5-minute quickstartHow to start sending messages with 46elks
46elks is a privately held communications platform based in Uppsala, Sweden (EU). This guide takes you from zero to a delivered SMSin about five minutes — no sales call required.
Before you start
- A 46elks account — sign up here.
- Your API credentials from the dashboard.
- A phone number capable of receiving SMSs for testing.
Step 1 — Create your account
- Sign up. Head to 46elks.com and create an account. Onboarding is self-service, so you can start immediately.
- Grab your keys. Open the dashboard and copy your credentials. 46elks uses HTTP Basic authentication with the API username and password from the account dashboard.
- (Optional) Use the sandbox. 46elks offers a test environment, so you can validate your integration before sending live traffic.
Step 2 — Send your first SMS
The fastest path is a single API call. Drop in your credentials and a destination number, then run this from your terminal:
curl https://api.46elks.com/a1/sms \
-u <api_username>:<api_password> \
-d from=CurlyElk \
-d to=+46700000000 \
-d message="Bring a sweater, it's cold outside"The request hits https://api.46elks.com/a1. A 2xx response means 46elkshas accepted your message for delivery — you should see it arrive within seconds.
Step 3 — Go native with an SDK
Once the raw call works, switch to an official SDK for retries, typing and error handling.46elks ships SDKs for .Full reference lives in the 46elks documentation.
What's next
- Add more channels. 46elks also supports Voice — reuse the same account and credentials.
- Mind compliance. 46elks is GDPR aligned, with EU and no US data residency options.
- Compare before you commit. See how 46elks stacks up on the provider table or in a head-to-head comparison.
Values in this guide come from 46elks's public documentation. Always check the official docs for the latest details.