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SMS gateway for United Kingdom: send SMS from your own United Kingdom number

Published and updated

An Android phone holding a United Kingdom SIM sends the messages, so the API call goes out over that SIM and recipients see the +44 number that sent it. The SIM keeps its own carrier plan, and textbee is $9.99 a month at 5,000 messages on top of it.

How it works with a local SIM

  1. Put a United Kingdom 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 the United Kingdom, cloud providers and a local SIM against textbee plans
Provider1K messages5K messages25K messages
Twilio$57.15$56.00 messages, $1.15 number$281.15$280.00 messages, $1.15 number$1,401.15$1,400.00 messages, $1.15 number
Lyca Mobile UK UK Plan Super Extra, unlimited UK calls and texts$10.15GBP 7.50 per 30 days$10.15GBP 7.50 per 30 days$10.15GBP 7.50 per 30 days
Vodafone UK Pay as you go Plus bundle, unlimited minutes and texts$13.53GBP 10 per 30 days$13.53GBP 10 per 30 days$13.53GBP 10 per 30 days
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

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.

Rules for application to person SMS in the United Kingdom

  • Regulation 22 of PECR bans unsolicited direct marketing by electronic mail, which covers SMS, to an individual subscriber unless that person has already told the sender they consent, with a limited soft opt in for existing customers. legislation.gov.uk, checked on September 4, 2026
  • Regulation 23 bans direct marketing by electronic mail where the identity of the sender is disguised or concealed, or where no valid address is given for opt out requests. legislation.gov.uk, checked on September 4, 2026
  • The ICO guide to PECR states the same rule applies to texts as to email: marketing texts to individuals need specific consent, and the sender must not conceal who it is. ico.org.uk, 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": ["+447700900123"], "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 United Kingdom numbers

The API takes E.164, which for the United Kingdom looks like +447700900123, 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.

Frequently asked questions

Can I send marketing texts to UK numbers from my own SIM?

Only with prior consent. Regulation 22 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 bars unsolicited direct marketing by electronic mail to an individual subscriber unless that person has told the sender they consent. The ICO confirms the rule reaches texts, with a soft opt in exception for your own previous customers.

What must every marketing text include?

Regulation 23 bans marketing by electronic mail where the identity of the sender is disguised or concealed, or where no valid address for opt out requests is given. The ICO guide says you must not conceal who you are and must give a valid contact address so recipients can opt out.

Which prepaid SIM gives unlimited texts for a gateway phone?

On the carrier pages read on 4 September 2026, the Lyca Mobile UK Plan Super Extra costs GBP 7.50 per 30 days and lists unlimited UK calls and texts, and the Vodafone GBP 10 Pay as you go Plus bundle lists unlimited minutes and texts on a 30 day cycle.

Sources

  1. SMS rules the United Kingdom, legislation.gov.uk, checked on September 4, 2026
  2. SMS rules the United Kingdom, legislation.gov.uk, checked on September 4, 2026
  3. SMS rules the United Kingdom, ico.org.uk, checked on September 4, 2026
  4. Lyca Mobile UK UK Plan Super Extra, unlimited UK calls and texts, checked on September 4, 2026
  5. Vodafone UK Pay as you go Plus bundle, unlimited minutes and texts, checked on September 4, 2026
  6. Twilio SMS pricing, United Kingdom, checked on September 4, 2026

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