SMSTunnel vs textbee

Two ways to send texts from your own Android phone

Checked November 2026 on the official websites. See the sources.

The short version

textbee and SMSTunnel work the same way at heart: an app on your own Android phone sends the texts your software asks for, from the phone's SIM and number, with no per-message fees. Both start free.

textbee is open source and you can run it on your own server. One request can go to several numbers, it schedules texts, and it pushes received texts and status changes to your webhooks.

SMSTunnel's app is on Google Play, and it comes with ready-made plugins and modules (WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop, OpenCart, Odoo, n8n, Home Assistant and more), a separate allowance for sign-in codes and optional end-to-end encryption.

Side by side

SMSTunnel and textbee compared
Topic SMSTunnel textbee
The app On Google Play, for Android 7.0 or newer An APK from its website or GitHub, not on Google Play, for Android 7.0 or newer
Price A free plan, and paid plans from $9 a month Free, Pro $14.99, Scale $29.99 a month, or Custom
Free plan 25 texts a day (500 a month) and 50 sign-in codes a day, on all your phones 50 texts a day (300 a month) on one phone; received texts count too
Paid plans Standard: 2,000 texts a day, 30,000 a month. Professional: no daily cap. Only the texts you send count Pro: 5,000 texts a month, 5 phones. Scale: 25,000 a month, 15 phones
Per-text fees No per-message fees from SMSTunnel. Your mobile plan's SMS charges or allowance apply None from textbee. Your carrier's charges apply
Phones and SIMs All your own phones on every plan, and the SIM on dual-SIM phones 1, 5 or 15 phones by plan, and the SIM for each text
Your clients' phones On Enterprise, your app links each client's own phone with a QR code and sends from it Phones belong to one account, 1, 5 or 15 by plan; no accounts for your clients
Numbers per request One number per text, up to 1600 characters Several numbers per request, or a CSV file in the dashboard
Scheduled texts Not available Up to 72 hours ahead
Received texts They reach your phone. Optional sync to your dashboard and the API Webhooks or the API
Status of a text Pending, sent or failed, as your phone reports it, through the API Webhooks and the API, with delivery reports when the carrier sends them
Sign-in codes Your software makes the code, SMSTunnel sends it, with a separate daily allowance Sent like any other text
Encryption Optional end-to-end encryption between your own software and your phone HTTPS to textbee, which stores your messages on its servers
Integrations More than 40 ready-made: WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, n8n, Home Assistant and more 16 guides that use each tool's own HTTP or webhook features; JavaScript and Python SDKs; an MCP server for AI agents
Open source The app and service are not; the plugins, modules and SDKs are public Yes, MIT: run it on your own server with Docker

SMSTunnel's current prices are on its pricing page. textbee's plans count sent and received texts; SMSTunnel's count only the texts you send.

When to choose textbee instead

  • You want open source you can read, change and run on your own server. textbee says a self-hosted copy has no plan limits; you set up its database, Firebase and email, and build the app yourself.
  • One request should go to several numbers, or you want to send from a CSV file in the dashboard.
  • You want texts scheduled ahead, up to 72 hours.
  • Your software should be told about received texts and status changes by webhook, with delivery reports where the carrier sends them.
  • You need more than 25 texts a day for free: textbee's free plan allows 50 a day, on one phone.

When SMSTunnel fits better

  • You want the app from Google Play, not an APK from outside the store.
  • Your app has many clients, each with their own phone: on Enterprise, your app shows each client a QR code, the client links their own phone, and your app sends their texts from it.
  • Your site already has a plugin or module: WordPress with WooCommerce, Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms or WPForms, or Magento, PrestaShop, OpenCart, Odoo, n8n, Home Assistant and Laravel.
  • You send sign-in codes: they have their own daily allowance, with packages for Supabase Auth, Auth0, Clerk, Better Auth and Ory.
  • You want end-to-end encryption, so SMSTunnel can't read your texts. On Professional and Enterprise, Maximum privacy hides the number too.
  • You use several phones on a small plan: every SMSTunnel plan, Free included, takes all your own phones.

How switching works

Your phone and number stay the same. Only the app and the call your software makes change.

  1. 1Install SMSTunnel from Google Play on the phone that sends your texts, and sign in with your SMSTunnel account.
  2. 2In your dashboard, open Apps → Add an app and copy the API key.
  3. 3Change the send call. The key goes in X-API-Key, the number in to (one number per request, where textbee takes a list in recipients), and the text stays in message. deviceId picks the phone, as with textbee.
  4. 4Replace the webhooks: poll GET /api/v1/sms/status/{messageId} for the status of a text, and for replies turn on Sync received texts in the app, then read GET /api/v1/sms/received with a key allowed to read them.
  5. 5Where you used a textbee guide for a tool, check SMSTunnel's integrations: many tools have a plugin, node or ready-made setup.
Send a text with SMSTunnel
curl -X POST https://smstunnel.io/api/v1/sms/send \
  -H "X-API-Key: sk_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"to": "+14155550123", "message": "Your table is ready."}'

Every field and answer is in the API reference. If your phone is offline, the text waits and goes out when it is back, for up to 3 days.

Ready-made integrations

Ready-made setups that replace your own code, with the same phone doing the sending.

WordPress
The core plugin, with sign-in codes for logins
WooCommerce
Order texts to your customers
n8n
A community node for your workflows
Home Assistant
Alerts with notify.smstunnel
Uptime Kuma
Monitor alerts, no plugin
Supabase Auth
Phone sign-in codes

More on the integrations page, and any other software can use the REST API.

Questions people ask

Is SMSTunnel open source like textbee?

No. textbee is open source under the MIT license, and you can run the whole service on your own server. SMSTunnel's app and service are not open source; its plugins, modules and SDKs are public, and the Custom plan has a self-hosted option.

Which free plan is bigger?

textbee's free plan allows 50 texts a day and 300 a month on one phone, and received texts count toward them. SMSTunnel's allows 25 texts a day and 500 a month as you wrote them, on all your phones, plus 50 sign-in codes a day. Texts your own software sends beyond that, up to a daily cap, end with a short “free by smstunnel.io” line.

Do I pay per text with either of them?

No. Neither charges per message. The texts go out from your own SIM, so your mobile plan's SMS charges or allowance apply with both.

Why does it matter whether the app is on Google Play?

An app from Google Play installs and updates like any other. textbee says its app is not on the Play Store because of the SMS permissions it needs, and its download page explains that Android asks once before it installs apps from outside the store, and that Android 15 and 16 block the SMS permission at first for them.

Can I schedule texts or send one text to several numbers?

With textbee, yes: it schedules texts up to 72 hours ahead, and one request can go to several numbers. SMSTunnel sends one text to one number per request, right away, or as soon as your phone is back online.

Does textbee encrypt messages end to end?

textbee's documentation says all API traffic uses HTTPS and that it stores your messages on its servers; we found no end-to-end encryption in its documentation. With SMSTunnel, end-to-end encryption is optional on every plan: your software encrypts the text for your phone, and SMSTunnel can't read it.

Sources

Checked November 2026 on textbee's own website and documentation. Prices and features change, and some depend on the country, so check these pages before you decide.

Responsible use

Send only texts people expect from you: sending business texts from a personal SIM can break some carriers' terms, so check your plan.

textbee and the other product names on this page are trademarks of their owners. SMSTunnel is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by them.

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