Plivo vs Ytel (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Plivo and Ytel share a 1.8 GPA, neither has a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on whether you care more about the free plan, where Plivo grades higher, or features and ease of use, where Ytel does.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on value for money and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Plivo
Voice, SMS and AI voice agent platform billed by usage
Free trial · from $1,000/mo
Which one is for you
Pick Plivo if
- Fits if you build voice or AI-agent calling into your own product
- Works for developers who want pay-per-use pricing
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want an office phone with extensions and an app
- Tight if you want SMS or WhatsApp, which start at $1,000 a month on Enterprise
- Watch out: pay as you go covers the US and India; 190+ countries need Enterprise
- Watch out: rates are starting prices, so a given country can cost more
Pick Ytel if
- Fits if you run outbound sales calls from Salesforce, HubSpot or Zoho
- Works for teams who worry about their numbers being flagged as spam
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a posted price, as it's a demo or pricing request
- Not for you if you want desk phones and extensions, as it's built around outbound dialing
- Watch out: agents need Chrome and a headset, and no desktop or mobile apps are listed
- Too light for inbound-heavy offices
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAPlivoWeak | 1.8GPAYtelWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPay as you go has no monthly fee, with per-minute and per-message rates. Enterprise starts at $1,000 a month. | CNo prices published; the site routes visitors to a demo. |
| Free plan and trial | C$10 in free credits with no credit card. It's a credit, not a free plan. | FNo free plan and no free trial is offered on the pages we read. |
| Features | DSIP trunking, audio streaming, voice AI agents, SMS and WhatsApp APIs. It's pieces for building on, not an office phone, and SMS and WhatsApp sit on Enterprise. | CPower and predictive dialing, number health, call monitoring, inbound routing, AI voice agents and CRM sync. It does the dialing job fully, which is a smaller job than an office phone system. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. You work with it through APIs and code. | CNo store rating on record. Agents work in Chrome with a headset, and the team sets up dialing and CRM sync. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with LiveKit and Pipecat connections. | BWeb only, with Salesforce, HubSpot and Zoho connections. |
| Best for | voice and text for developers, billed by use | an outbound sales dialer in the browser |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Plivo and Ytel. How we grade
Where they differ
- Plivo also covers business texting and whatsApp messaging.
- Ytel also covers business phone line, sMS marketing and call tracking.
In commonWebAI agents
At a glance
| Plivo | Ytel | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $1,000 per month for the Enterprise plan; pay as you go has no monthly fee | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | $10 in free credits, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Plivo Inc. | Ytel |
| Price read from | plivo.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Plivo
- This is a usage-billed API platform, not an office phone system with desks, extensions and a softphone app.
- SMS, WhatsApp and the Verify API are Enterprise-only, which starts at $1,000 per month.
- Pay as you go lists coverage in the United States and India only; 190+ countries need Enterprise.
- Per-minute and per-message rates are listed as starting prices, so the rate for a given country can be higher.
Ytel
- No prices are published; the site routes visitors to a demo or pricing request, so pricing is unverified here.
- Agents need a Chrome browser and a headset; no desktop or mobile apps are listed on the pages we read.
- It is built around outbound dialing, not an office phone system with desk phones and extensions.
Key features
Plivo
- SIP trunking
- Carrier trunks for inbound and outbound calls, listed from $0.0010 a minute outbound and $0.0028 a minute inbound, with secure trunking and call recording as add-ons.
- Audio streaming
- Streams live call audio to your own software, with noise cancellation as an add-on; the pricing page names LiveKit and Pipecat as supported frameworks.
- Voice AI agents
- Hosted voice agents at $0.03 a minute before telephony, with a builder, simulation testing, transfer to a human and a knowledge base included.
- SMS and Verify API
- Business texting and one-time-passcode verification, available on the Enterprise plan, with messages listed from $0.0077 each.
- WhatsApp API
- Messages and calls through the WhatsApp Business API, listed from $0.0034 a message and $0.0040 a minute, on the Enterprise plan only.
Ytel
- Power and predictive dialing
- Dials multiple lines at once and calls ahead based on predicted agent availability to cut idle time between conversations.
- Number health
- Detects numbers carriers have labeled as spam-likely and cycles them out of rotation until the label is fixed.
- Live call monitoring
- Managers can listen in, whisper to the rep or barge into live calls to coach without leaving the dashboard.
- Inbound routing
- Skills-based routing and IVR send inbound calls to the right agent, and every agent gets a dedicated number.
- AI voice agents and outbound SMS
- AI voice agents take calls without a human agent, and automated texts can be sent at scale alongside calling.
- CRM sync and STIR/SHAKEN
- Logs call data to CRMs such as Salesforce, HubSpot and Zoho, and the vendor says it supports STIR/SHAKEN caller ID verification.
Plans
Plivo
Pay as you go$0
Billed by use: coverage in the US and India, SIP trunking, audio streaming, AI agents and numbers, up to $2,500 of monthly usage.
Enterprise$1,000
per month and up
190+ countries, SMS, WhatsApp and Verify API, shortcodes, custom sender IDs, BAA, HIPAA and SSO, with custom pricing and volume discounts.
Ytel
Pricing could not be confirmed. See ytel.com.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Plivo or Ytel?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Plivo starts at $1,000 per month for the Enterprise plan; pay as you go has no monthly fee, and Ytel has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Plivo or Ytel?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Plivo nor Ytel has a free plan. Plivo has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.