SMS API for Benin: bulk SMS to +229 numbers

Benin is a West African country with Porto-Novo as its capital and Cotonou as its largest city, known for agriculture and trade. Software systems sending SMS include mobile banking apps, e-commerce platforms, and public health programs. Messages are triggered by events like payment confirmations, delivery notifications, or vaccination reminders. SMS is chosen because it reaches every mobile phone, even in rural areas, and is read quickly.

Benin

Calling code +229

Per SMS segment
$0.01187
Messages for $100
8,424
Local language
French
Encoding
GSM-7 or Unicode

What a bulk SMS send to Benin costs

Every message is priced at $0.01187 per segment to Benin. Texts over 160 GSM-7 or 70 Unicode characters are split into segments, so a two-segment text costs twice as much.
Messages1 segment2 segments
1$0.01187$0.02374
1,000$11.87$23.74
10,000$118.70$237.40
100,000$1,187.00$2,374.00

Number format in Benin

Mobile numbers in Benin have 10 digits after +229 and no trunk prefix, so the local form 01 95 12 34 56 becomes +229 01 95 12 34 56 in the to field.

Alphabet and segments

Texts in French fit 160 GSM-7 characters per segment until they use â, ê, î, ô, û, ç, ë and ï: those letters are outside GSM-7 and turn the message into Unicode at 70 characters per segment (67 per part). For short alerts, write them without those letters to keep one segment; for longer texts, the console names each letter that changed the encoding.

Time zone and timing

Benin keeps UTC+1 all year with no clock change, so 09:00 in Porto-Novo is always 08:00 UTC. send_at takes UTC or any ISO 8601 offset, and the console scheduler converts from your own time zone.

Send to Benin with one request

The answer comes back at once with the message id, the country the number was matched to (BJ) and the price. A delivered or failed event follows on your webhook, and a failed message is refunded.

For a list, send the same text to up to 10,000 numbers with POST /v1/batches, or a personal text per number in messages.

curl https://bulksmsapi.cc/v1/messages \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BULKSMSAPI_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"to": "+2290195123456", "text": "Your Northwind code is 482913. It expires in 10 minutes."}'

What developers send to Benin

Common integrations that call the SMS API for recipients in Benin.

Payment alerts

Mobile banking apps notify users in Cotonou about successful transactions or low account balances.

Delivery updates

E-commerce platforms send SMS to shoppers in Porto-Novo about the status of their orders.

Health reminders

Clinics in Parakou send SMS reminders to patients about upcoming vaccination campaigns for children.

Event notifications

Cultural festivals in Abomey notify attendees about schedule changes or ticket availability via SMS.

SMS to Benin: questions

More answers on accounts, payments and the API are in the FAQ.

How much does it cost to send bulk SMS to Benin?

Each message segment to Benin costs $0.01187. A plain text of up to 160 characters is one segment, so 1,000 one-segment messages cost $11.87 and 10,000 cost $118.70. Failed messages are refunded to the balance.

How many SMS to Benin does a $100 top-up send?

$100 covers about 8,424 one-segment messages to Benin at $0.01187 each. The first top-up adds a bonus on top, which raises that number. The balance is shared by every country, so the same top-up also pays for messages anywhere else on the list.

How do I write Benin numbers for the API?

Send them in international format with the plus sign: +229 01 95 12 34 56 becomes "+2290195123456" in the to field. The API also accepts spaces, dashes and a 00 prefix and cleans them, and numbers that cannot be read are listed in set_aside instead of being charged.

What language should SMS be sent in?

French is the official language, but local languages like Fon or Yoruba may resonate better in rural areas. Consider your audience.

Are there seasonal peaks in SMS traffic?

Yes, during the rainy season, agricultural updates increase, and during festivals like Voodoo Day, event-related messages spike. Plan for these peaks.

Start sending to Benin

Create an account, top up from $40 and send to Benin at $0.01187 per segment, from the console or with one API call.

SMS API Benin: Bulk SMS to +229 From $0.01187 | BulkSMSAPI