SMS API

SMS API for business text messaging

What is an SMS API?

An SMS API is an HTTP interface your application calls to send and receive business text messages in code: you make one authenticated request with a destination number and a message body, get back a message id you can track, and receive inbound replies and delivery receipts on your webhook. Orbit by Devotel's SMS API does that over a single POST to /api/v1/messages/sms — no SMPP bind to open and no carrier connections to run — and carries outbound text over Devotel's own wholesale softswitch as the carrier of record rather than a resold aggregator hop. SMS runs alongside WhatsApp, RCS, email, voice, AI agents, and a built-in contact center on one platform and one pay-as-you-go bill.

Send your first text message from code

One authenticated request sends a text. Authenticate with your API key in the X-API-Key header, post the destination number and the body, and Orbit queues, routes, and returns a trackable message id.

curl https://api.orbit.devotel.io/api/v1/messages/sms \
  -H "X-API-Key: $ORBIT_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "to": "+14155552671", "body": "Your Orbit code is 481920" }'

Delivery status and any reply come back to your webhook in the same shape as every other channel.

What the Orbit SMS API does

Capability	What you get
Send and receive over one HTTPS call	One authenticated POST with a destination number and a message body sends a text and returns a trackable message id — no SMPP bind to open and no messaging infrastructure to stand up.
Delivery receipts and two-way replies	Status transitions — queued, sent, delivered, failed — and inbound replies are posted to your webhook as they happen, so your app knows what landed without polling. Inbound messages also land in the shared inbox against the same contact.
Carrier-of-record routing	Outbound text travels over Devotel's own wholesale softswitch — the same carrier of record that terminates Orbit voice — so each message takes one accountable path from your API call to the destination mobile operator instead of a chain of resold trunks.
A2P 10DLC registration from the API	Register your 10DLC brand and campaigns with The Campaign Registry from the API, watch per-carrier vetting, and start sending once the campaign is approved — the US A2P paperwork handled where you already work.
Opt-outs honored automatically	A contact who replies STOP is suppressed across future sends automatically — you never write the compliance logic, and the suppression follows the contact rather than a single campaign.
Fraud Shield on every destination	Screen destinations for SMS-pumping and artificial-traffic fraud against rules you set per account — risk-score block and review thresholds, per-prefix velocity and 24-hour geo-spread ceilings, and country allow and block lists — then block risky sends inline or just alert.
Sender options that scale	Start on long codes, manage sender pools as volume grows, and apply for a dedicated or shared short code from the dashboard when a program outgrows long-code throughput — the full lease lifecycle without leaving Orbit.
Bulk and scheduled sends	Fire a single message from your backend, batch a whole audience, or schedule a campaign — the same API and the same delivery webhooks cover one-off transactional traffic and high-volume programs.
One API, every channel	The same integration also carries WhatsApp, RCS, email, and voice, with shared contacts, campaigns, and flows, so adding a channel is a routing change rather than a new integration.

Built for business text messaging

One-time passcodes and 2FA
Deliver login codes and step-up verification the moment they are requested. Transactional and one-time-passcode traffic is never held back by consent gating, so codes always go through.
Alerts and notifications
Order updates, appointment reminders, delivery notices, and account alerts sent from your backend with a single call and tracked all the way to delivery.
Two-way customer support
Let customers reply in the same thread. Inbound messages land in a shared inbox against the same contact, so a conversation started over SMS can continue on any channel.
Marketing campaigns
Send to an audience with branded short links and click tracking, an optional confirmed-consent handshake for first-time marketing contacts, and STOP honored automatically across the list.

Orbit vs Twilio vs Infobip vs Plivo for SMS

Feature	Orbit	Twilio	Infobip	Plivo
SMS API essentials
Published pay-as-you-go pricing, self-serve signup
Own carrier network or wholesale switch (no resold aggregator hop)
A2P 10DLC & international sender-ID registration support
Dedicated SMS-pumping / traffic-fraud protection
Delivery receipts + inbound two-way SMS
Beyond SMS
MMS support
WhatsApp, RCS & email on the same platform
Programmable voice + AI voice agents
One platform & one bill across every channel

Comparison data as of Q3 2026. Competitor feature details sourced from public vendor documentation, G2, and Gartner Peer Insights. Subject to change at the vendor's discretion. Yes Partial No

What it costs

Pay-as-you-go with no monthly platform fee — you pre-pay credits and pay only for what you send. US SMS is published at $0.0075 per segment; other destinations are published per country, and volume rate cards are available on request.

See SMS rates by country

SMS API — frequently asked

What is an SMS API?: An SMS API is an HTTP interface your application calls to send and receive text messages in code. You make one HTTPS request with the destination number and the message body; the API queues the send, routes it to the carrier, and returns a message id. Inbound replies and delivery events come back to your webhook. A good one also handles sender and number management and the country-specific registration rules, such as A2P 10DLC in the US, a business would otherwise have to research and build itself.
How do I send my first text message from code?: Make a single authenticated POST to /api/v1/messages/sms with the destination number and the message body, using your API key in the X-API-Key header. You get back a message id to track, and delivery status arrives as a webhook. You can send your first message from code the same afternoon.
Can I receive replies and delivery receipts?: Yes. The Orbit SMS API is two-way. Inbound replies and delivery-status events — queued, sent, delivered, failed — are posted to your webhook as they happen, and inbound messages also land in the shared inbox against the same contact as every other channel.
How much does the Orbit SMS API cost?: Orbit is pay-as-you-go with no monthly platform fee: you pre-pay credits and pay only for what you send. US SMS is published at $0.0075 per segment; other destinations are published per country on the pricing page, and volume rate cards are available on request.
How does Orbit handle US A2P deliverability and 10DLC?: Register your 10DLC brand and campaigns with The Campaign Registry from the API, watch per-carrier vetting, and start sending once the campaign is approved. Before a send, numbers are checked against do-not-call registers and your own suppression lists, and each destination carries an SMS-pumping risk score through Fraud Shield so artificial traffic is caught before you spend.
Which SMS API has the best deliverability?: Deliverability depends more on correct carrier registration and disciplined sending practices than on any single vendor. Providers that own more of the delivery path end to end — a direct carrier network or their own wholesale switch rather than a resold aggregator hop — generally have fewer intermediaries between the API call and the handset, but every provider still requires correct registration for every country you send to. Orbit routes outbound SMS over Devotel's own wholesale softswitch as the carrier of record.
Does the SMS API also cover other channels?: Yes. The same integration reaches customers on WhatsApp, RCS, email, and voice, with shared contacts, campaigns, and delivery webhooks across all of them — so adding a channel is a routing change rather than a new integration and a second bill.

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Start sending over the API

SMS is one channel of Orbit by Devotel — voice, WhatsApp, RCS, email, video, AI agents, and customer data on one platform and one pay-as-you-go bill. Start free, or talk to our team about a volume rate card.

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See transparent pay-as-you-go pricing