SMS API for Rwanda: bulk SMS to +250 numbers

Rwanda is a landlocked country in East Africa with Kigali as its capital, known for its rapid economic growth and focus on technology. Software products like mobile banking apps, ride-hailing services, and e-commerce platforms send text messages to users. 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, even in rural areas.

Rwanda

Calling code +250

Per SMS segment
$0.00727
Messages for $100
13,755
Local language
French
Encoding
GSM-7 or Unicode

What a bulk SMS send to Rwanda costs

Every message is priced at $0.00727 per segment to Rwanda. 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$0.00727$0.01454
1,000$7.27$14.54
10,000$72.70$145.40
100,000$727.00$1,454.00

Number format in Rwanda

Mobile numbers in Rwanda have 9 digits after +250. Locally they are written with a leading 0 (0720 123 456); in the API that 0 is dropped, so the same number goes in the to field as +250 720 123 456.

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

Rwanda keeps UTC+2 all year with no clock change, so 09:00 in Kigali is always 07:00 UTC. send_at takes UTC or any ISO 8601 offset, and the console scheduler converts from your own time zone.

Send to Rwanda with one request

The answer comes back at once with the message id, the country the number was matched to (RW) 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": "+250720123456", "text": "Your Northwind code is 482913. It expires in 10 minutes."}'

What developers send to Rwanda

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

Mobile payments

When a user in Kigali sends money via mobile banking, they receive an SMS confirming the transaction and the new balance.

Ride confirmations

After booking a ride in Kigali, passengers get a text with the driver's details and estimated arrival time.

Order updates

Customers in Rwanda receive SMS notifications when their online orders are shipped from warehouses in Kigali.

Health alerts

Clinics in rural Rwanda send SMS reminders to patients about upcoming appointments or vaccination schedules.

SMS to Rwanda: questions

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

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

Each message segment to Rwanda costs $0.00727. A plain text of up to 160 characters is one segment, so 1,000 one-segment messages cost $7.27 and 10,000 cost $72.70. Failed messages are refunded to the balance.

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

$100 covers about 13,755 one-segment messages to Rwanda at $0.00727 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 Rwanda numbers for the API?

Send them in international format with the plus sign: +250 720 123 456 becomes "+250720123456" 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 messages be in for Rwanda?

Messages are typically sent in English or Kinyarwanda, depending on the audience. English is widely understood in urban areas like Kigali, while Kinyarwanda is preferred in rural regions.

How can SMS reach visitors in Rwanda?

This makes it ideal for tourism-related notifications or event updates.

Start sending to Rwanda

Create an account, top up from $40 and send to Rwanda at $0.00727 per segment, from the console or with one API call.

SMS API Rwanda: Bulk SMS to +250 From $0.00727 | BulkSMSAPI