Pricing
Carrier lookup API pricing compared (2026)
Carrier lookup API pricing varies considerably across providers: some charge per signal type, some charge per lookup regardless of signals returned, and some require a sales conversation before they will quote for SIM swap detection. This page compares the published pricing for Twilio Lookup, Vonage Number Insight and Telebase for the signals that fraud and KYC teams actually need.
Pricing data checked July 2026. Verify current rates directly with each provider before procurement decisions.
What fraud teams actually query for
Most carrier lookup API use cases for fraud and KYC need three or four signals per query: the carrier (network operator), the number type (mobile vs VoIP vs landline), active status (is the number reachable now), and increasingly SIM swap detection. The cost comparison depends on whether a provider charges per signal or per lookup.
Twilio Lookup
Twilio Lookup uses add-on pricing: you pay separately for each data type you request. Carrier and number type are bundled as "Line type intelligence" ($0.008 per request, flat). Active status is a separate "Line Status" product with tiered pricing starting at $0.007 for the first 100,000 queries, dropping to $0.00385 at 10 million. SIM swap detection requires contacting sales and is not self-serve.
For a fraud team querying carrier + number type + active status: approximately $0.015 per query at low volumes, falling with scale. For SIM swap on top of this, no public price is available.
Vonage Number Insight
Vonage offers three tiers: Basic (format validation, free for most queries), Standard (carrier and number type, priced per lookup, varies by country), and Advanced (adds active status, higher per-lookup price). SIM swap is not part of the self-serve Number Insight product. Vonage does not publish a single global price for Standard or Advanced lookups; pricing depends on the destination country and volume, and is available from their dashboard after account creation. Note that Vonage has announced Number Insight will be sunset on 4 February 2027, with Identity Insights as its replacement.
Telebase
Telebase charges $0.03 for a standard lookup returning carrier, country, number type and active status in a single call. SIM swap detection is a separate check at $0.20, requested explicitly per call and never billed unless you ask for it. Both prices are published, identical in every country we cover, and available without a sales conversation or a separate contract. The simSwap field is returned only on calls that request it. SIM swap detection is launching for GB, DE, NL and FR.
| Provider | Carrier + number type | + Active status | + SIM swap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twilio Lookup | $0.008/query (flat) | +$0.007 (tiered, from $0.00385 at 10M+) | Contact sales |
| Vonage Number Insight | Standard tier, country-variable, not published | Advanced tier, country-variable, not published | Requires sales conversation and carrier registration |
| Telebase | $0.03/lookup (flat, all countries) | Included in $0.03 | $0.20/check, published, launching, early access open |
How to read this table
For carrier, number type and active status, the two are closely matched. Twilio's combined cost is around $0.015 per query at low volumes, falling to roughly $0.012 at 10 million queries. Telebase is $0.03 flat at any volume and in any covered country, with volume pricing available on request. Twilio is cheaper at scale; Telebase is a single rate you can budget against without modelling tiers or per-country variation.
The difference is SIM swap. Twilio's SIM swap product is enterprise-only: no public price, a sales process, and likely a volume commitment. Telebase publishes $0.20 per check and charges it only on the calls where you request it, so a team running high-volume validation with occasional step-up checks is not paying SIM swap rates on traffic that never needed them. For a team that needs SIM swap detection without running its own carrier registration and use case review first, Telebase is currently the only provider in this comparison that skips that step.
Vonage is difficult to compare directly because pricing is not published and varies by country. If you primarily serve traffic outside GB, DE, NL and FR, it is worth checking Vonage's coverage and pricing for your specific markets.
What "no annual commitment" means in practice
Telebase is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. There is no monthly fee, no annual commitment and no setup fee. Free queries are provided when your account is set up. You can start integrating today, run real lookups in your test environment and see what you are spending before committing to anything. See the quickstart guide for the steps from sign-up to first query.