Send text messages from website with Android

Why send text messages from your website

FlixySMS converts an Android phone into a self-hosted SMS gateway. You connect your site through webhooks or plugins and route outgoing messages over your existing carrier plan instead of paying per-message fees to Twilio or Plivo.

A typical handset handles 30 to 100 SMS per minute. Multi-device setups let you parallelize across phones for higher volume. Messages longer than 160 characters are split automatically with concatenation headers.

Cost differences from traditional SMS APIs

Carrier-based services charge between $0.0075 and $0.05 per message. FlixySMS uses your phone's plan, so the marginal cost per message drops to whatever fraction of your monthly bill the platform subscription represents.

Consider a store sending 12,000 order notifications monthly. At $0.01 each that totals $120. With FlixySMS on a Pro plan the same volume costs only the flat subscription plus your normal carrier rate.

Provider	Per-message rate	Monthly cost (12k msgs)	Notes
Twilio	$0.0075	$90	Plus carrier fees
Plivo	$0.0085	$102	Volume discounts apply
FlixySMS	Carrier rate	$29–$99	Flat platform fee only

See current limits on the pricing page.

Setting up the Android gateway

Install the FlixySMS app on any Android handset with an active SIM. Grant SMS permissions and link the device to your account at dashboard. The phone now acts as the outbound gateway.

Next, create an API key in the app settings. Use that key when calling the REST endpoint documented at /api-docs.

Connecting your website

Shopify stores add the FlixySMS app from the marketplace. Order confirmations and abandoned-cart reminders are sent automatically.

WooCommerce users install the official plugin and map order events to SMS templates. Google Sheets imports let you load contact lists in CSV format for one-off blasts.

Custom platforms post JSON payloads to the webhook URL you configure in the dashboard. The payload contains phone number, message body, and optional schedule time.

For two-way conversations, inbound replies trigger auto-responders. Common keywords include STOP for opt-out and HELP for support information.

Managing contacts and campaigns

Create groups inside the app and tag contacts by source. Scheduled sends respect time-zone offsets you set per group.

Delivery reports show status codes returned by the carrier: delivered, failed, or queued. You can retry failed messages manually or via the API.

Multi-segment messages are tracked as a single logical unit even when split across several SMS packets.

API example

POST /v1/send
{
  "to": "+15551234567",
  "body": "Your order #4821 has shipped.",
  "from": "MyStore"
}

Response includes message ID and segment count for billing reconciliation.

Limitations and trade-offs

Throughput depends on the handset and carrier. You cannot exceed the plan's daily quota listed on pricing. Enterprise users add more phones for redundancy.

The Android device must remain powered on and connected to the internet. Power outages or SIM issues pause sends until resolved.

Next steps

Start with the free tier to test webhook calls. Once volume justifies it, move to Pro or Business plans. Full setup instructions appear on the how it works page. Sign up at dashboard to create your first gateway.