SMS API pricing in India in 2026 starts around ₹0.25 per SMS at small volumes and falls to ₹0.11–₹0.18 per SMS at higher volumes, plus 18% GST: MSG91 lists ₹0.25 down to ₹0.16, and Fast2SMS lists ₹0.25 down to ₹0.11 depending on how much you recharge (checked 30 Oct 2026). Gupshup and Karix do not publish an SMS rate card, so you need a sales quote. For long or Hindi messages, a WhatsApp utility message at about ₹0.215 is often cheaper than SMS.
Disclosure: this page is published by RichAutomate, a WhatsApp Business API platform that competes with SMS and WhatsApp providers such as Gupshup and MSG91. RichAutomate does not sell SMS; we sell WhatsApp Business API messaging, which is the alternative this page compares. Competitor prices were taken from their own public pages (checked 30 Oct 2026) and are linked so you can re-check them. Meta rates are India rates; all figures exclude GST unless stated.
SMS API price list India 2026 (MSG91, Fast2SMS, Gupshup, Karix)
These are the prices the providers show publicly. Each number is per SMS segment, before GST, checked 30 Oct 2026.
| Provider | Published SMS price | How the tier works | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSG91 | ₹0.25 → ₹0.20 → ₹0.18 → ₹0.17 → ₹0.16 | 5,000 SMS at ₹0.25; 16,500 at ₹0.20; 30,000 at ₹0.18 (₹5,400 + 18% GST); 60,000 to 4.5 lakh at ₹0.17; 9.62 lakh at ₹0.16. Sales quote "up to ₹0.13". | msg91.com/in/pricing/sms |
| Fast2SMS | ₹0.25 → ₹0.11 | Set by wallet recharge: ₹100–₹3,999 at ₹0.25; ₹4,000–₹7,999 at ₹0.21; ₹8,000–₹13,999 at ₹0.19; ₹14,000–₹59,999 at ₹0.17; ₹60,000–₹1,29,999 at ₹0.15; ₹1.3–₹5.99 lakh at ₹0.13; ₹6 lakh+ at ₹0.11. The lower rate stays valid for 6–24 months. | fast2sms.com/bulk-sms-pricing |
| Gupshup SMS | Quote only | No public SMS rate card on gupshup.ai; see their pricing page or ask sales. | gupshup.ai |
| Karix | Quote only | No public SMS rate card found; ask sales. | karix.com |
| WhatsApp utility / OTP (RichAutomate Client Pay) | ≈ ₹0.215 per message | Meta India rate ₹0.115 + ₹0.10 RichAutomate fee. One message carries up to 1,024 characters, Hindi included. | /pricing |
How SMS API pricing works in India
Every commercial SMS in India is billed per segment. A plain English segment holds 160 characters. If the text has any Unicode, such as Hindi, Tamil or an emoji, a segment holds 70 characters, and long Unicode messages split into 67-character parts. Every part is billed.
All business SMS also runs through TRAI's DLT system. Before sending, you register your business entity, your 6-character sender header and every message template on an operator DLT portal (Jio, Airtel, Vi or BSNL). A message that doesn't match a registered template is blocked. Some providers bill a DLT scrubbing charge per SMS on top of the rate, so ask whether the quote includes it. The rates above are what the providers display; your final bill adds GST and any DLT line.
Worked monthly bill: SMS vs WhatsApp
Case A: 30,000 English OTPs a month (SMS wins)
- MSG91: 30,000 × ₹0.18 = ₹5,400 + 18% GST = ₹6,372.
- Fast2SMS: a ₹6,300 recharge lands in the ₹4,000–₹7,999 tier at ₹0.21, which buys 30,000 SMS = ₹6,300.
- WhatsApp authentication on RichAutomate: 30,000 × ₹0.215 = ₹6,450 + GST.
For short, single-segment OTPs, SMS is cheaper by a few paise per message and reaches phones without WhatsApp. Keep SMS here, or send OTP on WhatsApp first and fall back to SMS. See WhatsApp OTP vs SMS OTP for the delivery trade-offs.
Get the India 2026 WhatsApp BSP price comparison
Wati vs AiSensy vs Interakt vs RichAutomate: Meta rates, platform fees and hidden costs, side by side. We send it to your WhatsApp in a minute.
Case B: 10,000 Hindi order updates of about 200 characters (WhatsApp wins)
- SMS: 200 Unicode characters = 3 segments, so 10,000 updates = 30,000 billed segments × ₹0.18 (MSG91) = ₹5,400.
- WhatsApp utility: 10,000 messages × ₹0.215 = ₹2,150.
- Saving: ₹3,250 a month, about 60%, and the WhatsApp message can carry a button, an image or a tracking link.
Case C: customers reply
When a customer messages you first, Meta does not charge for the first 1,000 service replies per number per month (since 1 Oct 2026); after that, replies are billed at the utility rate. Two-way SMS needs a separate inbound number, and every reply you send is another billed segment.
Who should pick SMS, and who should move to WhatsApp
- Stay on SMS (MSG91, Fast2SMS, Gupshup, Karix) for short English OTPs, bank-style alerts that must reach every phone, and very high volumes where ₹0.11–₹0.16 rates apply.
- Move to WhatsApp utility for order, delivery, appointment and payment updates, anything long or in an Indian language, and any flow where the customer replies.
- Use both when OTP delivery has to be guaranteed: WhatsApp first, SMS fallback.
Where the SMS providers win: price per short message, reach to feature phones, and no dependence on the customer having WhatsApp. Where WhatsApp wins: long or regional-language text, rich buttons and media, and replies in the same thread. If you are comparing WhatsApp vendors too, see the WhatsApp API pricing comparison for India, the Wati vs AiSensy vs Interakt vs RichAutomate comparison, Gupshup pricing in India and the Gupshup alternative page.
Moving SMS traffic to WhatsApp on Plivo? Check the Plivo WhatsApp alternative for India before you commit to per-account fees.
Move notifications to WhatsApp
RichAutomate Client Pay = Meta's rate + ₹0.10 per message (about ₹0.96 marketing, ₹0.215 utility/authentication), ₹0 setup, ₹0 platform fee, no per-user charge. SaaS Pay = ₹1.50 marketing / ₹0.50 utility all-in. Optional plans at ₹499, ₹899 and ₹1,199 a month; 14-day trial with 100 credits. No DLT registration is needed for WhatsApp, though Meta approves each template. Check the full RichAutomate pricing or start the 14-day trial.