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

Published and updated

Put a SIM from France in an Android phone, install textbee, and every API call sends a real SMS from that +33 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
$399.00
cheapest cloud provider listed
Sender
Local +33
a number recipients can reply to

How it works with a local SIM

  1. Put a France 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 France, cloud providers and a local SIM against textbee plans
Provider1K messages5K messages25K messages
Twilio$79.80$79.80 messages$399.00$399.00 messages$1,995.00$1,995.00 messages
Free Mobile Forfait 2 euros, unlimited SMS and MMS in metropolitan France$2.32EUR 2 per month$2.32EUR 2 per month$2.32EUR 2 per month
Bouygues Telecom B&YOU 20Go 4G, unlimited calls and SMS from metropolitan France$10.45EUR 8.99 per month$10.45EUR 8.99 per month$10.45EUR 8.99 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 France

Twilio lists $0.0798 per outbound SMS segment to France 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 $399.00 for messages; textbee Pro is $14.99 flat.

At 25,000 messages a month, Twilio costs $1,995.00 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

$79.80

$79.80 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.

Sender ID and OTP delivery

No official page read describes registration of alphanumeric sender names in France. The CNIL requires each marketing message to let the recipient identify the organisation that sent it, so name your business in the message text.

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": ["+33612345678"], "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 France numbers

The API takes E.164, which for France looks like +33612345678, 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 L34-5 of the Postal and Electronic Communications Code bans direct marketing by an automated electronic communication system to a person who has not given prior consent, and defines consent as a free, specific and informed expression of will. legifrance.gouv.fr, checked on September 4, 2026
  • The CNIL states that advertising by SMS is only allowed where the person consented before being contacted, and that every message must let the recipient identify the organisation behind it and refuse further messages by a simple means. cnil.fr, checked on September 4, 2026

Frequently asked questions

Does textbee work in France?

Yes. Any Android phone with a French SIM that can send SMS runs the textbee app, and the REST API sends from your own code. No carrier onboarding is needed, because the SIM is already active.

What number do recipients see?

The French mobile number of the SIM, which they can reply to. Replies reach you through a webhook or GET /gateway/messages. No official page read describes registration of alphanumeric sender names in France, and the CNIL requires each marketing message to let the recipient identify the organisation that sent it, so name your business in the message text.

What does it cost to send SMS in France?

The textbee plan is flat: Free for 300 messages a month, Pro $14.99 for up to 5,000, Scale $29.99 for up to 25,000. A French SIM is cheap next to that, with the Free Mobile Forfait at EUR 2 a month including unlimited SMS and MMS in metropolitan France and the Bouygues B&YOU 20Go plan at EUR 8.99 a month. Twilio charges $0.0798 a message to France.

How many messages can one phone send?

One device pushes roughly 10 to 15 messages a minute. Bulk patterns on a consumer SIM can be filtered, so spread a campaign out over time. More devices on the account means more throughput.

Do I need consent before texting customers in France?

Yes. Article L34-5 of the Postal and Electronic Communications Code bans direct marketing by an automated electronic communication system to a person who has not given prior consent, defined as a free, specific and informed expression of will. The CNIL adds that every message must let the recipient identify the sending organisation and refuse further messages by a simple means.

Sources

  1. SMS rules France, legifrance.gouv.fr, checked on September 4, 2026
  2. SMS rules France, cnil.fr, checked on September 4, 2026
  3. SMS rules France, 33700.fr, checked on September 4, 2026
  4. Free Mobile Forfait 2 euros, unlimited SMS and MMS in metropolitan France, checked on September 4, 2026
  5. Bouygues Telecom B&YOU 20Go 4G, unlimited calls and SMS from metropolitan France, checked on September 4, 2026
  6. Twilio SMS pricing, France, checked on September 4, 2026

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