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SMS gateway for the United States: send text messages from your own number, no 10DLC registration

Published and updated

Put a SIM from the United States in an Android phone, install textbee, and every API call sends a real SMS from that +1 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
$65.15
cheapest cloud provider listed
Sender
Local +1
a number recipients can reply to

How it works with a local SIM

  1. Put a United States 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 States, cloud providers and a local SIM against textbee plans
Provider1K messages5K messages25K messages
Twilio$13.95$8.30 messages, $1.15 number, $4.50 carrier fees$65.15$41.50 messages, $1.15 number, $22.50 carrier fees$321.15$207.50 messages, $1.15 number, $112.50 carrier fees
Vonage$14.15$8.60 messages, $1.05 number, $4.50 carrier fees$66.55$43.00 messages, $1.05 number, $22.50 carrier fees$328.55$215.00 messages, $1.05 number, $112.50 carrier fees
Visible, unlimited talk and text on the Verizon network$25.00USD 25 per month$25.00USD 25 per month$25.00USD 25 per month
Cricket Wireless Sensible 10GB, unlimited talk and text with Auto Pay$30.00USD 30 per month$30.00USD 30 per month$30.00USD 30 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 United States

Twilio lists $0.0083 per outbound SMS segment to the United States, checked on September 4, 2026. A message longer than one segment is billed as more than one. A Twilio number in the United States costs $1.15 a month on top. Carriers add $0.0045 a message on top of the Twilio rate.

At 5,000 messages a month, Twilio costs $41.50 for messages, $1.15 for the number and $22.50 in carrier fees, about $65.15; textbee Pro is $14.99 flat.

At 25,000 messages a month, Twilio costs $207.50 for messages, $1.15 for the number and $112.50 in carrier fees, about $321.15; 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

$13.95

$8.30 messages, $1.15 number, $4.50 carrier fees

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

Recipients see the 10 digit number the SIM sends from. The CTIA principles cover messaging that uses NANP 10 digit numbers as the sender identifier, and the separate 10DLC channel verifies brands before they may send business messages.

A one time passcode is still a text sent by automation, so the consent rule reaches it, and the sender may not restrict how a recipient revokes consent. No federal rule on passcode templates or link blocking was found on the official pages read.

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": ["+12015550123"], "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 States numbers

The API takes E.164, which for the United States looks like +12015550123, 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

  • Federal rules require the prior express consent of the called party before a call or text is sent with an automatic telephone dialing system, and prior express written consent when the message advertises or telemarkets. ecfr.gov, checked on September 4, 2026
  • A recipient may revoke consent in any reasonable manner, the sender must honor it within ten business days, and the sender may not name one exclusive way to revoke. ecfr.gov, checked on September 4, 2026

Frequently asked questions

Do I need 10DLC registration to send SMS with textbee in the United States?

No registration step is part of textbee setup. 10DLC is the channel messaging platforms use to register brands and campaigns for application-to-person traffic on numbers they provision; textbee sends from the SIM in your own phone, so there is no brand, campaign or number to register and no registration fee. The obligations do not go away: consent rules under 47 CFR 64.1200, honoring STOP, and your carrier's fair use terms on a consumer SIM, which filter bulk patterns. For marketing at volume in the United States, a registered 10DLC route from a cloud provider is the right tool.

Is there a text message API for the United States?

Yes, and it is the same thing as an SMS API: SMS is the technical name for a text message. With textbee the API call goes to a REST endpoint, the Android phone sends the text over your US SIM, and replies come back to your webhook or to GET /gateway/messages. Recipients see a normal 10 digit number in their messaging app.

Does textbee work in the United States?

Yes. textbee is an Android app plus a REST API, and it runs on any Android phone with a United States SIM that can send SMS. Carriers still read business traffic as Non-Consumer messaging, because the CTIA principles say automation used by a business is not typical consumer operation.

What number do recipients see?

The number of the SIM in the phone, so a reply comes straight back to it. Your code picks replies up from a webhook or from GET /gateway/messages. The CTIA principles cover messaging that uses NANP 10 digit numbers as the sender identifier, and the separate 10DLC channel verifies brands before they may send business messages.

What does it cost to send SMS in the United States?

A textbee plan is flat: Free covers 300 messages a month, Pro is $14.99 a month for up to 5,000, and Scale is $29.99 a month for up to 25,000. On top of that you pay for the SIM, and Visible lists unlimited talk and text at USD 25 a month while Cricket Wireless lists USD 30 a month with Auto Pay. Twilio charges $0.0083 a message to the United States on a number you rent from them, plus 10DLC registration fees on top.

How many messages can one phone send?

One phone sends roughly 10 to 15 messages a minute, so about 600 to 900 an hour. Carriers can filter bulk patterns on a consumer SIM, so spread sends out rather than firing a whole list at once. For more volume, connect more devices to the same textbee account, and a dual SIM phone picks its sending SIM with simSubscriptionId.

Do I need consent before texting customers in the United States?

Yes. The federal rule bars a text sent with an automatic telephone dialing system unless the called party gave prior express consent, and it requires prior express written consent when the message advertises or telemarkets. A recipient may revoke consent in any reasonable manner, and you must honor it within ten business days.

Sources

  1. SMS rules the United States, ecfr.gov, checked on September 4, 2026
  2. SMS rules the United States, api.ctia.org, checked on September 4, 2026
  3. SMS rules the United States, plivo.com, checked on September 22, 2026
  4. Visible Visible, unlimited talk and text on the Verizon network, checked on September 4, 2026
  5. Cricket Wireless Sensible 10GB, unlimited talk and text with Auto Pay, checked on September 4, 2026
  6. Twilio SMS pricing, United States, checked on September 4, 2026
  7. Vonage SMS pricing, United States, checked on September 4, 2026

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