SMS API for United Arab Emirates: bulk SMS to +971 numbers

The United Arab Emirates, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi as commercial hubs, is a global center for trade, finance, and tourism. Developers at airlines, luxury retailers, and property firms integrate SMS to communicate with customers across seven emirates. Messages deliver boarding passes, delivery notifications for high-end purchases, or appointment reminders for visa services. SMS works best here because it reaches both local residents and the multinational workforce on any mobile plan without app dependencies.

United Arab Emirates

Calling code +971

Per SMS segment
$0.00447
Messages for $100
22,371
Local language
Arabic and English
Encoding
Unicode (UCS-2)

What a bulk SMS send to the United Arab Emirates costs

Every message is priced at $0.00447 per segment to the United Arab Emirates. 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$0.00447$0.00894
1,000$4.47$8.94
10,000$44.70$89.40
100,000$447.00$894.00

Number format in United Arab Emirates

Mobile numbers in the United Arab Emirates have 9 digits after +971. Locally they are written with a leading 0 (050 123 4567); in the API that 0 is dropped, so the same number goes in the to field as +971 50 123 4567.

Alphabet and segments

Text in Arabic is always Unicode, so a message to the United Arab Emirates 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

The United Arab Emirates keeps UTC+4 all year with no clock change, so 09:00 in Dubai is always 05:00 UTC. send_at takes UTC or any ISO 8601 offset, and the console scheduler converts from your own time zone.

Send to United Arab Emirates with one request

The answer comes back at once with the message id, the country the number was matched to (AE) 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": "+971501234567", "text": "Your Northwind code is 482913. It expires in 10 minutes."}'

What developers send to the United Arab Emirates

Common integrations that call the SMS API for recipients in the United Arab Emirates.

Flight check-ins

Emirates and Etihad send last-minute gate changes by SMS to passengers transiting through Dubai International.

Gold delivery

Dubai Gold Souk merchants text buyers when custom jewelry is ready for pickup or needs payment confirmation.

Visa appointments

Government-linked services notify expats by SMS to submit documents at typing centers in Sharjah or Al Ain.

Private sale access

Mall brands like Chalhoub Group text VIP customers early access to discounts at The Dubai Mall.

SMS to United Arab Emirates: questions

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

How much does it cost to send bulk SMS to the United Arab Emirates?

Each message segment to the United Arab Emirates costs $0.00447. A plain text of up to 160 characters is one segment, so 1,000 one-segment messages cost $4.47 and 10,000 cost $44.70. Failed messages are refunded to the balance.

How many SMS to the United Arab Emirates does a $100 top-up send?

$100 covers about 22,371 one-segment messages to the United Arab Emirates at $0.00447 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 United Arab Emirates numbers for the API?

Send them in international format with the plus sign: +971 50 123 4567 becomes "+971501234567" 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.

Is English or Arabic better for UAE SMS?

English reaches all expats and most locals. Arabic suits government services and older Emiratis. Bilingual sends work for banks, but keep each message in one language.

How do Ramadan hours affect SMS timing?

Avoid sending during iftar (sunset) when phones are unused. Evening campaigns after 9pm work best, especially for food delivery and Eid shopping promotions.

Start sending to The United Arab Emirates

Create an account, top up from $40 and send to the United Arab Emirates at $0.00447 per segment, from the console or with one API call.

SMS API United Arab Emirates: Bulk SMS to +971 From $0.00447 | BulkSMSAPI