SMS gateway for Philippines: send SMS from your own Philippines number
Published and updated
Put a SIM from the Philippines in an Android phone, install textbee, and every API call sends a real SMS from that +63 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 Philippines 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-smswith 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
| Provider | 1K messages | 5K messages | 25K messages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twilio | $242.15$241.00 messages, $1.15 number | $1,206.15$1,205.00 messages, $1.15 number | $6,026.15$6,025.00 messages, $1.15 number |
| 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
No carrier plan page for the Philippines could be read on September 4, 2026, so the table shows provider rates and textbee plans only, and your own SIM plan is on top of the textbee plan.
Quickstart
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": ["+639051234567"], "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 Philippines numbers
The API takes E.164, which for the Philippines looks like +639051234567, 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
Does textbee work in the Philippines?
Yes. A registered local SIM in an Android phone that can send SMS is all textbee needs. The app sends through that SIM and the REST API drives it from your own code.
What number do recipients see?
The Philippine mobile number of the SIM in the phone, so a reply goes straight back to it. Your code reads replies from a webhook or GET /gateway/messages. A phone cannot present an alphanumeric sender name, so recipients always see a number they can answer.
What does it cost to send SMS in the Philippines?
The textbee plan is flat: Free for 300 messages a month, Pro $9.99 a month for up to 5,000, Scale $29.99 a month for up to 25,000. The other cost is the plan you already pay your local carrier for the SIM. Twilio charges $0.241 a message to the Philippines, so a cloud provider bills per message where textbee bills per month.
How many messages can one phone send?
Roughly 10 to 15 messages a minute from one device. Carriers can filter bulk patterns on a consumer SIM, so keep sends paced rather than firing a whole list at once. Connecting more Android phones to the same account raises the ceiling.
Sources
- Twilio SMS pricing, Philippines, checked on September 4, 2026