An SMS API for Ethiopia, from your own number
Put an Ethio telecom or Safaricom Ethiopia SIM in an Android phone, install Sparetext, and your code or AI agent sends texts from that number with one API call. Each text costs what your plan charges, with no sender ID to register and no fee per text to Sparetext.
Numbers
Write numbers in E.164: +251 then the number without its leading 0, so 0911 234 567 becomes +251911234567. Set your account's country to Ethiopia in Settings and numbers typed without a country code are read as Ethiopian.
curl -X POST https://sparetext.dev/api/v1/messages \
-H "x-api-key: $SPARETEXT_API_KEY" -H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{"to": "+251911234567", "text": "ሰላም! ትዕዛዝዎ ተልኳል።"}'Amharic and other scripts
An SMS in Latin letters holds 160 characters (GSM-7). Amharic, like any script outside GSM-7, is sent as UCS-2: 70 characters in one text, or 67 per part when it's longer, and your carrier bills each part. The dashboard and the send_sms tool count the parts before you send.
Price
Free is 1 phone and 300 texts a month. Pro is $5 a month or $60 a year in Ethiopia, for 5 phones and 10,000 texts a month, by card or in USDT on TRON. Carrier SMS bundles usually make each text cheap or free.
When to use a bulk provider instead
For marketing to thousands of people, or a branded sender ID instead of your number, use a provider with a registered sender ID. A personal SIM is for people who know you: customers, staff, one-time codes, reminders, and your own alerts.
Questions people ask
- Does it work with Ethio telecom and Safaricom?
- Yes. Sparetext sends from whatever SIM is in the phone; on a dual-SIM phone you can choose the SIM per text with sim: 1 or sim: 2.
- Can I receive replies?
- Yes. Replies to the phone show up in the dashboard and the API, and can be sent to your server by a signed webhook or answered by an automation.
- Do I need a sender ID?
- No. Texts come from your own number, so there is nothing to register. That's also why it isn't for bulk marketing.