An IVR is the “Press 1 for sales, press 2 for support” menu callers hear when they ring a business. On Twilio you can build one in three quite different ways: with Twilio Studio’s visual editor, as a custom app written in code, or with a hosted product that runs on your Twilio account. Each suits a different kind of business, and picking the wrong one costs time later.
This post explains the three options, what each is good for, and what Twilio charges for usage. All Twilio prices below are US list prices from Twilio’s public pricing pages, checked on 15 November 2026. They change, so check the linked pages before you budget.
How a Twilio IVR works
Whichever option you choose, the mechanics are the same. A call arrives at your Twilio number, and Twilio asks a webhook (or a Studio flow) what to do. The answer is a set of instructions: play a greeting, collect a keypress or spoken answer, then route the call. Twilio’s <Gather> verb collects digits (DTMF) or speech, and <Dial> connects the caller to a person, a phone number or a group. Around that you add business-hours rules, voicemail, recordings and notifications.
Option 1: Twilio Studio
Twilio Studio is Twilio’s visual, drag-and-drop flow builder. You connect widgets on a canvas, such as “Gather Input on Call” for the menu and “Split Based On…” to branch on the answer, then publish the flow and point your number at it.
Good for:
- straightforward menus, business-hours routing and voicemail;
- teams with someone technical enough to work in the Twilio Console, but who don’t want to maintain code;
- prototyping a flow quickly before deciding how to build it long term.
Watch out for:
- Large flows get hard to read and test on the canvas.
- Anything that depends on your own data, such as looking up a caller’s account, still needs code, usually a Twilio Function or your own API called from the flow.
- Studio lives in the Twilio Console, which most office staff won’t want to use to change a greeting.
Studio usage cost: Twilio’s Serverless pricing page lists 1,000 Studio flow executions free per month, then $0.0025 per execution on pay-as-you-go. That’s on top of normal call charges.
Option 2: A custom IVR app (TwiML or Twilio Functions)
Here a developer writes the IVR logic as code that returns TwiML, either on your own server or in Twilio Functions, Twilio’s serverless hosting. The code can do anything your systems can: look up the caller in your CRM, check an order status, route VIP customers differently, or write every call into your database.
Good for:
- IVRs that need your own data, such as account lookups, order or appointment status, or PIN checks;
- routing rules that change often based on business logic rather than a fixed menu;
- calls that are part of your own app or customer portal;
- teams who want the IVR in version control, tested and deployed like the rest of their software.
Watch out for:
- You need a developer to change it, unless the build includes an admin screen for greetings and hours.
- You own hosting, monitoring and maintenance.
Functions usage cost: the same pricing page lists the first 10,000 Function invocations per month as free, then $0.0001 per invocation. If you host the code yourself, you pay your own hosting instead.
Option 3: A hosted IVR builder on your Twilio account
Hosted products give you a ready-made phone system with an IVR editor designed for non-developers. Our own product, OpenVBX, is one example. It runs on your Twilio account and includes a drag-and-drop call flow editor with recorded or text-to-speech greetings, routing by keypress, business hours or team member, voicemail with transcription and email alerts, shared numbers, two-way SMS and a CRM with booking. Its top plan adds an AI receptionist that can answer common questions and book meetings inside the call flow. Plans are a flat monthly price per account, with a 7-day free trial, and Twilio bills usage separately.
Good for:
- businesses that want an IVR, voicemail and texting working this week;
- office staff who need to change greetings and hours themselves;
- teams that would rather pay a subscription than maintain code.
Watch out for:
- You’re limited to what the product supports. Deep lookups into your own systems may not be possible.
- There’s a monthly fee on top of Twilio usage.
What the calls themselves cost
All three options run on Twilio, so you pay Twilio for numbers and minutes either way. From Twilio’s US voice pricing page (checked 15 November 2026):
- Local number: $1.15 per month. Toll-free number: $2.15 per month.
- Receiving calls on a local number: $0.0085 per minute. On a toll-free number: $0.0220 per minute.
- Making calls (for example, forwarding a caller to a mobile): $0.0140 per minute.
When the IVR forwards a call to a phone, you typically pay for both legs, the inbound call and the outbound call to your staff member. Recording, transcription and speech recognition have their own charges on Twilio’s pricing pages. We don’t quote build fees here, because they depend entirely on scope.
Designing a menu callers can use
The tool matters less than the menu itself. A few habits help whichever option you choose:
- Keep the main menu to a few options, with the most common reason for calling first.
- Say your business name and the purpose of each option in plain words, and keep greetings short.
- Always offer a way to reach a person or leave a message, so nobody gets stuck in a loop.
- Set different behavior for after hours and holidays, and tell callers when you’ll be back.
- Test the flow from a real phone, including wrong keypresses and silence, before you go live.
Which one should you choose?
- Need a standard menu, voicemail and texting fast, and staff who can edit it? Start with a hosted product.
- Have a technical person and a simple, stable flow? Studio is a reasonable fit.
- Need lookups into your own systems, or calls inside your app? Go custom, possibly with Studio for the simple parts.
If your IVR should also send texts, such as a booking confirmation after the call, our post on automated SMS reminders with Twilio shows how that side works. If you run an old self-hosted install, see moving off a self-hosted Twilio OpenVBX install.
FAQ
Can I build a Twilio IVR without code?
Yes. Twilio Studio is a visual flow builder, and hosted products such as OpenVBX give you an IVR editor on your own Twilio account.
How much does Twilio Studio cost?
Twilio lists 1,000 free flow executions per month, then $0.0025 per execution (checked 15 November 2026), plus normal call charges.
Can a Twilio IVR look up customer information?
Yes, with code. A custom app or a Twilio Function can query your CRM or database during the call.
Can a Twilio IVR understand speech?
Yes. The <Gather> verb can collect speech as well as keypresses.
Do I pay Twilio separately from the IVR tool?
Yes. Numbers and minutes are billed by Twilio in every option.
Need an IVR built or rebuilt?
For custom IVR work, see our Twilio development services. For a ready-made system, try OpenVBX. Not sure which fits? Contact Xsquare and describe how calls should be handled.
