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Clearstream vs Twilio

New plants to many of the largest and most influential churches in the U.S. rely on Clearstream as their texting service.

Compare Twilio to Clearstream PDF

Download a comprehensive Twilio and Clearstream comparison

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When Twilio is the best option

Twilio is a great SMS option for organizations that prefer to build a texting program from the ground up. Twilio’s primary use cases are alerts, notifications, reminders, or verification codes. 

Twilio isn’t an SMS platform, only a set of APIs.

Clearstream is both. 

Red Twilio Logo

When Clearstream is best

If you’re a church, Clearstream is going to be the best and most affordable option in nearly every case. 

We offer a feature-rich SMS platform and API, with carrier complianceautomated workflows with conditional routing, team management, and multi-campus capability. And our product team is always pushing new updates.

We seamlessly integrate with Planning Center, Rock RMS, and CCB/Pushpay.

Screenshot of Clearstream dashboard on web app and phone

Better Pricing

Considering a short code with Twilio? Expect to pay a hefty $500/mo “short code service charge” on top of your monthly leasing fee. We don’t sneak in extra fees.

Twilio passes carrier message surcharges (about $.35c/msg) to you, on top of your standard Twilio messaging rates. Carrier surcharges are included in your Clearstream monthly plan

Twilio offers customer support plans. We give killer customer support free to every customer, regardless of what they pay. 

Piggybank artwork

Supported SMS Numbers

Both Clearstream and Twilio offer 5-digit short codes, A2P 10DLC numbers, and toll-free numbers.

It’s worth noting that Twilio’s short code message throughput is 100mps. Clearstream’s is 300mps.

Migrating your existing Twilio short code or A2P 10DLC numbers to Clearstream is painless and quick.

Call-to-action artwork with shortcode and longcode keyword

Clearstream API

Most large churches using Clearstream find our full-featured platform plus our direct integrations are exactly what they need, but we do offer a robust, open REST API for your church to build on as well. 

Screenshot of Clearstream's API code

Native iOS & Android App

Manage all text communications in our native, bug-free mobile app. Need to message volunteers Sunday morning on the fly? Text individuals or a full list through the mobile app and respond to replies immediately. 

Screenshot of inbox in dark mode on iPhone

Migrate from Twilio to Clearstream

Painlessly migrate your dedicated short code or A2P 10DLC numbers from Twilio to Clearstream.