How to send SMS from HubSpot with Twilio

HubSpot’s own SMS features are tied to specific hubs and regions, and they run through HubSpot’s numbers. If you already send SMS through Twilio, or you need a number in a country HubSpot doesn’t cover, connecting Twilio to the conversations inbox keeps the messaging where your customers are and the record where your team works.

Here’s what that actually takes.

What you need first

Sales Hub or Service Hub Professional or Enterprise. Custom conversations channels aren’t available on Starter or the free CRM.
Account Access permission in HubSpot for whoever connects it.
Your Twilio Account SID and Auth Token, both in the Twilio Console.
An SMS-capable phone number in that Twilio account.

One note on the Auth Token: it’s a credential with full access to your Twilio account. Don’t park it in a shared doc on the way to the setup screen.

The connection

Four steps and messages start flowing.

Authorize HubSpot. Approve the OAuth connection so the integration can use your conversations inbox.
Add your Twilio credentials. Account SID, Auth Token, then pick the number you want to connect.
Confirm the number. Check it’s the one customers actually text, and that it has SMS capability turned on in Twilio.
Choose the inbox. Pick which HubSpot conversations inbox should receive SMS and MMS threads.

After that, inbound texts show up as threads in that inbox. The sender is matched to a contact by phone number in E.164 format, and a new contact is only created when nothing matches. Replies sent from HubSpot go back out through the same Twilio number, on the same thread.

Texting a contact first

Replying is the easy half. Starting a conversation is the hard part, and it’s the half most teams actually need. A renewal reminder, a delivery update, a quick “we tried calling you”. That’s outbound-first messaging, and an inbox-only integration can’t do it, because there’s no thread to reply to yet.

The way around it is a card that sits directly on the HubSpot contact record. An admin adds it once through Settings, then Objects, Contacts, Record customization, and from then on anyone with access to that record can open the card and send the first message. It uses the contact’s phone number and your connected Twilio number, and that outbound message starts the same thread later replies land on.

The difference is where your team works. Without it, proactive SMS means leaving the CRM, digging out the number, sending from somewhere else, and hoping somebody remembers to log it. With it, the message goes out from the record and logs itself.

What stays in Twilio

Two things don’t move, and it’s better to know now than to find out during a launch.

Delivery receipts. Twilio sends delivery and failure callbacks for operational tracking, but HubSpot shows you the conversation, direction, participants, activity, and files rather than a customer-facing delivery status view. If you need to know whether one specific message hit the handset, that answer lives in Twilio.

Consent and opt-outs. Your team stays responsible for consent, and Twilio handles STOP keywords, sender registration, and the rules that apply to your countries and message types. An integration moves the conversation into your CRM. It doesn’t take on your compliance obligations. If you’re sending to the US, A2P 10DLC registration is still yours to complete in Twilio.

What it costs

Pricing follows the channels you connect rather than the seats using them, which matters a lot when a support team of twelve shares one number. There’s no per-message charge from the integration. Twilio bills its own messaging and carrier fees straight to your Twilio account at whatever rate applies to the destination.

A sensible first setup

Connect one number, point it at a single inbox, and run it with a small team for a week before you add anything else. You’ll find out quickly whether that volume belongs in your main support inbox or somewhere quieter, and moving a channel later is a settings change rather than a migration.

The Twilio SMS integration page covers what arrives in HubSpot in more detail, and the activation guide walks through all five setup steps including the contact record card.