How to migrate from Smstools to Infobip

Smstools is a Belgian business-messaging platform offering an SMS gateway API, bulk SMS, WhatsApp Business API, voice messages and email-to-SMS with EU-only hosting. Infobip is a global omnichannel communications platform covering SMS, WhatsApp, voice, email and more. On the messaging.dev Score, Smstools rates 56/100 and Infobip 96/100; this guide is a technical walkthrough of what actually changes when you move an integration from one to the other.

What you gain and what you lose

Channels. Both platforms send SMS, WhatsApp and voice, so your existing traffic keeps working. Migrating adds seven channels: MMS, RCS, Viber, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Apple Messages for Business and email. No channel available on Smstools is lost.

Compliance. Both carry GDPR. Infobip additionally lists ISO 27001, SOC 2 and HIPAA — relevant if you need those attestations for procurement or regulated data.

Data residency. Smstools hosts in the EU only, with no US region and no residency choice. Infobip offers both EU and US servers, explicit data-residency choice, plus APAC, Latin America, Middle East and Africa regions.

Pricing. This is the clearest trade-off. Smstools publishes pay-as-you-go rates (from €0.025 per SMS to the USA) with no subscription, setup fee or monthly minimum. Infobip is primarily quote/contract-based (contact sales) and does not list SMS pricing publicly, so budgeting requires a sales conversation.

SDKs. Both ship official SDKs for PHP, Node.js and Python. Smstools also covers Ruby and PowerShell; Infobip also covers Java, C# and Go.

Unchanged. Both offer free developer credit, a sandbox, high-quality docs, a 99.99% uptime SLA, direct operator connections and self-service onboarding. Both expose REST and SMTP; Infobip adds SMPP. Country coverage is comparable (Smstools around 200, Infobip around 190).

How the request format differs

Smstools quickstart:

curl -X POST "https://api.smsgatewayapi.com/v1/message/send" \
  -H "X-Client-Id: YOUR_CLIENT_ID" \
  -H "X-Client-Secret: YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"message": "Hello World", "to": "11231231234", "sender": "YourName"}'

Infobip quickstart:

curl -X POST 'https://xxxxxx.api.infobip.com/sms/2/text/advanced' \
  -H 'Authorization: App YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json' \
  -d '{"messages":[{"from":"InfoSMS","destinations":[{"to":"15551234567"}],"text":"Hello from Infobip"}]}'

Three things change:

• Endpoint. Smstools posts to a fixed host, https://api.smsgatewayapi.com/v1/message/send. Infobip posts to a per-account base URL, https://{base_url}.api.infobip.com/sms/2/text/advanced — read your personal base_url subdomain from the dashboard.
• Authentication. Smstools uses two headers, X-Client-Id and X-Client-Secret (a key and a secret). Infobip uses a single header, Authorization: App YOUR_API_KEY.
• Payload. Smstools sends one flat JSON object; Infobip nests each message inside a messages array. Map the fields as message → text, sender → from, and the recipient to (a string) → a destinations array of {"to": ...} objects.

Migration checklist

1. Create an Infobip account and generate an API key; note your account base_url.
2. Map the request fields (message→text, sender→from, to→destinations[].to) and switch auth to the single Authorization: App header.
3. Re-point your sending code at the Infobip base URL and payload shape; swap to an Infobip SDK (Java, C#, Python, PHP, Go, Node.js) if you use one.
4. Re-test in Infobip’s sandbox before sending live traffic.
5. Update your delivery/webhook callbacks to Infobip’s format and endpoints.
6. Run both integrations in parallel and reconcile delivery reports.
7. Cut over once volumes and delivery reports look correct.

Watch out for

• Pricing transparency. You move from published pay-as-you-go rates to quote/contract-based pricing that is not listed publicly — get a quote before committing.
• SDK languages. If you rely on the Ruby or PowerShell SDK, Infobip does not ship those; you will use its REST API or a different-language SDK.
• Country list. Infobip lists around 190 countries versus roughly 200 for Smstools — confirm your specific destinations are covered.

New to the target API? See how to start with Infobip and the full Infobip vs Smstools comparison.