Updated 19 October 2026 · 4 min read
Prepaid bulk SMS in South Africa usually costs between about 14c and 30c per SMS before VAT, depending on how many you buy. Bigger packs cost less per SMS. Our packs work out at 22c to 30c per SMS, and those prices are final, with no VAT added.
Bulk SMS prices in 2026
South African providers mostly sell bulk SMS as prepaid credits. You buy a bundle, and each SMS uses one credit. The more credits you buy at once, the less each one costs.
Small bundles of around 1,000 SMS cost the most per message. Prices drop as volume rises, and senders with tens of thousands of messages a month pay the lowest rates.
Our packs run from 1,000 SMS for R300 (30c each) to 50,000 SMS for R11,000 (22c each), with no VAT added. Every pack is on the bulk SMS prices page.
Five things that change what you pay
1. VAT
Many providers quote prices before VAT, so 15% gets added to the invoice. If your business isn't VAT-registered, you can't claim it back, so the price with VAT is what the SMS really costs you. Multiply an ex-VAT price by 1.15 to compare it with a price that has no VAT on top, like ours.
If your business is VAT-registered, you claim back the VAT you pay a VAT-registered provider. Compare prices before VAT, and remember that a provider who isn't registered for VAT, like us, doesn't issue tax invoices.
2. Message length
One credit covers 160 standard characters. Longer messages go out in parts of 153 characters, and each part uses a credit. A 300-character newsletter costs twice as much as a 150-character one.
3. Unicode characters
Emoji, curly quotes and some accented letters switch an SMS to Unicode, where one SMS holds only 70 characters. A 120-character message with one emoji uses 2 credits instead of 1. Afrikaans letters like ê and ô do the same. The SMS character counter finds them for you.
4. Fees on top of the SMS price
Ask about setup fees, monthly fees, minimum spends and charges for a custom sender name. A low price per SMS can cost more over a year if a monthly fee comes with it. We charge no setup or monthly fees, and the smallest pack is R300. Ask us about sender names before you buy.
5. Credit expiry
Under section 63 of the Consumer Protection Act, prepaid credits generally stay valid for at least three years. Check what a provider does with unused credits before you buy a big bundle. Ours last three years.
Worked examples
Here's what some typical sends cost at our prices, using the cheapest mix of packs.
| Send | Credits | Cheapest way to cover it | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly newsletter: a 2-part SMS to 800 customers | 1,600 | 2 Starter packs | R600, 400 credits left over |
| Birthday SMS: 25 customers a day for 30 days | 750 | Starter pack | R300, 250 credits left over |
| Water outage alert to 3,500 residents | 3,500 | 4 Starter packs | R1,200, 500 credits left over |
| One-time PINs: 15,000 a month | 15,000 | Plus pack + Growth pack | R3,850 |
| National special to 50,000 customers | 50,000 | Volume pack | R11,000 |
How to cut your bulk SMS costs
- Keep messages under 160 characters. Cut filler words and use numerals, like 10:00 instead of ten o'clock.
- Check for Unicode characters before you send.
- Clean your list. Remove duplicates and numbers that fail, so you don't pay for them every month.
- Send to the right group. A special for one branch only needs to reach that branch's customers.
- Buy a pack that covers a few months. Credits last three years, so a bigger pack at a lower rate won't go to waste.
Questions to ask before you buy
- Is the price per SMS before or after VAT?
- Is a long message charged per part?
- Are there setup, monthly or sender name fees?
- How long do credits last?
- Which networks do you deliver to?
- Do I get delivery reports, and can people reply?
- Who helps me when something goes wrong?
Questions
What is the cheapest bulk SMS in South Africa?
The lowest prices per SMS come with the biggest bundles. Compare prices with VAT included, check for monthly fees, and work out what you'll really send in a year. Our lowest price is 22c an SMS on the Volume pack, with no VAT added.
Is bulk SMS cheaper than WhatsApp?
It depends on what you send. The WhatsApp Business Platform charges per template message, at rates Meta sets by message type and country, while an SMS costs the same whether it's a reminder or a special. Our guide to bulk SMS vs WhatsApp compares how each one is priced.
Do I pay for messages that fail?
Usually, yes. A credit is used when the message goes to the network, even if the phone is off or the number no longer exists. Clean your list using your delivery reports to keep this low.
How much does one SMS cost?
With us, between 22c and 30c, depending on the pack. One SMS holds up to 160 standard characters.