SMS API for Saudi Arabia: bulk SMS to +966 numbers

Saudi Arabia is a Middle Eastern country with Riyadh as its capital, known for its oil industry and growing digital economy. Organizations like airlines, e-commerce platforms, and government services send text messages to users. Messages are triggered by events such as flight updates, order confirmations, or appointment reminders. SMS is preferred because it reaches all mobile phones, works without internet, and is read quickly, even in remote areas.

Saudi Arabia

Calling code +966

Per SMS segment
$0.01897
Messages for $100
5,271
Local language
Arabic
Encoding
Unicode (UCS-2)

What a bulk SMS send to Saudi Arabia costs

Every message is priced at $0.01897 per segment to Saudi Arabia. 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$0.01897$0.03794
1,000$18.97$37.94
10,000$189.70$379.40
100,000$1,897.00$3,794.00

Number format in Saudi Arabia

Mobile numbers in Saudi Arabia have 9 digits after +966. Locally they are written with a leading 0 (051 234 5678); in the API that 0 is dropped, so the same number goes in the to field as +966 51 234 5678.

Alphabet and segments

Text in Arabic is always Unicode, so a message to Saudi Arabia written in Arabic carries 70 characters in one segment and 67 in each part of a longer one. Codes and alerts written in English or plain Latin letters fit 160 characters, which halves the cost of a long notice.

Time zone and timing

Saudi Arabia keeps UTC+3 all year with no clock change, so 09:00 in Riyadh 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 Saudi Arabia with one request

The answer comes back at once with the message id, the country the number was matched to (SA) 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": "+966512345678", "text": "Your Northwind code is 482913. It expires in 10 minutes."}'

What developers send to Saudi Arabia

Common integrations that call the SMS API for recipients in Saudi Arabia.

Flight updates

Travelers in Riyadh receive SMS notifications about flight delays or gate changes for their upcoming trips.

Order confirmations

Customers in Jeddah get a text confirming their online purchase and providing the expected delivery date.

Appointment reminders

Patients in Dammam receive SMS reminders about their scheduled medical appointments at local clinics.

Event tickets

Attendees in Riyadh get SMS confirmations with QR codes for entry to concerts or sports events.

SMS to Saudi Arabia: questions

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

How much does it cost to send bulk SMS to Saudi Arabia?

Each message segment to Saudi Arabia costs $0.01897. A plain text of up to 160 characters is one segment, so 1,000 one-segment messages cost $18.97 and 10,000 cost $189.70. Failed messages are refunded to the balance.

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

$100 covers about 5,271 one-segment messages to Saudi Arabia at $0.01897 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 Saudi Arabia numbers for the API?

Send them in international format with the plus sign: +966 51 234 5678 becomes "+966512345678" 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 Saudi Arabia?

Messages are typically sent in Arabic, as it is the primary language. English is also used for international audiences or expatriates.

Are there peak times for SMS traffic in Saudi Arabia?

SMS traffic increases during Ramadan and Hajj season, as businesses and organizations send notifications related to events and promotions.

Start sending to Saudi Arabia

Create an account, top up from $40 and send to Saudi Arabia at $0.01897 per segment, from the console or with one API call.

SMS API Saudi Arabia: Bulk SMS to +966 From $0.01897 | BulkSMSAPI