SMS API for Kenya: bulk SMS to +254 numbers

Kenya, with Nairobi as its capital, is a hub for technology and innovation in East Africa, known for its mobile money services and growing digital economy. Software products like mobile banking apps, ride-hailing services, and e-commerce platforms send text messages to their users. These messages are triggered by events such as mobile money transactions, ride confirmations, or order updates. SMS is chosen because it reaches every mobile phone, requires no app installation, and is read quickly, making it ideal for both urban and rural users.

Kenya

Calling code +254

Per SMS segment
$0.02147
Messages for $100
4,657
Local language
English and Swahili
Encoding
GSM-7

What a bulk SMS send to Kenya costs

Every message is priced at $0.02147 per segment to Kenya. 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$0.02147$0.04294
1,000$21.47$42.94
10,000$214.70$429.40
100,000$2,147.00$4,294.00

Number format in Kenya

Mobile numbers in Kenya have 9 digits after +254. Locally they are written with a leading 0 (0712 123456); in the API that 0 is dropped, so the same number goes in the to field as +254 712 123456.

Alphabet and segments

English and Swahili text stays inside the GSM-7 alphabet, so one segment to Kenya holds 160 characters and each part of a longer text 153. Watch for curly quotes and emoji copied from other tools: one of them moves the whole text to Unicode at 70 characters per segment, and POST /v1/estimates shows the encoding before you send.

Time zone and timing

Kenya keeps UTC+3 all year with no clock change, so 09:00 in Nairobi is always 06:00 UTC. send_at takes UTC or any ISO 8601 offset, and the console scheduler converts from your own time zone.

Send to Kenya with one request

The answer comes back at once with the message id, the country the number was matched to (KE) 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": "+254712123456", "text": "Your Northwind code is 482913. It expires in 10 minutes."}'

What developers send to Kenya

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

Mobile money

A mobile money transfer in Nairobi triggers a text confirming the transaction amount and recipient details.

Ride confirmations

A ride-hailing app in Mombasa sends a text with driver details and estimated arrival time.

Order updates

An e-commerce store in Kisumu texts customers when their order leaves the warehouse.

Appointment reminders

A clinic in Nakuru sends SMS reminders for upcoming medical appointments.

SMS to Kenya: questions

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

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

Each message segment to Kenya costs $0.02147. A plain text of up to 160 characters is one segment, so 1,000 one-segment messages cost $21.47 and 10,000 cost $214.70. Failed messages are refunded to the balance.

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

$100 covers about 4,657 one-segment messages to Kenya at $0.02147 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 Kenya numbers for the API?

Send them in international format with the plus sign: +254 712 123456 becomes "+254712123456" 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.

Which language should we use for SMS in Kenya?

English is widely understood and used for business communication. Swahili can also be effective, especially for reaching a broader audience.

How can we reach both residents and visitors?

SMS works for all mobile users, including visitors with roaming SIM cards.

Start sending to Kenya

Create an account, top up from $40 and send to Kenya at $0.02147 per segment, from the console or with one API call.

SMS API Kenya: Bulk SMS to +254 From $0.02147 | BulkSMSAPI