textbee vs Vonage: pricing, own number, self-hosting (2026)
Published and updated
Vonage charges per message on numbers you rent inside its platform, while textbee is a flat monthly plan that includes 5,000 messages on Pro and sends from the SIM already in your phone. Pick Vonage when you need one vendor for SMS, voice, and verification APIs. Pick textbee when you send moderate volume from a number you own and want the option to self-host the gateway.
Side by side
| Provider | Pricing model | Free tier | Self-host | Own number | API | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vonage | Per message, plus number rental | Free trial credit on signup | No, cloud only | No, virtual numbers only | REST and SMPP and webhooks | 200+ countries |
| textbee | Flat monthly plan, messages included, no per message fee | 300 messages a month on the Free plan; Pro includes 5,000 for $9.99 | Yes, MIT licensed | Yes, your own SIM | REST and webhooks | Any country where your Android phone has a SIM |
Monthly cost at 1K, 5K and 25K messages
At 5,000 messages a month, Vonage costs $43.00 for messages, $1.05 for the number and $22.50 in carrier fees, about $66.55; textbee Pro is $9.99 flat.
At 25,000 messages a month, Vonage costs $215.00 for messages, $1.05 for the number and $112.50 in carrier fees, about $328.55; textbee Scale is $29.99 flat.
| Provider | 1K messages | 5K messages | 25K messages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vonage | $14.15$8.60 messages, $1.05 number, $4.50 carrier fees | $66.55$43.00 messages, $1.05 number, $22.50 carrier fees | $328.55$215.00 messages, $1.05 number, $112.50 carrier fees |
| textbee | $9.99Pro plan, up to 5,000 messages included | $9.99Pro plan, up to 5,000 messages included | $29.99Scale plan, up to 25,000 messages included |
textbee plans include the messages shown. There is no per message fee, number rental or carrier surcharge.
Provider prices checked on September 4, 2026
Vonage lists $0.0086 per outbound SMS segment to the United States, checked on September 4, 2026. Carrier fees and number rental are billed on top of that rate.
Inbound: Inbound SMS on a US number costs $0.00691 a message, billed on top of the number rental.
Number rental: A Vonage US number costs $1.05 a month on top of the per message rate.
Carrier fees: US carriers add a per message surcharge on 10DLC traffic; Verizon and T-Mobile charge $0.0045 on top of the Vonage rate.
When to choose Vonage
- You need one vendor for SMS, voice, and verification APIs.
- You send to many countries and want direct carrier routes in each.
- You need pre-registered alphanumeric sender IDs for regulated markets.
When to choose textbee
- You own the number and the SIM, so the recipient sees a number they can reply to.
- A flat monthly plan covers the messages, with no per message fee on top.
- You can self-host the gateway or use the hosted app, on the same MIT licensed code.
The limits are worth stating plainly. One phone sends roughly 10 to 15 messages a minute, so a large blast takes time to drain. Carriers can filter bulk patterns on consumer SIMs, which makes textbee a poor fit for campaign traffic. Marketing messages still need consent from the recipient, whichever gateway sends them.
Migrating from Vonage
curl -X POST https://rest.nexmo.com/sms/json \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY", "api_secret": "YOUR_API_SECRET", "to": "15550100", "from": "Vonage", "text": "Hello from Vonage"}'curl -X POST https://api.textbee.dev/api/v1/gateway/send-sms \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"recipients": ["+12015550123"], "message": "Hello from textbee"}'textbee sends from the SIM in your phone, so the sender is your own number and there is no From number to rent or pass in the request.
Vonage SMS pricing by country
Frequently asked questions
Can Vonage send from my personal SIM?
No. Vonage sends over carrier routes from virtual numbers or sender IDs provisioned in your account.
Does Vonage offer a self-hosted version?
No. The messaging APIs are cloud only, so you cannot run them inside your own network.
How is Vonage SMS billed?
Per message segment, at a rate that varies by destination country and route, with number rental and carrier fees added separately.
Sources
- Vonage SMS pricing, United States, checked on September 4, 2026