Communication Channels Overview
Twilio Communication Channels
Twilio isn't one API — it's a suite organized around the channel you want to reach your users on. This page is the map: pick a channel below and you'll land on its dedicated guide, with direct links into the endpoint reference.
Not sure which channel fits? Scroll to Choose by Use Case at the bottom — we'll suggest the right product for common scenarios.
All Channels at a Glance
Messaging (SMS / MMS / WhatsApp)
Best for: transactional notifications, OTPs, marketing alerts, one‑way broadcasts.
Time to first call: ~60 seconds.
Send and receive SMS, MMS, and WhatsApp messages worldwide with a single CreateMessage call.
Conversations
Best for: multi‑party chat, customer support threads, mixed SMS + in‑app messaging.
Time to first call: ~3 minutes.
Persistent, multi‑channel conversations with participants, messages, webhooks, and delivery receipts.
Verification
Best for: 2FA, phone ownership checks, secure sign‑up flows.
Time to first call: ~2 minutes.
Send and validate one‑time codes over SMS, voice, email, WhatsApp, or TOTP.
Notify (Multi‑Channel Push)
Best for: broadcasting one payload to many users across SMS, APNs, FCM, and Facebook Messenger.
Time to first call: ~5 minutes (one‑time push credential setup).
Register bindings per user, then CreateNotification once — Notify fans out per channel.
TaskRouter
Best for: contact centers, on‑call rotations, skills‑based routing.
Workspaces, workers, queues, workflows, and reservations — the building blocks of an automated routing engine.
Chat (Programmable Chat v3)
Best for: in‑app messaging where you control the UI end‑to‑end.
Real‑time channels with members, messages, and roles. (For new projects, Conversations is the recommended successor.)
Choose by Use Case
Account & Platform APIs
These aren't channels — they're the foundation everything else runs on. Manage credentials, geopermissions, safelists, and account‑level configuration here.
Credentials & Tokens
Rotate auth tokens, promote secondary tokens, and manage AWS / public‑key credentials.
Safelist
Allow specific numbers through trial‑account restrictions.
Geopermissions
Control which countries your account can send messages to.