Comparing an SMS gateway — what should you look for?

Name: JAAN
Address: Kanaalstraat 17, Zelzate, Oost-Vlaanderen, 9060, BE
Telephone: +32 9 328 03 83

The price per SMS is the easiest thing to compare and therefore almost always the first thing people look at — while it rarely makes the difference. Delivery, reporting and the ability to integrate determine whether a gateway performs in practice. Below are eight criteria, each explaining what it means and how SMSBOX handles it.

We deliberately do not name other providers here and we publish no third-party rates: these change outside our control and would be out of date on this page in no time. Use the criteria to compare for yourself — with us and with others.

Eight criteria

1Routing and delivery

Does traffic run over direct operator connections or through intermediaries? The more links in the chain, the greater the risk of delay, rewritten sender IDs or silent non-delivery. Ask explicitly whether so-called grey routes are being used.

At SMSBOX: direct connections with the Belgian operators, with priority routing for time-critical messages such as verification codes.

2Delivery reporting

Do you get a genuine network status per message, or merely a confirmation that the request was accepted? Without reporting, you don't know what you don't know — a campaign that half fails to arrive then looks like a successful campaign.

At SMSBOX: a separate status per message, with ten distinct codes. Available in the dashboard or delivered automatically via a notification URL. All status codes.

3Pricing model

Do you pay per message or per subscription? Are there setup, annual or standby costs? For anyone sending irregularly — an alerting system, a seasonal club — fixed costs weigh more heavily than the price per SMS. Also check how long credits stay valid.

At SMSBOX: per message sent only, from €0.06 per SMS to Belgium (excl. VAT) at high volumes. No subscription, no setup cost, no annual cost; credits remain valid for a year. Rates.

4Two-way traffic

Can recipients reply, and does that reply reach your system? That determines whether you can use SMS purely as a megaphone or also as a conversation channel — for cancellations, confirmations and opt-outs it saves a great deal of manual work.

At SMSBOX: via a virtual number, SIM hosting or the shared shortcode. Replies appear in the conversation view and can be forwarded via webhook or e-mail.

5Integration options

Is there a documented REST API, a machine-readable specification and an SDK? And — often overlooked — does it also work when your system cannot call an API but can send e-mail? Many accounting, monitoring and ERP packages are in exactly that position.

At SMSBOX: a REST API with an OpenAPI 3.1 specification, a Postman collection, an open source PHP SDK, code examples in six languages, plus Mail2SMS for systems that can only send e-mail. Documentation.

6Data location and GDPR

Where are your messages and your recipients' numbers processed and stored? Is a data processing agreement available? For local authorities, schools and healthcare organisations this is rarely negotiable.

At SMSBOX: all processing and storage on Belgian servers, within the EU. Data processing agreement on request.

7Support

In which language, during which hours and with what response time? When sending fails in the middle of a campaign, getting someone on the phone matters more than the existence of an extensive knowledge base.

At SMSBOX: Dutch, French and English, reachable directly on +32 9 328 03 83. JAAN bv has built and run the platform itself since 2000 — support and development are under the same roof.

8International reach

Which countries can be delivered to and at what rate? Watch out for sender ID registration rules: some countries require prior approval, without which a campaign simply stalls.

At SMSBOX: more than 200 countries from the same account, with the rate and networks per destination. Rates per country.

When you are better off looking elsewhere

A comparison in which one party wins on every point is not a comparison. These are the situations in which SMSBOX is not the logical choice:

You need a permanent SMPP connection. At very high, continuous volumes, SMPP becomes more attractive than a REST API. We offer it on request only; anyone who runs on it as standard will be operational faster elsewhere.
Your organisation does not work in Dutch, French or English. Our customer portal and this public site are available in Dutch, French and English. If you are looking for an environment in another language, please take that into account.
You want an alphanumeric sender ID for Belgian destinations. That is not possible in Belgium — not with us and not with anyone else. Anyone who promises it anyway deserves a critical question. For international destinations it can be done.
You are looking for a single platform combining SMS, e-mail, push and chat in one interface. We specialise in messaging via SMS, WhatsApp and voice; e-mail runs through our sister brand 2Mail. If you want everything under one dashboard, a broad marketing platform is a better fit.

Checklist for your request for quotation

Ask these questions of every provider you are considering. The answers make the differences between providers visible, even when the price per SMS looks comparable.

Question	Why it matters
Does my traffic run over direct operator connections?	Intermediaries increase the risk of delay and silent non-delivery.
Do I get a network status per message?	Without reporting you will not notice that part of your campaign never arrived.
Are there fixed costs, separate from my usage?	This determines the real annual cost with irregular use.
How long do purchased credits remain valid?	Credits that expire quickly make a low price per message illusory.
Can recipients reply, and where does that arrive?	Without two-way traffic you process opt-outs and cancellations by hand.
Where is the data stored and is there a data processing agreement?	For government, education and healthcare this is usually a hard requirement.
In which language and during which hours is support available?	A problem during a campaign will not wait for a ticket reply.
Can I test before I buy anything?	A demo on paper says less than one genuinely delivered message.

Test SMSBOX for free Request a quote Glossary

Frequently asked questions about choosing an SMS gateway

What should I look at when choosing an SMS gateway?

Eight points: the routing (direct or via intermediaries), the delivery reporting per message, the pricing model including fixed costs, the possibility of two-way traffic, the integration options, the location of the data processing, the availability of support and the international reach. The price per SMS is the easiest to compare but rarely decisive.

Is the cheapest provider the best choice?

Not necessarily. A low price per message can go hand in hand with routing via intermediaries, causing messages to arrive slowly or silently not be delivered. Also factor in the fixed costs and the validity period of balances: balances that expire quickly make a low price per message illusory.

What are grey routes?

Routes where messages are delivered via detours and intermediaries instead of directly to the recipient's operator. They are cheaper, but come with delays, altered or unrecognisable senders and messages that fail to arrive without notice. Ask every provider explicitly whether such routes are used.

Why is delivery reporting so important?

Because without reporting you do not notice that part of your campaign never arrived. A provider that only confirms your request was accepted is telling you something different from a provider that returns the network's status per message.

Does it matter where the data is processed?

For local governments, schools and healthcare organisations, almost always. Ask where the messages and your recipients' numbers are processed and stored, and whether a data processing agreement is available. At SMSBOX everything happens on Belgian servers within the EU.

Can I use my own sender name in Belgium?

No. For Belgian destinations an alphanumeric sender name is not possible — that applies to every provider, not just us. Anyone who promises it anyway deserves a critical question. For foreign destinations it is possible, up to 16 characters, although some countries require prior registration.

How do I test a gateway before I switch?

Ask to send real messages, not for a demo on paper. Send to different operators, look at the delivery statuses you get back and measure how long it takes for a message to arrive. At SMSBOX you create a free account and claim test credits to send to your own number.

When is SMSBOX not the right choice?

When you need a permanent SMPP connection for very large continuous volumes (with us only on request), when your organisation expects a fully foreign-language environment — our public site is Dutch-language for now — or when you want to manage SMS, e-mail, push and chat in one single dashboard. We specialise in messaging; e-mail runs via our sister brand 2Mail.