textbee

Overview

textbee is an open-source SMS gateway that uses an Android phone and its SIM to send and receive SMS. Your code calls a REST API, the API pushes each message to the phone, and incoming texts come back through the API, dashboard or webhooks. It is built by Nuver Labs, and the NestJS API, Next.js dashboard and Kotlin app are MIT at github.com/textbee/textbee. The app is an APK from textbee.dev, not the Play Store.

Key features

• Send SMS by API or dashboard, including bulk sends from CSV
• Delivery reports and received messages as HMAC-SHA256 signed webhooks
• Several phones and SIMs, chosen per message
• Scheduling up to 72 hours ahead and message templates
• JavaScript SDK and an official MCP server
• Guides for n8n, Zapier, Make, Google Sheets and GoHighLevel

Pricing

Self-hosting with Docker Compose is free; you supply the server, phones and SIM plans. Hosted plans: Free with 1 device, 50 messages a day and 300 a month; Pro at $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year with 5 devices and 5,000 messages a month; Scale at $29.99 a month or $199.99 a year with 15 devices and 25,000 messages. Custom plans are quoted.

How it compares to Linq

textbee has no iMessage or RCS. It sends SMS from your own phones and numbers and can be self-hosted. Linq is a managed service for iMessage, RCS and SMS from $260 a month on Pro, and cannot be self-hosted.

Best for

Developers and small businesses sending reminders, alerts and OTP codes from their own number.

Sources

• textbee.dev
• textbee.dev/pricing
• github.com/textbee/textbee
• github.com/textbee/textbee-mcp