SMS gateway for Switzerland: send SMS from your own Swiss number

Published September 23, 2026 and updated September 23, 2026

Put a SIM from Switzerland in an Android phone, install textbee, and every API call sends a real SMS from that +41 number. Recipients see a local number they can reply to. textbee is $9.99 a month for up to 5,000 messages, and the SIM keeps its own carrier plan.

How it works with a local SIM

Put a Switzerland SIM in an Android phone that stays on and on power, and install the textbee app on it.
Register the device from the dashboard, which pairs the phone with your API key.
Call POST /gateway/send-sms with the recipient in E.164 form. The phone sends it over the SIM and reports the result back.

What it costs at 1K, 5K and 25K messages

Monthly spend sending to Switzerland, cloud providers and a local SIM against textbee plans
Provider	1K messages	5K messages	25K messages
Twilio	$78.05$76.90 messages, $1.15 number	$385.65$384.50 messages, $1.15 number	$1,923.65$1,922.50 messages, $1.15 number
Wingo Swiss Go, unlimited calls and SMS within Switzerland	$21.81CHF 17.95 per month	$21.81CHF 17.95 per month	$21.81CHF 17.95 per month
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 23, 2026

The textbee plan is the platform fee and the SIM plan is what the carrier charges for the messages, so a local setup costs the plan price plus the SIM.

Quickstart

send.sh

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": ["+41781234567"], "message": "Your textbee code is 482913. It expires in 10 minutes."}'

On a dual SIM phone, pass simSubscriptionId to pick the SIM the message goes out on, as the send reference describes.

Format and check Switzerland numbers

The API takes E.164, which for Switzerland looks like +41781234567, so strip any local trunk prefix before you send.

Country

Phone number

Result

Enter a phone number above.

Use E.164 format (e.g. +15551234567) for textbee.dev API recipients.

Count segments

A message over one segment is sent as more than one SMS, so it draws more than once on the SIM plan.

Your message

Result

Characters: 54
Encoding: GSM-7
Segments: 1 SMS
1 segment = 1 SMS

GSM-7: 160 chars per segment (153 for multi-part). Unicode/emoji: 70 chars per segment (67 for multi-part). Carriers may charge per segment.

Honest limits

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. Marketing messages still need consent from the recipient under the local rules.

Frequently asked questions

Does textbee work in Switzerland?

Yes. Any Android phone with a Swiss SIM that can send SMS runs the textbee app. Your own code sends through the REST API, and no carrier account is needed first.

What number do recipients see?

The Swiss mobile number of the SIM, and they can reply to it. Inbound messages come back through a webhook or GET /gateway/messages. A phone has no way to present an alphanumeric sender name, so recipients always see a number they can answer.

What does it cost to send SMS in Switzerland?

textbee charges one flat monthly plan: Free for 300 messages, Pro $9.99 for up to 5,000, Scale $29.99 for up to 25,000. Wingo lists Swiss Go with unlimited calls and SMS within Switzerland at CHF 17.95 a month. Twilio charges $0.0769 a message to Switzerland.

How many messages can one phone send?

Roughly 10 to 15 a minute, which is around 600 to 900 an hour. Consumer SIMs can be filtered when the sending pattern looks like bulk, so pace larger runs. Add more devices to the account for higher volume.

Sources

Wingo Swiss Go, unlimited calls and SMS within Switzerland, checked on September 23, 2026
Twilio SMS pricing, Switzerland, checked on September 23, 2026