Automation and integrations decision
textbee
Self-hosting the open-source textbee repo is realistic for a technical user; deploy the provided project rather than reimplementing the product.
Visit website↗$9.99/mo
$120/yr
Read off the official pricing page.
$20one-off6 h to build
$20/mo3 h/mo upkeep
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 3 seats.
Open-source builds that already do this
Every project below is open source and already does this job today. Fork one, self-host it, or take the parts you need - the build prompt further down assumes an empty file, and this is the shortcut past that. Licences differ; check the one on each card before you ship. All textbee alternatives, with the arithmetic →
What a replacement has to do
- Clone and configure the textbee backend; deploy a small REST API to accept authenticated send requests; install and pair an Android SMS gateway app to relay SMS to/from the device; implement webhook delivery with retry/queueing and an admin dashboard to create API keys and register devices.
What it still won’t have
- Carrier-grade throughput and guaranteed SLA (e.g., Twilio-like guarantees)
- Hosted reliability, monitoring, and support handled by vendor
- Managed scaling for millions of messages and high-throughput routing
- White-glove enterprise integrations and dedicated account management
What remains hard
- Product polish and ongoing maintenance
First-year cost
Keep paying
Paying is—cheaper in year one.
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 3 seats.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build a self-hosted deployment of the textbee project from https://github.com/vernu/textbee using a single Ubuntu 22.04 VM (or small VPS) and Docker Compose. Implement: 1) deploy the textbee backend service and a Postgres database; 2) set up HTTPS with a domain and Let's Encrypt; 3) enable API key auth and an admin dashboard page to create/manage keys and view connected devices; 4) install the Android gateway app on a test device and perform pairing (QR or paste key) to verify sending/receiving; 5) implement webhook delivery with queued retries and logging. Out of scope: building a new mobile app, multi-region scaling, and enterprise SLA/white-labeling. Include environment validation, basic automated tests for the /send-sms endpoint, error handling, and documentation of deployment and recovery steps.
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Self-host verdict base92
- An open-source build was found+5
- 4 cited sources+3
- Price verified on pricing page+3
- 1/1 assessment runs agreed+4
- Evidence score99
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time - so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 4
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official producttextbee home
- official pricingtextbee pricing
- official docstextbee sending SMS docs
- open sourceandroid-sms-gateway GitHub
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.
