How to start sending messages with Bird

Step 1 — Create your account

1. Sign up. Head to bird.com/en-us and create an account. Onboarding is self-service, so you can start immediately. New accounts include Free email tier (1,000/month) to test with.
2. Grab your keys. Open the dashboard and copy your credentials. Bird uses Region-prefixed API key (bk_us1_... / bk_eu1_...) passed as a Bearer token in the Authorization header; the key prefix encodes the regional host (us1 or eu1) and SDKs route automatically..
3. (Optional) Use the sandbox. Bird 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 -X POST "https://us1.platform.bird.com/v1/sms/messages" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer bk_us1_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": "+14155550100",
    "from": "Bird",
    "text": "Your Bird verification code is 481920. It expires in 10 minutes.",
    "category": "authentication"
  }'

The request hits https://us1.platform.bird.com/v1/sms/messages. A 2xx response means Birdhas 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.Bird ships SDKs for TypeScript, Python, Go, and TypeScript is a great place to start.Full reference lives in the Bird documentation.

What's next

• Add more channels. Bird also supports WhatsApp, Voice, Email — reuse the same account and credentials.
• Mind compliance. Bird is GDPR, ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA aligned, with EU and US data residency options.
• Compare before you commit. See how Bird stacks up on the provider table or in a head-to-head comparison.