Save 44% with yearly billing.View Plans
textbee Logotextbee.dev

SMS gateway for Spain: send SMS from your own Spain number

Published and updated

Put a SIM from Spain in an Android phone, install textbee, and every API call sends a real SMS from that +34 number. Recipients see a local number they can reply to. textbee is $14.99 a month for up to 5,000 messages, and the SIM keeps its own carrier plan.

textbee, 5K SMS
$14.99
a month, plus your SIM plan
Twilio, 5K SMS
$437.50
cheapest cloud provider listed
Sender
Local +34
a number recipients can reply to

How it works with a local SIM

  1. Put a Spain SIM in an Android phone that stays on and on power, and install the textbee app on it.
  2. Register the device from the dashboard, which pairs the phone with your API key.
  3. 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 Spain, cloud providers and a local SIM against textbee plans
Provider1K messages5K messages25K messages
Twilio$87.50$87.50 messages$437.50$437.50 messages$2,187.50$2,187.50 messages
DIGI Movil 25 GB prepaid, 1,000 free SMS to DIGI numbers$5.81EUR 5 per monthAbove the plan1,000 SMS a month for EUR 5 per monthAbove the plan1,000 SMS a month for EUR 5 per month
textbee$14.99Pro plan, up to 5,000 messages included$14.99Pro 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

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.

Twilio SMS price in Spain

Twilio lists $0.0875 per outbound SMS segment to Spain and $0.0075 per inbound message, checked on September 4, 2026. A message longer than one segment is billed as more than one.

At 5,000 messages a month, Twilio costs $437.50 for messages; textbee Pro is $14.99 flat.

At 25,000 messages a month, Twilio costs $2,187.50 for messages; textbee Scale is $29.99 flat.

textbee

$14.99

Pro plan, up to 5,000 messages included

Free plan covers up to 300 messages a month

Twilio

$87.50

$87.50 messages

Provider rates vary by country and time. Check each provider's site for current pricing. textbee uses your Android phone; you pay your carrier, not per-message fees to textbee. Provider prices checked on September 4, 2026.

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": ["+34612345678"], "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 Spain numbers

The API takes E.164, which for Spain looks like +34612345678, so strip any local trunk prefix before you send.

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.

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.

Local rules to know

  • Article 21 of the Information Society Services Act, Ley 34/2002, bans advertising or promotional communications by email or an equivalent electronic means that the recipient did not request or expressly authorise, and requires every commercial message to offer a simple, free way to object. boe.es, checked on September 4, 2026
  • The Spanish data protection authority states that SMS and messaging app advertising falls under the same rules as email spam, and that every consent must be given by a clear affirmative act. aepd.es, checked on September 4, 2026

Frequently asked questions

Does textbee work in Spain?

Yes. Any Android phone with a Spanish SIM that can send SMS runs the textbee app. Ley 25/2007 requires an operator selling a prepaid SIM to record the buyer name, surname, nationality and identity document number in a register before the line is activated, so bring ID when you buy it.

What number do recipients see?

The Spanish mobile number of the SIM, and they can reply straight to it. Those replies come back through a webhook or GET /gateway/messages. Alphanumeric sender names are not something a phone can send, so the number is what shows on the handset.

What does it cost to send SMS in Spain?

textbee plans are flat monthly: Free for 300 messages, Pro $14.99 for up to 5,000, Scale $29.99 for up to 25,000. DIGI lists a Movil 25 GB prepaid plan at EUR 5 a month, which includes 1,000 free SMS to DIGI numbers. Twilio charges $0.0875 a message to Spain.

How many messages can one phone send?

Around 10 to 15 a minute. Consumer SIMs can be filtered when traffic looks like a bulk send, so keep the rate steady. Adding more phones to the same textbee account multiplies the throughput.

Do I need consent before texting customers in Spain?

Yes for promotional messages. Article 21 of Ley 34/2002 bans advertising or promotional communications by email or an equivalent electronic means that the recipient did not request or expressly authorise, and every commercial message must offer a simple, free way to object. The AEPD says the same rules cover SMS and that consent must be given by a clear affirmative act.

Sources

  1. SMS rules Spain, boe.es, checked on September 4, 2026
  2. SMS rules Spain, aepd.es, checked on September 4, 2026
  3. Sending from a local SIM Spain, boe.es, checked on September 4, 2026
  4. DIGI Movil 25 GB prepaid, 1,000 free SMS to DIGI numbers, checked on September 4, 2026
  5. Twilio SMS pricing, Spain, checked on September 4, 2026

Read next