SMS-Activate is gone. Before you pick a replacement, ask for delivery rates, not price lists

Disclosure: I run SMSBulk (smsbulk.net), one of the services in this space. This post explains how we measure delivery and how you can check any provider, including us. Figures are as of 14 November 2026.

The problem with "top 10 alternatives" lists

Every comparison table shows the same columns: countries, services, starting price, API yes/no. None of them answer the only question that matters when your signup flow or test pipeline depends on a code arriving: how often does the SMS actually arrive?

A $0.05 number that delivers one time in five costs more than a $0.30 number that delivers four times in five. Price lists hide this.

What to ask any provider

1. Do you publish delivery rates per service and country, and how are they calculated?
2. What happens when no code arrives? Automatic refund, or a support ticket?
3. Is the rate based on enough orders, or on a handful?
4. How fresh is the number? Last hour, last week, last month?

How we calculate ours

Rate = codes delivered / (codes delivered + orders that timed out).

We only publish a number when at least 20 orders have concluded and they come from at least 3 different customers, so one heavy user cannot skew it. Everything below that threshold shows an estimate tier (High / Medium / Low) instead of a number. Rates refresh hourly and the page is public: https://smsbulk.net/en/success-rates

Today that means 39 of the 562 service and country pairs on the page have a measured rate. The rest are estimates, and we label them as such.

Here are our five most-ordered measured pairs, 30-day rate, good and bad:

Yes, two of our best sellers deliver about one time in three. They stay on sale because some customers need exactly that pair, but the page shows the number and points to better options. And the refund rule covers the misses:

If no SMS arrives before your activation ends (up to 20 minutes), your wallet is refunded automatically.

The limit, so nobody is surprised: once a code is delivered the order is complete, and delivered codes are not refunded.

The basics, for the comparison tables

• Countries: 190+
• Services: 130+
• Starting price: from $0.015 per activation
• Rentals: 24 hours, 3 days or 7 days, in 18 countries
• API: REST, plus an open-source MCP server for AI agents
• Payment: card, crypto, Alipay, UnionPay or Binance Pay

Minimal example

# 1) Get a number
curl -X POST https://smsbulk.net/api/v1/activations \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"serviceCode": "wa", "countryIso": "US"}'

# Response:
# { "id": "cuid_xxx", "phoneNumber": "12025550147", "status": "WAITING" }

# 2) Read the code
curl https://smsbulk.net/api/v1/activations/cuid_xxx \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

# Response when the SMS arrives:
# { "id": "cuid_xxx", "smsCode": "123456", "status": "RECEIVED" }

Full docs: https://smsbulk.net/en/docs

Takeaway

Whichever provider you choose, ask for the delivery rate and the refund rule before you look at the price. If a provider cannot show you either, you are buying a lottery ticket.