Oct 31, 2026 · 5 min read
A Twilio alternative for texts to people who know you
Your own phone beats a carrier API at some jobs and loses at others, and here's how to tell which job is yours.
twiliocomparisonsa2p 10dlc
Blog
Stories from building Sparetext: how a phone becomes an SMS gateway, what we learned on the way, and how it compares with the rest.
Oct 31, 2026 · 6 min read
Android SMS gateway apps compared, by someone who makes one
We read textbee, httpSMS and SMS Gateway for Android next to Sparetext and wrote down where each one wins, not only where we do.
androidsms gatewaycomparisons
Oct 31, 2026 · 6 min read
Build an SMS reply bot with webhooks and your own phone
Receive texts as signed webhooks, answer them in a few lines of Node, and see where an automation does the same job with no code at all.
webhooksautomationstutorial
Oct 31, 2026 · 5 min read
Can an iPhone be an SMS gateway? The honest answer
Apple lets no app send a text by itself, so here's what works, what doesn't, and where a Mac comes in.
iphonemacshortcuts
Oct 31, 2026 · 6 min read
How an SMS gateway works: one text, there and back
What happens between your API call and someone's phone buzzing, including the parts that go wrong and how each one tells you.
how it workssms gatewaydelivery reports
Oct 31, 2026 · 5 min read
How we prevent fake signups without blocking real people
What we already had, what we added the day a founder lost $4k of free AI credits to fake accounts, and the guards we skipped on purpose.
securityabusefree plan
Oct 31, 2026 · 6 min read
Send OTP SMS from your own number in two API calls
One-time codes for a small business, from the phone it already has: the Verify API, the limits that keep it safe, and when a big provider is the better call.
otpverify apitwo-factor
Oct 31, 2026 · 5 min read
SMS API in Ethiopia: your own +251 number, Amharic included
How to send texts from your code in Ethiopia with the SIM you already have, in Amharic, with no sender ID to register.
ethiopiasms apiamharic
Oct 31, 2026 · 5 min read
SMS character limit: why one emoji can double your text
GSM-7, UCS-2 and segments, explained with an emoji, a curly apostrophe and a line of Amharic, plus what 153 and 67 really mean.
sms basicsgsm-7ucs-2
Oct 31, 2026 · 6 min read
Use a spare Android phone as an SMS gateway
The phone in your drawer can text for your scripts and AI agents, from your own number, and setting it up takes a few minutes.
androidsms gatewaygetting started
Oct 31, 2026 · 6 min read
We gave Claude a phone number: an AI agent that sends SMS
How Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor texts people from your own number over MCP, what it can't do, and why every new connection starts with a daily limit.
ai agentsmcpclaude
