SignalWire

What SignalWire does

SignalWire is a Palo Alto-based Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) company founded in 2017 by Anthony Minessale II, Brian West, and Michael Jerris — the original creators of the FreeSWITCH open-source telephony engine. The company offers programmable voice, video, messaging, and AI agent APIs on a unified, carrier-grade infrastructure that spans SIP/SDP/SS7/RTP and modern WebRTC stacks, with a stated pricing position roughly 50% below Twilio. Its technical differentiator is an AI Kernel written in C and embedded directly in the media stack, combined with a Programmatically Governed Inference (PGI) runtime and Datasphere RAG that together target sub-second agent response times.

The platform serves enterprise customers across multiple verticals — including Audi, Phoenix Children's Hospital, Deutsche Telekom, Samsung, Replicant, Zoom, Amazon, Netflix, Ring, Five9, Vonage, Amazon Connect, and Oracle Cloud — alongside a long-tail developer base. SignalWire monetizes through usage-based pricing (e.g., $0.16/min for AI Agent, $0.0045/min for video) and through a parallel commercial tier, FreeSWITCH Advantage, that serves the 5,000+ commercial enterprises running on the open-source core.

SignalWire has raised approximately $41.6M across a $11.5M Series A (2019, led by Storm Ventures) and a $30M Series B (mid-2021, led by Prosperity7 Ventures with Samsung NEXT, Sequoia Capital, and WVV Capital), supplemented by strategic investments from T-Mobile Ventures (March 2022) and Deutsche Telekom's Telekom Innovation Pool (December 2021). The company holds ISO 27001:2022, SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS certifications, and operates with a headcount in the 51-100 range. Revenue is not publicly disclosed.

Name

SignalWire

Legal name

SignalWire Inc.

Website

https://signalwire.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

SignalWire is a Palo Alto-based CPaaS company offering programmable voice, video, messaging, and AI agent APIs on a carrier-grade platform, serving enterprise customers like Audi, Deutsche Telekom, and Amazon alongside a developer ecosystem anchored by the FreeSWITCH open-source community.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cloud Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS)

NAICS

All Other Telecommunications (517810), Telecommunications (517)

SIC

Communications Services, Nec (4899), Telephone Communications (No Radiotelephone) (4813), Telegraph & Other Message Communications (4822)

akta.pro primary industry

Messaging APIs, CPaaS & Programmable Communications (BPAMACAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Unified Communications & Collaboration Network Services (VoIP/QoS) (BPAEAEAI), Customer Support, CRM & Retention Tooling (Helpdesk, Churn, Messaging) (MPAHAJAM)

Keywords

• Cloud communications APIs
• Programmable voice platform
• AI voice agents
• Real-time messaging APIs
• Video conferencing SDK

Headquarters

HQ city

Palo Alto

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Voice API: Pay-as-you-go per-minute pricing for programmable voice calls. Supports local, toll-free, and SIP inbound/outbound calling. Volume discounts available for high-volume customers.
2. Messaging API: Usage-based pricing per SMS/MMS message sent. Supports 10DLC, toll-free, and short code numbers. Revenue based on message volume and number type.
3. Video Conferencing API: Per-minute per-participant pricing for video room usage. Standard (720p) and Full HD (1080p) tiers. No platform fees or seat licenses.
4. AI Agent API: Usage-based pricing combining AI and telephony. Starts at $0.16/min for AI + telephony, all-in-one. Pricing includes real-time transcription, translation, and AI model orchestration.
5. Multi-Factor Authentication API: Per-request pricing for OTP generation and delivery via SMS or voice. Configurable token lengths, validity windows, and max attempts.
6. Fax API: Per-minute pricing for inbound and outbound programmable fax. HIPAA-compliant PHI handling included. Volume discounts available.
7. Subscribers: Subscription pricing at $3/user/month. Includes user management, authentication, multi-channel communication, and enterprise-grade security.
8. Dedicated Real-Time Regions: Single-tenant infrastructure for mission-critical applications with 99.99% availability SLA. Custom pricing based on infrastructure requirements.
9. BAA/HIPAA Compliance Plans: Business Associate Agreement with monthly fees: Startup tier at $100/month with $1,000/month minimum API usage; Enterprise tier at $1,000/month with $5,000/month minimum API usage.
10. FreeSWITCH Advantage: Premium support subscription from the original FreeSWITCH creators. Includes quarterly updates, direct founder access, priority bug fixes, and architectural support.
11. Commercial Modules: Licensed commercial modules including G.729A codec ($10.00 each) and AMD (Answering Machine Detection) module ($50.00 each). One-time license fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

SignalWire provides a Programmable Unified Communications (PUC) platform delivered via APIs, SDKs, and a unified control plane (Call Fabric) that orchestrates real-time voice, video, messaging, and AI agent workflows for developers and enterprises. Core offerings include the AI Agent API, Voice API, Messaging API, Video Conferencing API, Programmable SIP, Fax API, Multi-Factor Authentication API, Subscribers, Dedicated Real-Time Regions, and Business Associate Agreements, all built on the FreeSWITCH open-source telephony stack.

Product overview

SignalWire provides a Programmable Unified Communications (PUC) platform for the AI era, offering a comprehensive suite of APIs, SDKs, and a programmable control plane that orchestrates complex communication workflows. The platform consists of core communication products (Voice API, Messaging API, Video Conferencing API, Fax API, Programmable SIP), AI-powered solutions (AI Agent API), and supporting infrastructure (Dedicated Real-Time Regions, Subscribers, BAA/HIPAA compliance). Built by the original creators of FreeSWITCH, the platform unifies voice, messaging, video, and AI agents under a single control layer called Call Fabric. Additional offerings include open-source FreeSWITCH and commercial FreeSWITCH Advantage support, with enterprise add-ons like Multi-Factor Authentication, Prebuilt Video API, and Single-Tenant Real-Time Regions for mission-critical deployments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FreeSWITCH Advantage: Premium commercial support plan from the creators of FreeSWITCH, offering direct access to founders, priority bug fixes, deployment assistance, and quarterly updates.
• FreeSWITCH

Products and services

• AI Agent API API for building voice-driven AI agents that listen, respond, act, and integrate with systems in real time. Runs AI inside the media transport layer for sub-second (~800ms) latency with deterministic call control via PGI (Programmatically Governed Inference). Designed for developers and enterprises building AI-powered customer interactions.
• Voice API Programmable voice API for building voice-first applications with low-latency processing, built-in transcription, dynamic call routing, AI voice interaction, and real-time analytics. Supports PSTN, SIP, and WebRTC connections with click-to-call, IVR, and auto-dialer capabilities. Pricing starts at $0.00300/min for SIP.
• Messaging API Global SMS/MMS and chat API built on full-stack carrier infrastructure with real-time deliverability, intelligent routing, 10DLC compliance, WhatsApp integration, and campaign management. Supports MMS with images, audio, and video. Usage-based pricing from $0.00415/message.
• Video Conferencing API Cloud MCU-based video conferencing delivering one optimized stream per participant with <50ms latency, up to 80% lower bandwidth/CPU usage, and support for up to 300 people per room. Features 12 pre-built video tile layouts, SIP/PSTN integration, and real-time NLP/machine vision model integration.
• Prebuilt Video API Embeddable video rooms that can be configured and embedded into web pages in under 3 minutes using a single code snippet. Includes built-in chat, customizable branding, and integration options while delivering 50-80% bandwidth reduction. Pricing $0.00600/min standard, $0.00700/min HD.
• Multi-Factor Authentication API OTP generation and delivery API via voice or SMS with configurable token lengths (6-8 characters), validity windows, and max attempt limits. Per-request pricing with backward-compatible APIs enabling seamless migration from other MFA providers.
• Fax API Programmable cloud-based fax API with HIPAA-ready PHI handling, PSTN/SIP integration, TIFF and PDF support, real-time status webhooks, and transparent per-minute pricing ($0.0095/min in 48 contiguous US states and Canada). Supports number porting and BYOC.
• Programmable SIP SIP trunking API with API control for creating, routing, and modifying SIP traffic programmatically. Supports SIP-to-PSTN, BYOC (Bring Your Own Carrier), IVR, AMD, text-to-speech, and call recording with advanced routing based on time, location, and caller ID.
• Dedicated Real-Time Regions Single-tenant media infrastructure for mission-critical voice and AI agent applications with 99.99% availability SLA. Provides isolated compute and signaling with zero cross-tenant impact, ultra-low predictable latency, and regional options for data residency and compliance requirements. Custom pricing.
• Subscribers User identity and access control service providing programmable identity with built-in authentication, endpoint management, and PSTN/SIP/WebRTC support. Each subscriber is an addressable Call Fabric resource with metadata-driven routing. Priced at $3/user/month.
• Business Associate Agreements (BAA) HIPAA-compliant infrastructure with a single Business Associate Agreement covering voice, messaging, fax, AI workflows, and video traffic. Available in Startup tier at $100/month with $1,000/month minimum API usage, and Enterprise tier at $1,000/month with $5,000/month minimum API usage.
• FreeSWITCH Advantage Edition Commercial support plan from the creators of FreeSWITCH offering 24/7 Slack access, direct founder access, priority bug fixes, deployment assistance, quarterly updates, and architectural/design support. Includes subscription to the FreeSWITCH Enterprise branch. Trusted by 5,000+ commercial enterprises with 300M+ daily users.

Quantifiable outcome

• ~800ms typical latency for voice AI vs 2-4 seconds for bolt-on solutions
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers22 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability11 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• T-MobilecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 March 2022Strategic investment and partnership focused on 5G use cases. T-Mobile and SignalWire collaborating on low-latency programmable video and voice communications aligned with 5G network capabilities. SignalWire developing APIs for high-concurrency streaming applications on T-Mobile's network.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Twilio: The dominant CPaaS provider offering voice, messaging, video, and email APIs. SignalWire explicitly targets Twilio customers with API-compatible interfaces and ~50% lower pricing, making it the single most directly comparable peer.
• Telnyx: CPaaS and private global IP network provider offering voice, messaging, wireless, and IoT APIs with direct-to-carrier routing. Highly comparable to SignalWire on cost-displacement positioning and target buyer (developers and enterprises).
• Plivo: Cloud communications platform providing voice and SMS APIs for SMB and enterprise customers. Directly competes with SignalWire on the same CPaaS comparison page and similar usage-based pricing.
• Vonage (Ericsson): Communications platform offering voice, messaging, video, and UC APIs (now under Ericsson). A direct CPaaS competitor and also a named FreeSWITCH user in SignalWire's customer roster, indicating overlap in both supply and demand.
• Bandwidth: Communications platform for enterprises and CPaaS resellers offering voice, messaging, and 911 APIs. Comparable on enterprise CPaaS positioning and regulated-industry compliance posture.
• MessageBird (Bird): Omnichannel communications platform providing SMS, WhatsApp, email, voice, and inbox APIs globally. Comparable as a multi-channel CPaaS competitor with overlapping enterprise and developer buyer profiles.
• Sinch: Global CPaaS provider offering messaging, voice, email, and conversational AI APIs. Comparable on multi-product CPaaS scope and enterprise focus, especially across regulated verticals.
• LiveKit: Open-source WebRTC platform for real-time video, audio, and data. Directly comparable to SignalWire on the video API comparison page and on the AI voice agent / real-time developer infrastructure thesis.
• Agora: Real-time engagement platform offering voice, video, and messaging SDKs with AI extensions. Comparable on real-time video/voice APIs, AI integration, and developer-first go-to-market.

Emerging players

• Daily.co: Developer-focused video and audio APIs (WebRTC) with growing AI real-time capabilities. An emerging peer with partial overlap on SignalWire's video and AI agent offerings, primarily in the developer / startup segment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/signalwire
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/signalwire
• Facebookfacebook.com/signalwireinc
• Xx.com/signalwire
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC0i2xbniNHJQNfPPs_v4T0Q

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors9 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SignalWire