Compare Your Options

Choosing the right messaging infrastructure is a critical decision that impacts your engineering resources, time to market, and ongoing operational costs. This page compares Sent with the main alternatives to help you make an informed choice.

The Options

Comparison Matrix

Detailed Comparison

Sent vs Direct Provider Integration

Direct Integration Approach:

// SMS provider
if (useSMS) {
  await smsProvider.messages.create({
    body: message,
    from: smsNumber,
    to: phoneNumber
  });
}

// WhatsApp Business API for WhatsApp
if (useWhatsApp && await checkWhatsApp(phoneNumber)) {
  await sendWhatsAppMessage({
    to: phoneNumber,
    template: whatsappTemplate
  });
}

// Handle failures, retries, fallbacks manually

With Sent:

// One call, intelligent routing
await sent.messages.send({
  to: [phoneNumber],
  template: { id: templateId }
  // Automatic channel selection and fallback
});

Sent vs Building In-House

Building In-House Requires:

1. Integration Layer

   • Multiple provider SDKs
   • Unified API design
   • Authentication management
   • Error code normalization

2. Routing Intelligence

   • Channel availability detection
   • Cost comparison engine
   • Delivery success tracking
   • Machine learning for optimization

3. Operational Complexity

   • Provider health monitoring
   • Failover automation
   • Rate limit management
   • API change tracking

4. Compliance Infrastructure

   • GDPR compliance tools
   • TCPA compliance
   • Country-specific regulations
   • Opt-out management

Timeline Comparison:

The timelines below are illustrative estimates for a typical product team adding multi-channel messaging; actual effort depends on scope, channels, and compliance requirements.

When to Choose Each Option

Choose Direct Provider Integration If:

• SMS-only requirement
• Low message volume
• Simple use case (OTP only)
• Already integrated with provider
• Need specific provider features

Build In-House If:

• Have dedicated messaging team
• Very specific routing requirements
• Regulatory requirements mandate it
• Messaging is core competitive advantage
• Have 12+ months to invest

Choose Sent If:

• Want to try before committing (light onboarding needs only a verified email and phone number)
• Multi-channel needs (SMS + WhatsApp + RCS)
• Want RCS branded messaging (verified sender, suggestion chips, read receipts) without building separate integrations
• Want automatic optimization
• Need to move fast
• Don't want infrastructure maintenance
• Growing message volume
• International expansion plans

Migration Scenarios

Migrating from Direct Providers

Teams migrating from a direct provider typically start with non-critical messages such as notifications, run Sent in parallel with the existing integration to compare delivery rates and costs, then move critical flows (OTP, alerts) before decommissioning the old provider.

Timeline: 2-4 weeks for a complete migration

Migrating from an In-House System

The common pattern is an audit of current messaging flows, a mapping of in-house features to Sent capabilities, then a parallel run in which traffic gradually shifts to Sent until the in-house infrastructure can be retired.

Timeline: 4-8 weeks depending on complexity

Cost Analysis

Actual costs depend on your message volume, destination regions, channel mix, and engineering rates, so treat any specific figure as an illustration rather than a quote. What holds across scenarios is the shape of each option's cost structure:

Feature Comparison

Decision Flowchart

Not ready to work through the decision? You can try Sent with light onboarding first, before committing to any option.

Next Steps

Ready to explore Sent?

• Try Sent: Quick Start - send your first message with light onboarding, no code required
• Quickstart Guide - Full setup guide for production
• Platform Overview - Understand the architecture
• What Sent Solves - Check whether your scenario fits

Still evaluating?

• Contact Sales for a personalized consultation
• Review the API Reference
• Check out the SDKs