# Free api - sms sender with paython
**URL:** https://onehack.st/t/free-api-sms-sender-with-paython/324619
**Category:** Discussion & Solutions
**Tags:** solved
**Created:** [August 10, 2026, 2:44am UTC](https://onehack.st/t/free-api-sms-sender-with-paython/324619 "2026-08-10T02:44:17Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Vod\_Ka](https://onehack.st/u/Vod_Ka)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2026, 2:44am UTC](https://onehack.st/t/free-api-sms-sender-with-paython/324619/1 "2026-08-10T02:44:18Z")
Hello, I need a working and free API to send marketing messages via the Balloon script. Thank you very much.
---
### Author:  [@farouk\_glai](https://onehack.st/u/farouk_glai)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2026, 10:24am UTC](https://onehack.st/t/free-api-sms-sender-with-paython/324619/2 "2026-08-10T10:24:29Z")
i wish the best for you, if you find it tell me
---
### Author:  [@BCBC](https://onehack.st/u/BCBC)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2026, 10:18pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/free-api-sms-sender-with-paython/324619/3 "2026-08-10T22:18:54Z")
Not an easy answer but if you figure out what im saying you will see where to head and when you find what im taking bout a clear path reply to the thread and we can help more Sir. This is a learning experience for everyone who has ever needed this and it can be done. When you see it reply we will help you learn the answer but i bet based on how you worded the question this is enough to get you to the end result you seek.
There really isn’t a reliable **unlimited free SMS API for marketing** — somebody eventually has to pay the mobile carriers.
For testing, the easiest thing I know is **Textbelt**. Their hosted API currently allows one free SMS/day with the public `textbelt` key, and they also have an open-source self-hosted version that uses email-to-SMS gateways. The self-hosted version is free but less reliable because carriers increasingly restrict those gateways.
Simple Python test:
```python
import requests
r = requests.post("https://textbelt.com/text", {
"phone": "+15551234567",
"message": "Hello from Python",
"key": "textbelt"
})
print(r.json())
```
For development beyond that, **Twilio** and **Telnyx** both have free trial capabilities, but neither is a free bulk-marketing loophole. Trial accounts have destination/rate restrictions, and real marketing SMS generally requires carrier registration/compliance.
If this is for legitimate opt-in marketing, I would build the Balloon integration against one clean provider API and make the provider configurable rather than depend on some mystery “free SMS” endpoint that will disappear or get blocked.
If you want, post what API interface Balloon expects and I’ll help you make a small adapter for Textbelt/Twilio/Telnyx.
---
### Author:  [@BlueHacker](https://onehack.st/u/BlueHacker)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2026, 4:16pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/free-api-sms-sender-with-paython/324619/5 "2026-08-13T16:16:06Z")
### 📱 Your own phone is the free SMS API — run a tiny gateway on it and POST from Python, no per-message fee
There’s no “free SMS API” from the big providers for one reason: the text itself costs _them_ money at the carrier. Twilio, Vonage and the rest just resell that with a margin and a trial that runs dry in a few hundred sends.
The only sender that’s genuinely free is one you already own — **your phone’s SIM.** Drop a tiny gateway app on a spare Android, it opens a REST endpoint, your Balloon/Python script `POST`s `{to, message}` to it, and the phone fires the text over your own plan. Zero platform fee per message.
Start here:
- **[SMSGate](https://sms-gate.app/)** — the flagship. Open-source, local / cloud / private modes, a real Python client. _(Core repo: [android-sms-gateway](https://github.com/capcom6/android-sms-gateway).)_
- **[textbee](https://textbee.dev/)** — the easy one. Hosted onboarding or self-host, free tier, dead-simple REST — you’re sending in ten minutes.
> **📱 Spare-Android gateways — the free path, pick one**
>
> Install → it gives you a web address → your script sends to it. All send through your SIM, no CPaaS.
>
> - **[httpSMS](https://github.com/ndoleStudio/httpsms)** — clean HTTP send/receive through your phone plan.
> - **[Traccar SMS Gateway](https://github.com/traccar/traccar-sms-gateway)** — battle-tested, boringly reliable relay.
> - **[sms-gateway-api](https://github.com/benny-png/sms-gateway-api)** — FastAPI, Python-native infra.
> - **[Android SMS API](https://github.com/agamsol/Android-SMS-API)** — Docker, JWT/API-tokens, quotas, device management.
> - **[SelfhostSim](https://github.com/ampilares/selfhostsim)** — multi-device, Swagger, Redis queue, FCM wake-ups.
> - **[Vendel](https://vendel.cc/)** — one API surface for Android phones _and_ USB modems.
> - **[sms-gateway-android](https://github.com/huenique/sms-gateway-android)** · **[hu60sms](https://github.com/hu60t/hu60sms)** — Termux + an old phone, minimal moving parts.
> - **[PyMessages](https://github.com/shivamsn97/pymessages)** — routes through Google Messages; pure-Python oddball.
> - **[smskit](https://github.com/smskit/smskit)** — bearer-token REST, scheduling, incoming replies.
> - **[SMSFlare](https://github.com/RAN-GAN/smsFlare)** · **[sms-cli](https://github.com/alexbruf/sms-cli)** — pair the phone with your own Cloudflare Worker/D1 backend.
```auto
```
> **🔌 No spare phone? A USB GSM modem or Raspberry Pi does the same**
>
> A €10 USB dongle or a Pi + SIM behaves identically — most wrap **Gammu**.
>
> - **[sms-gammu-gateway](https://github.com/pajikos/sms-gammu-gateway/)** — simplest Gammu REST; any supported dongle becomes a sender.
> - **[FireSMS](https://github.com/Fires04/FireSMS)** — Dockerized Gammu SMSD + Python REST, deploy-and-forget.
> - **[api-sms-gammu](https://github.com/maurognx/api-sms-gammu/)** — Flask + Gammu, async with retries.
> - **[gsm-sms-gateway](https://github.com/rifatxtra/gsm-sms-gateway)** — FastAPI over a GSM modem, has a demo mode.
> - **[go-sms-api](https://github.com/Minish144/go-sms-api)** — raw AT-commands, HTTP + gRPC.
> - **[smsapi (SIM800)](https://github.com/thatoddmailbox/smsapi)** — expose a SIM800 module as a web API.
> - **[sms-gateway](https://github.com/mattboston/sms-gateway)** — USB-GSM with a REST API _and_ a WebUI.
> - **[RaspiSMSGateway](https://github.com/MindFabrik/RaspiSMSGateway)** · **[piSms](https://github.com/NoUsername/piSms)** — Pi + 3G/4G dongle, always-on home-lab sender.
> - **[huawei-lte-gateway](https://github.com/raflymln/huawei-lte-gateway)** — drive a Huawei LTE router’s SMS over its API.
```auto
```
> **☁️ Need real delivery or volume? Free-trial APIs (the fallback)**
>
> When you need guaranteed delivery or a registered sender, start on trial credit — swap keys to live later.
>
> - **Global trials:** [Twilio](https://www.twilio.com/docs/messaging/quickstart) · [Vonage](https://www.vonage.com/communications-apis/sms/developer/) · [Infobip](https://www.infobip.com/sms/api) · [Sinch](https://sinch.com/messaging/sms-api/send-sms/) · [MessageBird](https://developers.messagebird.com/docs/conversations/test-credits-api-keys/) · [TextBelt](https://textbelt.com/) _(tiny free daily quota — quickest test)._
> - **Modern/dev-first:** [Canary](https://canarymsg.dev/) · [Surge](https://surge.app/) · [SplitSMS](https://www.splitsms.com/vibe-coders) · [Senddio](https://senddio.com/free) · [Kudosity](https://kudosity.com/developers).
> - **Regional free tiers** (often the most generous): [Africa’s Talking](https://github.com/AfricasTalkingLtd/africastalking-python) · [Arkesel](https://arkesel.com/developer-api/) · [MojaWave](https://github.com/mojawave/mojawave-python) · [TXTMSG (LK, 100 free)](https://txtmsg.lk/developers) · [SMSLocal (IN)](https://www.smslocal.in/developers/api-docs/) · [BulkSMS Nigeria](https://www.bulksmsnigeria.com/resources/api-integration-tutorial) · [OpenSMS (KE)](https://www.opensms.co.ke/docs).
* * *
**One honest catch:** your own SIM is for **low-volume, opt-in** sends — OTPs, alerts, texting people who asked. Blast cold marketing and the carrier flags the number within a few hundred texts. For big lawful campaigns you still need a registered sender (the trial APIs above). But for a free, script-controlled sender that outlives every trial: a $30 old Android + a cheap unlimited-SMS SIM, and you own the whole pipe.
---
### Author:  [@BCBC](https://onehack.st/u/BCBC)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2026, 8:25pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/free-api-sms-sender-with-paython/324619/6 "2026-08-14T20:25:36Z")
BINGO I like how you did this it just goes to show that when you put some thought into something and use methodical scientific logical process a solution by way of building blocks in sequence can work around almost any limitation. In this case the rules and regs are what limits any solution I’v had time to think about but the project is always in the back of my mind. Computer people at least me and the ones I know are not super brilliant with exceptions of course. We are just people who can look at things in abstract ways to discover alternate ways of accomplishing the end result. At least for me thta is my secret.
---
### Author:  [@BlueHacker](https://onehack.st/u/BlueHacker)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2026, 8:06pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/free-api-sms-sender-with-paython/324619/7 "2026-08-19T20:06:27Z")
**@Vod_Ka** — followed up on “Balloon”: it doesn’t resolve to any real SMS-marketing tool, nothing external to integrate against. If it’s your own private script, @BCBC’s adapter offer above still stands — just tell him what request format it sends.
Also checked whether WhatsApp’s Business API beats the SMS route for free marketing sends. It doesn’t — Meta moved to per-message billing, marketing messages are a paid category now, only service/utility replies and a 72h post-click window are free.
Marking this solved on the gateway answer above ⬆ — that’s the real free lane: no per-message fee, no trial that runs dry, script-controlled straight from Python.
---
### Author:  [@butt3rfing3rs](https://onehack.st/u/butt3rfing3rs)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2026, 3:21pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/free-api-sms-sender-with-paython/324619/8 "2026-09-16T15:21:02Z")
consider searched for aged accounts