5-minute quickstartHow to start sending messages with BulkSMS
BulkSMS is a privately held communications platform based in Cape Town, South Africa. This guide takes you from zero to a delivered SMSin about five minutes — no sales call required.
Before you start
- A BulkSMS account — sign up here (5 free test SMS on signup).
- Your API credentials from the dashboard.
- A phone number capable of receiving SMSs for testing.
Step 1 — Create your account
- Sign up. Head to www.bulksms.com and create an account. Onboarding is self-service, so you can start immediately. New accounts include 5 free test SMS on signup to test with.
- Grab your keys. Open the dashboard and copy your credentials. BulkSMS uses HTTP Basic authentication in the Authorization header, using either your account username/password or a generated API token ID and secret..
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://api.bulksms.com/v1/messages \
-u 'API_TOKEN_ID:API_TOKEN_SECRET' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"to": "+27000000000", "body": "Hello, World!"}'The request hits https://api.bulksms.com/v1/messages. A 2xx response means BulkSMShas 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.BulkSMS ships SDKs for .Full reference lives in the BulkSMS documentation.
What's next
- Add more channels. BulkSMS also supports RCS — reuse the same account and credentials.
- Mind compliance. BulkSMS is GDPR aligned, with EU and no US data residency options.
- Compare before you commit. See how BulkSMS stacks up on the provider table or in a head-to-head comparison.
Values in this guide come from BulkSMS's public documentation. Always check the official docs for the latest details.