How I Built a Simple, Pay-As-You-Go SMS API for Developers

Hi Devs! 👋

Like many of you, I’ve worked on projects that needed SMS functionality—whether it was for alerts, reminders, or notifications. But every time, I found existing SMS APIs either too expensive, overly complicated, or locked behind subscription models that didn’t make sense for small projects or MVPs.

So, I decided to build something simpler: SMS Textr.

Why I Built SMS Textr
I wanted to create an SMS API that is:

Affordable: Pay only for what you use, no monthly subscriptions.
Simple to integrate: Get started in minutes with minimal setup.
Built for developers: Straightforward API documentation and example code to help you hit the ground running.

How It Works

Step 1: Sign up and grab your API key.
Step 2: Send a POST request with the recipient number, message, and API key.
Step 3: Done! Your SMS is on its way.
Here’s an example in Node.js:

// Node.js code to send SMS using our API
const axios = require('axios');

axios.post('https://smstextr.web.app/api/sendsms', {
            to: '+1 123-456-7890',
            message: 'Hello from SMS Textr API!',
            apikey: 'Your_API_Key'
})
.then(response => console.log(response.data))
.catch(error => console.error('Error:', error.response.data));

Who Is It For?
Developers: Testing or adding SMS to their projects.
Small businesses: Sending appointment reminders or customer updates.
Startups: Cost-effective messaging during early MVP stages.

Give It a Try
If this sounds like something you could use, check it out:
API Docs

I’d love to hear your thoughts—feedback, feature requests, or just ideas to make it better. Let me know in the comments or connect with me directly.

Thanks for reading, and happy coding! 🚀