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

Published September 4, 2026 and updated September 4, 2026

An Android phone holding a United States SIM sends the messages, so the API call goes out over that SIM and recipients see the +1 number that sent it. Any Android phone with a United States SIM that can send SMS runs the textbee app. Carriers still read business traffic as Non-Consumer messaging, because the CTIA principles say automation used by a business is not typical consumer operation. 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

Put a United States 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-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
Provider	1K messages	5K messages	25K 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	$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 States

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
The CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices classify traffic by who sends it: a business, organization, or entity is a Non-Consumer sender and is expected to hold consent, hold express written consent for marketing, and let recipients revoke it. api.ctia.org, 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.

Country

Phone number

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.

Your message

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

Do I need consent to send SMS from my own number in the United States?

Yes for any message sent with an automatic telephone dialing system. The federal rule bars calls, which include text messages, made that way unless the called party gave prior express consent, and it requires prior express written consent when the message advertises or telemarkets. Keep a record of consent for each number.

How must I handle STOP replies?

A revocation made in any reasonable manner must be honored within ten business days, and a sender of text messages may not designate one exclusive way to revoke. Treat STOP, unsubscribe, or a plain request in the recipient own words as revocation and stop sending.

Do carriers treat a prepaid SIM as person to person traffic?

Not when a business is behind it. The CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices classify a business, organization, or entity as a Non-Consumer sender and say automation used by a Non-Consumer is not typical consumer operation. Non-Consumer senders are expected to hold consent, hold express written consent for marketing, and let recipients revoke it.

Sources

SMS rules the United States, ecfr.gov, checked on September 4, 2026
SMS rules the United States, api.ctia.org, checked on September 4, 2026
Visible Visible, unlimited talk and text on the Verizon network, checked on September 4, 2026
Cricket Wireless Sensible 10GB, unlimited talk and text with Auto Pay, checked on September 4, 2026
Twilio SMS pricing, United States, checked on September 4, 2026
Vonage SMS pricing, United States, checked on September 4, 2026