Comparison
Overview
Company snapshot and where each provider is based.
| Field | GatewayAPI | Messente |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Danish SMS gateway and messaging platform by ONLINECITY.IO offering SMS, RCS and email APIs with pay-as-you-go pricing and EU data hosting. | Estonian omnichannel business messaging platform with a single API for SMS, WhatsApp, and Viber (plus RCS in select markets), reaching 197+ countries. |
| Founded | 1999 | 2013 |
| Ownership | private | private |
| Employees | 11-50 | 11-50 |
| HQ city | Odense | Tallinn |
| HQ country | Denmark (EU) | Estonia (EU) |
What's the differenceBoth earn a messaging.dev Score of 54. GatewayAPI is private and headquartered in Odense, Denmark (EU); Messente is private and based in Tallinn, Estonia (EU).
Channels
Which messaging channels each provider can send and receive on.
| Field | GatewayAPI | Messente |
|---|---|---|
| SMS | Yes | Yes |
| MMS | No | No |
| RCS | Yes | Yes |
| No | Yes | |
| Viber | No | Yes |
| Facebook Messenger | No | No |
| Telegram | No | No |
| Apple Messages for Business | No | No |
| Voice | No | No |
| Yes | No |
What's the differenceThey share 2 channels. GatewayAPI additionally offers Email, while Messente additionally offers WhatsApp, Viber.
Developer Experience
How quickly a developer can sign up and send a first message.
| Field | GatewayAPI | Messente |
|---|---|---|
| Self-service onboarding | Yes | Yes |
| Free developer credit | Test credits on request | Free test credits on signup |
| Docs quality | med | high |
| Documentation | Open ↗ | Open ↗ |
| SDKs | — | Python, Node.js, PHP, Java, Ruby, C# |
| Sandbox / test env | No | No |
| API types | REST, SMPP, Email-to-SMS | REST, SMPP |
What's the differenceOn SDKs, Messente adds Python, Node.js, PHP, Java, Ruby, C#; on API types, GatewayAPI adds Email-to-SMS.
Data & Compliance
Data residency options and enterprise compliance certifications.
| Field | GatewayAPI | Messente |
|---|---|---|
| EU data residency | Yes | Yes |
| US data residency | No | No |
| Choose region | Yes | No |
| GDPR | Yes | Yes |
| ISO 27001 | No | Yes |
| SOC 2 | No | No |
| HIPAA | No | No |
What's the differenceGatewayAPI offers Choose region, while Messente does not; Messente offers ISO 27001, while GatewayAPI does not.
Data Retention
How long message content and metadata are stored, and whether that is configurable.
| Field | GatewayAPI | Messente |
|---|---|---|
| Retention policy | Message content, sender and recipient are stored in the traffic log for 30 days, after which records are anonymized (message content and full sender deleted, last half of the recipient number removed). An optional "secret" message class skips storage of content, sender and recipient entirely. | Not publicly documented in detail for message content. Messente's data handling policy sets general retention of 1 year after contact without a business relationship or 2 years after the end of a business relationship; message data processed on customers' behalf is retained per each customer's Data Processing Agreement, with custom message retention periods offered as a feature. Data is stored only in EU data centres (Germany and Finland) with an EU-based, EU-owned cloud provider. |
What's the differenceGatewayAPI: Message content, sender and recipient are stored in the traffic log for 30 days, after which records are anonymized (message content and full sender deleted, last half of the recipient number removed). An optional "secret" message class skips storage of content, sender and recipient entirely. Messente: Not publicly documented in detail for message content. Messente's data handling policy sets general retention of 1 year after contact without a business relationship or 2 years after the end of a business relationship; message data processed on customers' behalf is retained per each customer's Data Processing Agreement, with custom message retention periods offered as a feature. Data is stored only in EU data centres (Germany and Finland) with an EU-based, EU-owned cloud provider.
Pricing & Credits
Pricing model and the cost of a first message.
| Field | GatewayAPI | Messente |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Pay-as-you-go per-message pricing with prepaid credit; no monthly subscriptions or fees (except short-code countries), with negotiated discounts for high volumes. | Quote-based commitment plans (Essential/Professional/Enterprise) pairing a monthly fee with per-country message prices for 25K+ monthly volumes, plus an SMS-only pay-as-you-go option with a minimum monthly spend of 500 euros. |
| SMS starting price | From €0.0061 per SMS (standard class, cheapest destination on the public price list; e.g. €0.0401 to Denmark) | Not published (per-country prices shown via on-site pricing calculator; quotes tailored by volume and market) |
| Free developer credit | Test credits on request | Free test credits on signup |
What's the differenceGatewayAPI and Messente are closely matched on pricing & credits — no material differences in the tracked fields.
Reach & Reliability
Global coverage and delivery dependability.
| Field | GatewayAPI | Messente |
|---|---|---|
| Countries covered | 200 | 197 |
| Direct operator connections | Yes | Yes |
| Published uptime SLA | No published SLA (99.99%+ historical uptime claimed) | No published SLA |
What's the differenceGatewayAPI leads on Countries covered (200 vs 197 for Messente).
Company & Trust
Independent reviews and company profile.
| Field | GatewayAPI | Messente |
|---|---|---|
| G2 rating | 4.9 | 5.0 |
| G2 reviews | 7 | 2 |
| Ownership | private | private |
| Employees | 11-50 | 11-50 |
What's the differenceMessente leads on G2 rating (5 vs 4.9 for GatewayAPI); GatewayAPI leads on G2 reviews (7 vs 2 for Messente).
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