Is the Firebase OTP or Twilio OTP more reliable in terms of delivering?

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I've been using Firebase Authentication with OTP, of the 600 users around (5%) 20-40 had trouble receiving the OTP sms the first time they tried, and with some it took multiple attempts.

Most of the users are currently in Egypt and network connection is known not to be so good sometimes.

Would it differ if i used the twilio Otp service given that they've been there longer in this service sector and perhaps have a different infrastructure or would it be the same?

Any practical experience would be appreciated.

twilio-api twilio firebase-authentication firebase
2 Answers

Twilio developer evangelist here.

First, we work very hard to ensure that OTP messages sent through the Authy or Verify APIs are received. It is, of course, reliant on the networks and connections in the country you are sending to.

If you are having issues with deliverability, you could consider using Authy as it allows you to send OTPs by SMS as well as voice and authenticator applications. If you can encourage your users to use the Authy application (or other authenticators) then you don't need to send SMS messages and worry so much about deliverability.

user_283760

Twilio's Authy is used by various famous websites like Twitch, Coinbase, DuckDuckGo, etc. Firebase is good too. If your app is based on SMS based authentication, then Twilio is recommended, but if its email based, then Firebase is better.

As you said the users in Egypt are having issues, you could have some of them to volunteer for a test run of Twilio on a free trial? Like you could make a test application with Twilio's API for OTPs and make the 5% of your users to try out if that works well, then, its up to you.

Thanks! -Arnav :)

user_130891290
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