Plivo
Plivo is a CPaaS provider offering programmable voice, SMS, WhatsApp, chat APIs, and AI voice agents for developers and enterprises. It serves over one billion API requests monthly across 190+ countries, with anchor enterprise customers including Meta, Uber, Adobe, and Discord.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Plivo does
Plivo is a Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) provider headquartered in Austin, Texas, with engineering operations in Bengaluru, India. Founded in 2011 and profitable since 2015, Plivo offers programmable voice, SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and chat APIs alongside a newer AI voice agent platform. The company serves enterprise customers including Meta, Adobe, Uber, Trip.com, Discord, Atlassian, GoDaddy, DocuSign, and Yahoo, plus a long tail of developers and SMBs acquired through self-serve signup. Plivo is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, and Y Combinator, and is structured as Plivo Inc. (Texas) with wholly-owned subsidiary Plivo Services India Private Limited.
Plivo's platform is built on direct-to-carrier network infrastructure spanning more than 190 countries, supporting over 1 billion API requests per month at 99.99% uptime and sub-500ms voice latency. The product stack comprises infrastructure (SIP Trunking, Virtual Phone Numbers), APIs (Voice, SMS, WhatsApp, Chat), and an AI agent layer with two interfaces: Programmable Modular AI for developers using SDKs in Python, Node, Go, or REST, and a no-code Studio for business users. Voice AI Agents combine speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and LLM components with turn detection, voice activity detection, AI noise cancellation, and a self-improving simulation/eval loop. Plivo holds HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2 Type 2, PCI DSS Level 1, and CSA STAR Level 1 compliance certifications, and supports US, EU, and APAC data residency.
Plivo monetizes through usage-based pricing on voice minutes and SMS/WhatsApp messages, supplemented by monthly subscriptions for phone number rental (local at $0.50/month, toll-free at $1.00/month, short codes from $500/month) and SIP trunking. The company markets a 37% cost advantage versus Twilio with similar API ergonomics to facilitate migration, and targets buyers in three segments: large enterprises via direct sales, developers via PLG and documentation, and AI-first businesses via the no-code Studio. Distribution is hybrid — self-serve signup with $10 trial credits for developers and SMBs, paired with field sales for committed-spend enterprise contracts.
Plivo firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Plivo
- Legal name
- Plivo Inc.
- Website
- https://plivo.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Plivo is a CPaaS provider offering programmable voice, SMS, WhatsApp, chat APIs, and AI voice agents for developers and enterprises. It serves over one billion API requests monthly across 190+ countries, with anchor enterprise customers including Meta, Uber, Adobe, and Discord.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Plivo industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS)
- NAICS
- Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- CPaaS (Programmable Voice, SMS, Video APIs) (HDAIAHAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Messaging APIs, CPaaS & Programmable Communications (BPAMACAL), Contact Center (CCaaS) & Customer Engagement Voice (HDAIAHAF)
Keywords
Where Plivo is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Plivo business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Voice API Services: Usage-based revenue from programmable voice calls including inbound/outbound calls, conference calls, IVR, call forwarding. Charged per minute of usage with volume discounts for committed spend.
- SMS/MMS Messaging API: Usage-based charges for SMS and MMS message delivery. Pricing varies by country and destination type (local, mobile, toll-free numbers).
- WhatsApp Business API: Revenue from WhatsApp messaging capabilities integrated through Plivo's platform.
- Phone Number Rental: Monthly rental fees for virtual phone numbers including local, toll-free, mobile, and short codes. Local numbers at $0.50/month, toll-free at $1.00/month, short codes starting at $500/month.
- AI Voice Agent Platform: Revenue from AI agent deployment and usage including the no-code studio and programmable SDK access.
- SIP Trunking: Enterprise SIP trunking services for voice connectivity.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Local phone numbers at $0.50/month |
| Subscription | Monthly | Toll-free numbers at $1.00/month |
| Subscription | Quarterly | Short codes starting at $500/month |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free trial with $10 credits |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Usage-based API pricing with volume discounts |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Plivo product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Plivo is a Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) that provides programmable Voice, SMS, WhatsApp, and Chat APIs alongside an AI Voice Agent platform. The company enables businesses and developers to embed communications into their applications with direct-to-carrier coverage in 190+ countries, and offers both a no-code AI agent Studio and programmable SDKs/APIs for flexible deployment. It handles over 1 billion API requests monthly with sub-500ms voice latency and 99.99% platform uptime.
Product overview
Plivo is a Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) provider offering a three-layer enterprise engagement stack. At the infrastructure layer, Plivo provides a cloud-based carrier network with SIP Trunking and Virtual Phone Numbers serving 190+ countries. The API layer includes programmable SMS, Voice, WhatsApp, and Chat APIs for developer integration. The application layer features an AI Agent Platform with two approaches: Programmable Modular AI (code-based SDK/API for developers wanting full control) and Studio (no-code visual builder for business teams). The Voice AI Agents handle customer conversations autonomously with human-like quality, supporting real-time audio, intelligent turn-taking, and multi-tool execution. Plivo serves over 1 billion API requests monthly and is profitable since 2015.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Voice AI Agents AI-powered voice agents that handle customer calls with human-like conversation quality, supporting real-time bidirectional audio, intelligent turn-taking, and multi-tool execution for tasks like appointment scheduling and order management. Designed for businesses automating customer interactions.
- Programmable Modular AI Developer-facing AI agent platform allowing full control over stack components with SDK and API access. Supports bring-your-own STT, TTS, and LLM models alongside Plivo's managed components. Aimed at developers and engineering teams.
- Studio (No-Code AI Agent Builder) Visual prompt-based interface for building AI agents without code. Users describe agents in plain English and deploy omni-channel AI agents in minutes with drag-and-drop simplicity and instant preview. Aimed at business teams without coding resources.
- SMS API Programmable SMS messaging API enabling businesses to send and receive text messages globally with features for OTPs, transactional alerts, and marketing campaigns. For developers and enterprises needing reliable global SMS delivery.
- Voice API Programmable voice call API for making and receiving phone calls, with support for conference calling, IVR menus, call forwarding, and voicemail capabilities. For developers and enterprises building voice communication features.
- WhatsApp API WhatsApp Business messaging API for customer engagement through WhatsApp, including support for WhatsApp voice calls. For businesses engaging customers on the WhatsApp channel.
- Chat API Programmable chat messaging API for in-app messaging and customer communication across digital channels. For developers building in-app chat features.
- Virtual Phone Numbers Cloud-based phone number provisioning across 50+ countries, including local, mobile, toll-free, and short codes with instant activation and number porting capabilities. For businesses needing global phone number presence.
- SIP Trunking Enterprise SIP trunking service for connecting existing PBX systems to Plivo's global carrier network for voice communication. For enterprises with existing telephony infrastructure.
- Plivo CX AI chatbot platform for sales and customer service, featuring conversation intelligence, agent support, and CRM integrations for enterprise customer experience management. For enterprises managing omnichannel customer experience.
Quantifiable outcome
- 37% cost savings compared to Twilio with similar API design
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Plivo
Customer profileNamed customers18 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Plivo technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability7 records
Feature7 records
Plivo partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Plivo competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Bland: Bland is an AI voice agent platform focused on enterprise phone automation. It overlaps with Plivo's Voice AI Agent offering, particularly around conversational latency and multi-tool agent execution.
- Vapi: Vapi is a venture-backed AI voice agent platform enabling developers to build conversational voice agents. It represents an emerging AI-native challenger to Plivo's Voice AI Agents product, with comparable turn detection and LLM integration.
- Retell AI: Retell AI is a voice AI agent platform that enables businesses to deploy conversational AI for phone calls. It is an emerging AI-native competitor targeting the same enterprise voice agent workload that Plivo's AI Agent Platform addresses.
Direct peers
- Telnyx: Telnyx is a communications and networking platform providing global private IP backbone, voice, SMS, and number services. It competes with Plivo on programmable voice and SIP trunking with similar self-serve developer positioning.
- Vonage (Ericsson): Vonage is a CPaaS and UCaaS provider, now owned by Ericsson, offering programmable communications APIs similar to Plivo's voice, SMS, and messaging products, with comparable global carrier coverage.
- MessageBird (Bird): Bird (formerly MessageBird) is a global omnichannel CPaaS platform offering SMS, voice, WhatsApp, and inbox APIs. It competes head-to-head with Plivo on cross-channel messaging and serves similar mid-market and enterprise customers.
- Bandwidth: Bandwidth is a CPaaS provider offering voice, messaging, and 911 APIs on its own carrier-grade network. Plivo's SIP Trunking and Voice API offerings directly overlap with Bandwidth's enterprise communications suite.
- Sinch: Sinch is a global CPaaS provider specializing in messaging, voice, and verification APIs with direct carrier relationships across hundreds of countries. It is a direct peer in programmable communications and number provisioning.
- Twilio: Twilio is the global CPaaS leader offering programmable voice, SMS, WhatsApp, and email APIs. It is Plivo's most direct competitor and the explicit benchmark in Plivo's marketing and pricing (Plivo claims 37% cost savings vs Twilio).
Broad incumbents
- 8x8: 8x8 is a broad UCaaS and CCaaS incumbent offering voice, messaging, and contact center platforms. While broader than Plivo's CPaaS focus, it overlaps on programmable communications APIs and serves similar enterprise communication needs.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat7 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Plivo social profiles
Digital presencePlivo compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
Plivo financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Plivo leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Plivo subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Plivo funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors7 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Plivo M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Plivo
What does Plivo do?
Plivo is a Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) that provides programmable Voice, SMS, WhatsApp, and Chat APIs alongside an AI Voice Agent platform. The company enables businesses and developers to embed communications into their applications with direct-to-carrier coverage in 190+ countries, and offers both a no-code AI agent Studio and programmable SDKs/APIs for flexible deployment. It handles over 1 billion API requests monthly with sub-500ms voice latency and 99.99% platform uptime.
Is Plivo a public or private company?
Plivo is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Plivo founded?
Plivo was founded in 2011. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Plivo based?
Plivo is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Plivo make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Voice API Services are the primary driver. The others are SMS/MMS Messaging API, whatsApp Business API, phone Number Rental, AI Voice Agent Platform and SIP Trunking.
Who are Plivo's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Bland, Vapi and Retell AI. Direct peers are Telnyx, Vonage (Ericsson), MessageBird (Bird), Bandwidth, Sinch and Twilio. 8x8 is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Plivo have an API?
Yes. Plivo offers a programmable AI agent platform with fully managed stack and audio streaming capabilities. The API enables developers to build voice AI agents with customizable STT (speech-to-text), TTS (text-to-speech), and LLM components. Supports bring-your-own components model. Platform handles over 1 billion API requests monthly across 190+ countries with <500ms voice latency and 99.99% uptime. Developer documentation is at www.plivo.com/docs.
What industry is Plivo in?
Plivo's product category is Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS). Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAIAHAG, CPaaS (Programmable Voice, SMS, Video APIs), with a secondary code of BPAMACAL, Messaging APIs, CPaaS & Programmable Communications. Its NAICS code is 5418 and its SIC code is 7372.