Sending an SMS: every method in 2026 — from a phone, a PC, online or by email
There are three ways to send an SMS: from your phone, from your PC with your own number (Google Messages, Phone Link or iMessage) or through an online SMS service without a phone. That last route costs from €0.06 per message at SMSBOX, without a subscription, and is the only one that works for lists, your own sender and delivery reports.
Below you will find every method step by step, what it costs, what is and is not possible in Belgium for the sender, and a checklist for when sending fails.
Sending an SMS from your phone
The classic way: open the messaging app, pick a contact or type a number, write your text and hit send. Your operator charges the message according to your plan — most Belgian plans include SMS.
Android and Samsung
Open Messages (Google) or Samsung Messages, tap the new-conversation button, pick a contact or type the number, write your text and tap the send arrow. If the app is set to RCS ("chat features"), it automatically falls back to SMS when the recipient has no RCS.
iPhone
Open Messages, tap the compose icon at the top right, pick a contact and type your message. A green bubble is an SMS, a blue one is iMessage (over the internet, to other Apple devices). Turn on "Send as SMS" under Settings › Messages so a message still leaves when iMessage is unavailable.
To several people
Add several recipients to the same conversation. Handy for a handful of people, but everyone sees each other's number and replies reach the whole group. For a list, use the online method below instead.
One SMS holds 160 characters; with emoji or special characters, 70 per part. Longer messages are split and count as several SMS. How many characters fit in one SMS? · Calculate the length
Sending an SMS from a PC or laptop with your own number
Prefer typing on a real keyboard? Link your phone to your computer and send from your PC screen — the message still leaves through your own number and your own plan.
Google Messages for web (Android)
On your phone, open the Messages app, tap your profile picture › Device pairing, and go to messages.google.com/web on your PC. Scan the QR code and your entire message overview appears in your browser. Works on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Phone Link in Windows (Android/Samsung)
On Windows 10 and 11 the Phone Link app comes preinstalled. Install "Link to Windows" on your phone, sign in with the same Microsoft account and you read and send texts from your desktop, notifications included.
iMessage on Mac (iPhone)
On a Mac, open Messages and sign in with your Apple ID. On your iPhone, enable your Mac under Settings › Messages › Text Message Forwarding; from then on you also send regular SMS (green bubbles) from your Mac.
Things to keep in mind
Want to send without a phone, to many people at once or in your company's name? Then the next method was made for you. Online without a phone →
Sending an SMS from a PC without a phone: through an online SMS service
With an online SMS service such as SMSBOX you need no SIM card or handset. You type a number and a message in your browser, and it leaves through a Belgian SMS gateway straight onto the network of Proximus, Orange, Telenet or Base — in four steps.
Create a free account
Register with your email address and mobile number. No credit card, no subscription, no notice period.
Claim test credits or buy credits
First test for free to your own number. Then buy credits from €0.06 per SMS; they stay valid for a year.
Type numbers and message
One number, a group from your phonebook or an Excel list. Personalise with tags such as %name% and send immediately or at a scheduled time.
Send and follow delivery
Every message gets a delivery report: sent, delivered or rejected, with the time.
Who this is the best method for
From €0.06 per SMS to Belgium, without a subscription or setup fee. To more than 200 countries from the same account.
Sending an SMS by email
With Mail2SMS you send a plain email from Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail or your own business software to the recipient's number at our Mail2SMS address, for example 32496123456@sms2.eu. You put your personal token in the subject; the text of your email leaves as an SMS. No installation, no programming.
Handy for anyone who lives in their mailbox all day, for software that can send email but cannot talk to an API, and for automatic alerts: with MailNoti, every incoming email on a special address instantly becomes an SMS.
Sending an SMS from your own software
Want your web shop, CRM, planning tool or server to send texts itself? Connect through the REST API (with SDK and code samples), through Zapier without programming, or with the WordPress plugin. Order confirmations, appointment reminders, OTP codes and alarms then leave automatically.
Sending free SMS: what is left?
From your phone, SMS is included in most Belgian plans — that is the only truly free method. The free SMS websites of the past have disappeared or are unreliable: every SMS is delivered by an operator and that delivery costs money. What is free at an online service: the account and test credits to send to your own number.
Anonymous or with your own sender name?
To foreign numbers, an online service lets you set your own alphanumeric sender (up to 16 characters), for instance your company name. To Belgian numbers the operators do not allow it: there you send from a virtual number or from a shared shortcode, and the recipient can reply straight away.
"Sending an anonymous SMS" does not exist in any reliable form. Sites promising it often do not deliver, sell your data or are blocked by the operators — and a message without a recognisable sender is read as spam by the recipient.
Receiving SMS
Want to receive replies too, or receive texts on a number without a phone? With a virtual number you receive messages in your dashboard or through a webhook in your own software. Receiving is always free for the recipient.
SMS not sending? Checklist
The cause is usually small. Go through the list for the method you use.
From your phone
Through an online service
Which method do you choose?
All methods side by side. The first two use your own number and plan; the other three go through an SMS gateway.
| Method | Phone needed? | Cost | Lists? | Sender | Choose this if |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From your phone | Yes | Included in your plan | No | Your own number | you want to reach one person or a small group |
| PC with your number | Yes, linked | Included in your plan | No | Your own number | you prefer typing on your PC but keep sending privately |
| Online SMS service | No | From €0.06 per SMS | Yes, Excel or groups | Virtual number, shortcode, name (abroad) | you send in your company's name, to a list or with a delivery report |
| By email (Mail2SMS) | No | From €0.06 per SMS | Limited | As set in your account | you send from your mailbox or from software that sends email |
| From software (API) | No | From €0.06 per SMS | Yes, unlimited | As set in your account | your application has to send automatically |