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Cloud communications platform for SMS, voice, and messaging APIs
Sinch is a Swedish cloud communications platform providing APIs for SMS, voice, video, and messaging. With a global super network reaching every mobile phone on the planet, Sinch powers customer engagement for thousands of enterprises through programmable communications and operator-grade connectivity.
Headquarters
Stockholm, Sweden
Founded
2008
Pricing
EU Data Hosting
Yes
Employees
1000+
Pay-as-you-go
Pay-as-you-go
Contact Sales
Contact Sales
Billing: pay-as-you-go, volume-committed
A Berlin-based fintech needed to send 200,000 OTP verification messages per day across 14 European markets. Twilio worked, but routing SMS through US-based infrastructure raised GDPR questions that the compliance team could not resolve. The switch to Sinch cut message delivery time by 40% on German and French routes and eliminated the transatlantic data transfer concern entirely.
That scenario captures Sinch's core positioning. Headquartered in Stockholm since its founding in 2008 (originally as CLX Communications), Sinch AB is a publicly traded Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) company on Nasdaq Stockholm. With over 4,300 employees across 60+ countries and direct operator connections to 700+ carriers, Sinch operates one of the largest cloud communications networks on the planet.
The product portfolio spans SMS, voice, WhatsApp Business, RCS, email (via Mailgun), verification, and in-app communications. Through 21 acquisitions — including MessageMedia, Inteliquent, and Mailgun — Sinch has assembled an omnichannel stack that rivals Twilio in breadth, with the structural advantage of European headquarters and EU data jurisdiction.
Sinch's SMS infrastructure is built on direct carrier partnerships rather than aggregator routes. In practice, this means higher deliverability, faster delivery times, and lower latency on European routes compared to providers that rely on wholesale intermediaries. The API supports transactional messages, marketing campaigns, two-way messaging, and dedicated or shared short codes. Delivery receipts provide real-time confirmation, and built-in fraud prevention tools filter out SMS pumping attacks before they inflate costs.
The Conversation API is Sinch's answer to channel fragmentation. A single REST endpoint handles SMS, WhatsApp Business, RCS Business Messaging, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Viber, and Telegram. Businesses build one integration and reach customers on whatever channel they prefer. For product teams tired of maintaining separate integrations for each messaging platform, this consolidation is significant. The API handles channel-specific formatting, fallback routing (if WhatsApp fails, fall back to SMS), and unified delivery reporting.
Beyond messaging, Sinch provides a full voice stack. The Voice API supports inbound and outbound calling, text-to-speech, interactive voice response (IVR), conference calling, and call recording. Elastic SIP Trunking lets businesses connect existing PBX systems to Sinch's network for global voice connectivity. Per-minute pricing keeps costs predictable, and the API supports real-time call control for building custom telephony applications.
Number verification is a core use case for Sinch. The Verification API supports SMS OTP, flash calls (where the phone number itself serves as the verification code), and voice OTP. Flash call verification is particularly cost-effective for mobile apps, as it completes without the user manually entering a code. Fraud detection layers protect against SIM swap attacks and verification abuse.
Not every team has developers available to build API integrations. Sinch Engage (formerly MessageMedia) is a self-serve platform that lets marketing and operations teams send SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and RCS campaigns through a web interface. Pre-built integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, and Netsuite connect messaging directly to existing business workflows. Campaign automation, audience segmentation, and two-way conversation management are all available without writing code.
Sinch operates on a pay-as-you-go model for its APIs. SMS pricing varies by destination country, message type (transactional vs. promotional), and routing profile. European routes are competitively priced against Twilio, particularly for high-volume senders on committed plans.
Voice API pricing is per-minute, with rates varying by destination. The Conversation API charges per message across all channels. Enterprise customers can negotiate volume-committed pricing with dedicated account management and custom SLAs.
The pricing model's main weakness is opacity. Sinch does not publish per-message rates on its website for most destinations. Getting accurate cost estimates requires contacting sales, which adds friction for developers evaluating the platform. Twilio, by contrast, publishes rates for every country. Competitors like CM.com and Infobip also provide clearer upfront pricing.
There is no free tier. Developers can create an account and access sandbox testing, but sustained use requires payment. Vonage and some smaller European providers offer trial credits that lower the barrier to evaluation.
Sinch's compliance posture is one of its strongest selling points for European buyers. As a Swedish public company (Sinch AB, Nasdaq Stockholm: SINCH), it operates under EU jurisdiction by default. No Schrems II concerns. No ambiguity about applicable law.
The certification stack is comprehensive: ISO 27001, ISO 9001, SOC 1, SOC 2, PCI DSS, and HIPAA compliance. The company is MEF Code of Conduct approved, which is the mobile messaging industry's own trust standard. GDPR data processing agreements are available as standard for all customers.
For organisations in regulated industries — banking sending transaction alerts, healthcare delivering appointment reminders, government distributing citizen notifications — Sinch provides the compliance documentation that procurement teams require. The EU headquarters simplifies vendor assessment for companies that treat US-headquartered cloud providers as higher-risk vendors.
Enterprise operations teams sending high-volume transactional messages (OTPs, alerts, notifications) across European markets. Direct carrier connections deliver reliability that aggregator-based providers cannot match consistently.
Developers building omnichannel communication products who need SMS, WhatsApp, RCS, and voice through a single provider. The Conversation API reduces integration complexity compared to managing separate vendors for each channel.
EU-regulated businesses in financial services, healthcare, and government that need a CPaaS provider under EU jurisdiction with ISO 27001, SOC 2, and PCI DSS certifications already in place.
Marketing teams using CRM platforms like Salesforce or HubSpot who want to add SMS and WhatsApp messaging without custom development. Sinch Engage's 85+ pre-built integrations connect messaging to existing workflows.
Startups with low message volumes and tight budgets should evaluate CM.com, Messente, or Bird first. Sinch's value scales with volume.
Sinch is the most complete European alternative to Twilio, with operator-grade connectivity, an omnichannel Conversation API, and compliance credentials that satisfy enterprise procurement. The platform suffers from brand fragmentation across its many acquisitions and documentation that trails Twilio's developer experience. For European businesses sending messages at scale, the combination of EU jurisdiction, direct carrier partnerships, and competitive pricing on European routes makes Sinch the strongest default choice. Smaller senders should compare pricing carefully, as the lack of a free tier and opaque rate cards make cost evaluation harder than it should be.
Yes. Sinch AB is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and operates under EU jurisdiction. The company holds ISO 27001, SOC 2, and PCI DSS certifications, and provides GDPR-compliant data processing agreements as standard for all customers.
Sinch offers comparable APIs for SMS, voice, and messaging with stronger European carrier connections and EU data jurisdiction. Twilio has a larger developer community, more polished documentation, and a more mature marketplace. Sinch is typically price-competitive on European routes, particularly for high-volume senders.
Sinch does not offer a permanent free tier. Developers can sign up for API access and test with small message volumes. For sustained use, pay-as-you-go billing applies. Contact sales for enterprise trial arrangements.
Sinch supports SMS, MMS, WhatsApp Business, RCS Business Messaging, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Viber, Telegram, and email via Mailgun. The Conversation API unifies all these channels through a single REST endpoint with automatic fallback routing.
Sinch operates data centres globally with EU processing available for European customers. As a Swedish public company under EU jurisdiction, it falls under GDPR by default. Data processing agreements can specify EU-only routing for customers with strict data residency requirements.