textbee

Open-source SMS gateway. Turn your Android phone into an SMS API: send and receive SMS from your apps over REST and webhooks. Self-hostable, with a free hosted plan.

⭐ 3,212 stars on GitHub · 🍴 478 forks · 📜 License: mit · 💻 Language: TypeScript

What is textbee?

A standout opensource self-host project on GitHub — host on your own server for full control over your data and costs.

Main components

• Send SMS from a REST API, the web dashboard, or the official JavaScript and Python SDKs
• Bulk SMS with a CSV upload, paced to stay within carrier limits
• Scheduled messages up to 72 hours ahead
• Multi-device and multi-SIM: pick the phone and the SIM per message
• Delivery status for every message: pending, dispatched, sent, delivered, failed
• Receive SMS on the phone and read them from the API or dashboard
• Account-level message history: one call covers every device
• SMS filters on the phone: forward only the messages you need, with allow or block rules on sender and text

Clear use cases

• OTP and 2FA codes: verification SMS from a local number your users recognize
• Order and appointment notifications: confirmations, reminders, and shipping updates from your own number
• Alerts and monitoring: server, cron, uptime, and home automation alerts that reach you even when push notifications do not
• Two-way SMS: reply handling, keyword opt-ins, and support conversations through webhooks
• Lead follow-up and form-to-SMS: text back a lead the moment a form is submitted
• Bulk announcements: CSV upload to a contact list, paced to respect carrier limits

The biggest strength is active opensource community — fast bug fixes, regular features, no abandonment risk.

Best for self-host enthusiasts wanting to try a strong-community opensource project.

Topics: the project is tagged with popular topics:

• 🏷️ android
• 🏷️ android-sms
• 🏷️ android-sms-gateway
• 🏷️ android-sms-sender
• 🏷️ api
• 🏷️ foss
• 🏷️ gateway
• 🏷️ mcp-server
• 🏷️ open-source
• 🏷️ self-hosted

📸 Screenshots

Quick install

The project supports Docker Compose:

git clone https://github.com/textbee/textbee.git
cd textbee
docker compose up -d

Check the README in the repo for required env variables.

Minimum system requirements

⚡ Deploy fast on VSIS

Use the VSIS VPS Mini 1GB RAM / 1 vCPU / 15GB SSD (~70k/tháng) plan from VSIS.NET — high-speed VN-based VPS, 24/7 support, ideal for running textbee smoothly.

🎯 Benefits:

• One-command docker compose up -d deploy in 2 minutes
• Dedicated IPv4, root access, unmetered domestic bandwidth
• Daily snapshot backup
• Free install assistance from the VSIS team

👉 See matching VPS plans at vsis.net

Resources

• 🔗 GitHub: textbee/textbee
• 🌐 Homepage: https://textbee.dev
• 📚 Official docs: see README in the repo
• 💬 Community: GitHub Issues + Discussions

Article compiled from GitHub data on 27/10/2026. Star/fork counts may have changed — see live numbers via the GitHub link.