS, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger | |
| Moderation | |||
| Profanity filter | Yes. Word blocklists and regex suppression | No. Build it with pre-action webhooks | |
| Security and compliance | |||
| GDPR | Yes. | Yes. | |
| ISO 27001 | Yes. | Yes. Twilio-wide (products not listed) | |
| SOC 2 | No. | Yes. Twilio-wide (products not listed) | |
| HIPAA (BAA) | No. | Yes. Security or Enterprise Edition (chat, SMS, MMS and group texting) | |
| SSO for the dashboard | Yes. Enterprise plan (OpenID Connect) | Yes. Administration Edition and up (SAML 2.0) | |
| Data hosting region | Europe | US (default) or Ireland (chat channel only) | |
| Developer experience and support | |||
| Webhooks | Yes. 1 on Basic, 3 on Growth and Enterprise | Yes. Pre-action and post-action | |
| Free for development | Yes. Development mode with all features | Yes. First 200 MAU free (Conversations API), plus a free trial | |
| Voice and video calling | No. Integrate a calling provider of your choice | Yes. Twilio Voice and Twilio Video, separate products | |
| Support | Chat and email with engineers, all plans (priority from Growth, named Solutions Engineer on Enterprise) | Web support on the free Developer plan (live chat from Production, phone from Business, technical account manager on Personalized) | |
| Uptime SLA | Yes. 99.9% on Enterprise | Yes. 99.95% (99.99% with Enterprise Edition) | |
Read more in the TalkJS docs: UI components, SMS notifications, and Moderation.
Why TalkJS?
TalkJS has run chat in production since 2016 and delivers more than 130 million messages a month for customers in over 90 countries.
We were able to offload all messaging to TalkJS — hugely simplifying our development of an otherwise complex stack.
I demoed a working end-to-end chat conversation in our platform in just 2–3 days. The POC took less than an hour.
TalkJS pricing vs Twilio
TalkJS publishes monthly prices by monthly active users (MAU). Twilio Conversations charges per active user with no subscription, and quotes custom prices above 20,000 active users. The table shows each at 10,000, 25,000, and 50,000 MAU.
| Monthly active users | TalkJS | Twilio |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 MAU | Basic $239 | Pay per active user: $0.0475–$0.05, plus channel fees |
| 25,000 MAU | Growth $499 | Custom pricing (Conversations API) |
| 50,000 MAU | Growth $1,249 | Custom pricing (Conversations API) |
Prices are in USD per month, billed annually, as of October 2026. At 50,000 MAU, the TalkJS price is the Growth plan plus overage for each MAU over the 25,000 it includes: $499 + 25,000 × $0.03 overage = $1,249. See the current prices on the TalkJS pricing page and the Twilio Conversations API pricing page.
Twilio Conversations API pricing, as of October 2026:
- No subscription: the first 200 monthly active users are free.
- Per active user: $0.05 up to 5,000, $0.0475 from 5,001 to 10,000, and $0.045 from 10,001 to 20,000. Above 20,000, Twilio quotes custom volume pricing.
- On top: SMS and WhatsApp message fees, and media storage.
On TalkJS, email and push notifications are included on every plan, and SMS notifications are charged separately.
Migrate to TalkJS from Twilio Conversations or Programmable Chat
To move from Twilio Conversations to TalkJS, list each conversation’s messages with the Conversations REST API, which returns up to 100 messages per page, oldest first by default. Then import your users, then conversations, then messages with their original timestamps through the TalkJS REST API (Import messages). Twilio moved Programmable Chat channels into Conversations, so the same API covers Programmable Chat data.
SMS and WhatsApp participants have no TalkJS equivalent: they can’t take part in a TalkJS conversation. Tell the TalkJS team about your setup in the form below to plan the move.
- Data import and export API on all plans
- Migration help from the TalkJS team
FAQs
Twilio Conversations is an omnichannel messaging API: one conversation can include chat users on its web, iOS, and Android SDKs and participants on SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. You build the chat UI yourself. TalkJS is a chat API with a pre-built, customizable chat UI for web and mobile, with email, SMS, and push notifications built in.
No. Twilio sunset the Programmable Chat API on July 25, 2022, and says it “receives no support”. Programmable Chat in Flex reached end of life on June 1, 2026. Twilio points Programmable Chat users to Twilio Conversations.
No. Twilio Conversations has client SDKs for JavaScript, iOS, and Android, and open-source React demo apps to start from, but no pre-built chat UI. TalkJS ships pre-built chat UIs for JavaScript, React, Vue, Angular, Svelte, and Web Components, plus React Native and Flutter (see UI components).
TalkJS, in USD per month billed annually, as of October 2026: Basic is $239 at 10,000 MAU, Growth is $499 at 25,000 MAU, and Growth with overage is $1,249 at 50,000 MAU ($499 plus 25,000 MAU at $0.03 each). Twilio Conversations has no subscription. The first 200 monthly active users are free, then it’s $0.05 per active user up to 5,000, $0.0475 from 5,001 to 10,000, and $0.045 from 10,001 to 20,000, with custom pricing above 20,000. SMS and WhatsApp message fees and media storage are charged on top.
TalkJS sends SMS notifications to users who are offline, and email notifications that users can reply to by email. SMS and WhatsApp users can’t take part in a TalkJS conversation the way they can in Twilio Conversations. TalkJS can send its SMS notifications through Twilio or Amazon SNS, which you connect in the TalkJS dashboard (see SMS notifications).
No. TalkJS is chat-first and has no voice or video calling. To add calls, integrate a calling provider of your choice. Twilio offers Twilio Voice and Twilio Video as separate products.
Twilio signs a HIPAA business associate agreement (BAA) with its Security or Enterprise Edition. It covers the chat, SMS, MMS, and group texting channels of Conversations, but not WhatsApp. TalkJS doesn’t sign a HIPAA BAA. TalkJS is ISO 27001 certified and GDPR compliant on all plans, and hosts data in Europe.
List each conversation’s messages through Twilio’s Conversations REST API, which returns up to 100 messages per page. Then import users, conversations, and messages with their original timestamps through the TalkJS REST API (see Import messages). Twilio moved Programmable Chat channels into Conversations, so the same steps cover Programmable Chat data. For help planning the move, use the contact form.