Rev Transcription vs. Twilio: Which is the Better Choice For You?

AI-based transcription services are a growing market. Twilio and Rev are two top options, but they serve very different audiences. How can you know which one is best for you? Learn more in this quick comparison guide.

What is Twilio?

Twilio is a communications provider and platform, offering SMS, phone call services, and video to businesses at scale. Customers use Twilio to serve customers and market to them. They also offer integrations for developers to build their communication channels. Twilio allows AI speech-to-text as an add-on for select voice calls conducted through their platform.

Twilio’s transcription costs $.02 or $.03 per 15 seconds of transcription. There is a limit of 60 seconds per call. Customers must commit to over 100,000 calls per month for a year to take advantage of these services. To get started, new or existing Twilio customers should contact a Twilio sales rep to opt-in.

What is Rev?

Rev is a transcription, captioning, and speech-to-text solution provider with both AI and human options. Anyone can use their services, regardless of the videos or call recording.

Rev’s ASR integrations are incredibly accurate. They can be tested for free to see if they are a good fit. After that, call centers and those who want to keep using Rev can do so on a pay-as-you-go basis. Costs are $.035 per minute with the pay-as-you-go plan. Enterprise businesses pay as little as $1.20 an hour.

What are the benefits of Twilio?

Twilio is not a transcription-focused provider. However, those already using an enterprise solution for voice, text, and video calls may find the add-on convenient. Twilio’s AI transcription works to provide text records of customer interactions. Because Twilio is an omnichannel marketing tool, it’s designed for long-term partnerships with larger businesses and nonprofits.

What are the benefits of Rev?

Rev’s specialty is transcription, not call center technology. This means they have put all of their innovation into creating leading-edge transcription services with high accuracy. Developers then use these tools as integrations into their existing communications platforms. Those using the pay-as-you-go service can use any file or video type to transcribe. There are no limits, and chat and email support are available.

Enterprise users access a dedicated account manager and priority support, plus volume discounts and invoicing. It’s also a top pick for call centers and omnichannel marketing situations, like Twilio services. Where it stands out, however, is in its ASR transcription technology.

Rev trains their speech engine on over 50,000 hours of content handled by human transcribers. There are two programmable voice options: real-time streaming or asynchronous. Anyone can use Rev’s simple API.

Which is best for you?

Twilio requires 100,000 calls per month and a minimum annual contract to use their transcription. The transcription is an add-on for their omnichannel communications services. So, it isn’t for small businesses or those who don’t want to use their other services. If you don’t plan on using these types of services, it won’t be an option for you.

On the other hand, Rev is open to any size of the account. Its API is versatile and used as integration for business communication tools. With no limits to audio transcribed, it offers more opportunities and the highest accuracy rate in the industry. Pricing is flexible, and contract terms manageable.