SMS gateway and bulk SMS questions, answered.

An SMS gateway is the service that connects your website, app or dashboard to the mobile networks, so software can send and receive text messages without a phone. An SMS gateway in Sri Lanka delivers to local numbers on Dialog, Mobitel, Hutch and Airtel. e-SMS is an SMS gateway for Sri Lanka powered by Applantics (Pvt) Ltd: you send from a web dashboard or a REST API, it routes each message to the recipient's network, and it reports delivery for every number, from Rs 0.53 per SMS segment. How an SMS gateway works.

Check five things: coverage of all four networks (Dialog, Mobitel, Hutch and Airtel), approved alphanumeric sender names, correct billing of Sinhala and Tamil Unicode messages, a REST API with per-recipient delivery receipts, and the total cost per delivered segment including monthly fees, minimum spend and credit expiry. e-SMS covers all four networks at one rate, publishes its full rate card, charges no setup or monthly fee, never expires credits and gives 20 free credits to test with. Compare SMS gateway prices.

Bulk SMS is sending the same text message to many phone numbers at once through a web dashboard or an API, instead of typing each one on a phone. Businesses use it for OTP codes, order and delivery updates, appointment reminders and promotions. With e-SMS you paste or import numbers, or call the API, and each recipient is billed one credit per SMS segment. SMS gateway vs bulk SMS vs SMS API.

e-SMS charges from Rs 0.53 per SMS segment, set by the size of the top-up: Rs 0.80 (top-ups under Rs 1,000), Rs 0.72 (Rs 1,000+), Rs 0.65 (Rs 2,500+), Rs 0.58 (Rs 5,000+), Rs 0.53 (Rs 10,000+). A message of up to 160 characters is one segment, so 1,000 messages cost Rs 800 and 100,000 cost Rs 53,000. Taxes are included, there is no monthly or setup fee, and the rate is the same on Dialog, Mobitel, Hutch and Airtel. See full pricing.

Compare providers on the total cost of a delivered SMS: the rate per segment, monthly fees or minimums, whether credits expire, sender-name fees, and how Sinhala and Tamil messages are billed. e-SMS charges from Rs 0.53 per segment with no monthly fee, no setup fee and no credit expiry, and sender-name registration is free. It shows the exact cost before every send, so you can check it against any other rate card. How to compare SMS prices.

Yes. e-SMS provides a REST API for Sri Lanka with Bearer token authentication and JSON requests and responses. You can send to one number or a comma-separated list, message a saved contact group, cost a message before sending it, and check delivery status by message ID. The limit is 120 requests a minute per token. API reference.

Yes. Unicode messages such as Sinhala or Tamil fit 70 characters in a single segment and 67 in each segment after that, instead of the 160 a Latin (GSM-7) message gets. The composer shows the segment count and cost as you type.

20 free credits are added automatically when you create an account, enough to send a real test message to your own phone and see the delivery receipt come back. No card is needed.

All four Sri Lankan mobile networks, Dialog, Mobitel, Hutch and Airtel, at the same rate. Numbers can be entered as 0712345678 or 94712345678, and duplicates are removed so you are never billed twice for the same number in one send.

Yes. Register an alphanumeric sender name of 3 to 11 characters, such as your company name. To protect your customers from impersonation, every name is verified before it can send: upload a copy of your business registration (or your NIC if the business is not registered) and a signed request letter, which the dashboard fills in for you. Verification usually takes one business day, and sender-name registration is free.

From Rs 0.53 per SMS segment. The rate is set by the size of each top-up: Rs 0.80 (top-ups under Rs 1,000), Rs 0.72 (Rs 1,000+), Rs 0.65 (Rs 2,500+), Rs 0.58 (Rs 5,000+), Rs 0.53 (Rs 10,000+). A message of up to 160 characters is one segment. Taxes are included, and the rate is the same on Dialog, Mobitel, Hutch and Airtel.

No. There is no monthly fee, setup fee or plan. You buy credits when you need them, a bigger top-up buys each credit cheaper, and you pay only for the segments you send. The smallest top-up is 100 credits (Rs 80).

No. Credits stay on your account until you use them, and credits from a failed send are returned automatically.

Per segment, like any other message, but a Unicode segment holds only 70 characters (67 once a message spans several segments) against 160 (153) for Latin text. A 100-character Sinhala message is 2 segments, so it uses 2 credits per recipient: 2 x Rs 0.53 = Rs 1.06 at the lowest rate.

Long messages that spill into extra segments, and emoji or non-Latin characters that switch a whole message to Unicode. The composer and the estimate endpoint show the segment count and cost before anything is sent.

Prices change, so check the current rate card of any provider you are comparing rather than relying on a claim. To compare fairly, use the total cost per delivered segment, including monthly fees, minimum spend, credit expiry, sender-name fees and Unicode billing. e-SMS publishes its full price on this page: from Rs 0.53 per segment, taxes included, no setup or monthly fee, no expiry, and sender-name registration is free.