Send SMS to Saudi Arabia
from $0.0550/msg

Reach 41 million subscribers across STC (51%), Mobily (28%), and Zain (21%) with smsroute's crypto-only SMS gateway. No KYC at signup. no identity submission, no phone linking, no business docs. Pay with Bitcoin, USDT (TRC-20 preferred), Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero, or Solana. Minimum $5 top-up. Deliver SMS in 115 ms median latency, 99.2% success rate. 30% cheaper than Twilio ($0.0786/SMS). 99.9% uptime, 99% tier-1 delivery across CITC-regulated operators. Comply with Saudi Arabia's Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL, 2021) and CITC Regulations: explicit opt-in required for marketing, alphanumeric sender IDs need CITC pre-approval, quiet hours 08:00–20:00 AST Sat–Wed (10:00–20:00 Friday). Build your SMS application now.

Why Arabic SMS Segments Cut Your Saudi Arabia Character Budget in Half

Saudi Arabia's three major mobile operators—STC, Mobily, and Zain—accept both GSM-7 encoding (used for English and Latin characters) and UCS-2 encoding (used for Arabic and other scripts). This distinction has a direct impact on your SMS segment count and, consequently, your per-message cost.

When you send a message containing Arabic script, the operator automatically switches to UCS-2 encoding. In GSM-7, a single SMS segment contains up to 160 characters. In UCS-2, that same segment holds only 70 characters. This means a 160-character Arabic message becomes three segments instead of one. A 500-character campaign requires 3 segments in GSM-7 but 8 segments in UCS-2—a 2.7× multiplier.

Concrete example: A marketing message that reads "مرحبا، عرض خاص لك: 50% خصم على جميع المنتجات. اشتر الآن!" (approximately 55 characters in Arabic) fits in a single UCS-2 segment. The English equivalent "Hello, special offer for you: 50% discount on all products. Buy now!" (approximately 75 characters) also fits in one segment using GSM-7. However, if you send a mixed-language message or a longer Arabic promotion, you must budget 2–3 segments per message. At smsroute's rate of $0.0550 per segment, a three-segment message costs $0.1650. Plan your message length accordingly and use character counters in your dashboard to preview segment count before sending.

smsroute's API returns the exact segment count in the response, so you always know the cost before the message is queued. Arabic, Urdu, Persian, and other scripts trigger UCS-2; English and Latin characters use GSM-7. Mixed messages default to UCS-2 to preserve character accuracy. Test your campaign copy in the dashboard to see real segment counts.

Mobile Operators: STC, Mobily, and Zain Saudi Arabia

STC (Saudi Telecom Company) is the market leader with 51% of the 41 million active mobile subscribers. STC owns the legacy 2G/3G/4G infrastructure and has extended its LTE and 5G footprint to most urban and peri-urban areas. STC enforces CITC Regulations strictly and requires sender ID pre-registration with residency proof and KYC documentation. Interconnection is reliable; 99.2% of SMS destined for STC numbers (+966 5XX XXX XXX) are delivered successfully.

Mobily (Etihad Etisalat) holds 28% market share and is a subsidiary of the UAE-based Etihad Etisalat (Maroc Telecom group). Mobily covers most populated regions and has invested heavily in 4G/5G capacity. Sender ID registration with Mobily mirrors STC's process: CITC approval plus operator KYC plus residency verification. Delivery success is consistent at 99.1% across smsroute's monitored traffic.

Zain Saudi Arabia operates with 21% market share and is part of the Kuwaiti Zain Group, a regional telecom operator. Zain's network footprint is strongest in central and eastern Saudi Arabia and is expanding in rural areas. Like STC and Mobily, Zain requires CITC sender ID registration and operator KYC before alphanumeric sender IDs are activated. Delivery success is 99.3% on Zain's network.

All three operators interconnect with smsroute's international gateway via dedicated routing agreements. smsroute does not use gray routes, grey-listed operators, or shared carrier IPs. Each message is submitted to the operator's official SMPP (Short Message Peer-to-Peer) server with correct authentication. This ensures compliance and maximizes delivery success.

Send SMS to Saudi Arabia in 3 Steps

Step 1: Create a free smsroute account. Visit https://smsroute.cc and sign up. no identity submission, no phone linking, no business docsumentation required at account creation. You will receive API credentials (API key and secret) immediately and can log in to the dashboard.

Step 2: Top up your account with cryptocurrency. Pay with Bitcoin, USDT (TRC-20 preferred), Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero, or Solana. No cards, no SEPA, no bank transfers. Minimum $5 top-up. Your crypto transfer settles on-chain in 1–3 blocks, and your smsroute balance appears within minutes.

Step 3: Send SMS via the REST API or Python SDK. Use the smsroute REST API endpoint (https://api.smsroute.cc/send) or the official Python library to send POST requests. Include the recipient's phone number in E.164 format (e.g., +966512345678) and your message text (GSM-7 or UTF-8 for Arabic). Your sender ID must be pre-registered with CITC and the operator; if it is not, the API will return a 403 Forbidden error with a note to register the sender ID first.

cURL example:

Python example:

Both examples return a JSON object with the message ID, delivery status, segment count, and cost. Use the message ID to query delivery status or retrieve delivery receipts (DLRs) from the webhook endpoint you configure in your account settings. The API supports batch sending (up to 10,000 SMS per request) for high-volume campaigns.

import requests
import json

api_key = "YOUR_API_KEY"
url = "https://api.smsroute.cc/send"

headers = {
    "Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

payload = {
    "to": "+966512345678",
    "from": "ACMECORP",
    "text": "Hello! Your order #12345 has been confirmed.",
    "route": "saudi_arabia"
}

response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, data=json.dumps(payload))
print(response.json())

curl -X POST https://api.smsroute.cc/send \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": "+966512345678",
    "from": "ACMECORP",
    "text": "Hello! Your order #12345 has been confirmed.",
    "route": "saudi_arabia"
  }'

import fetch from "node-fetch";

const apiKey = process.env.SMSROUTE_API_KEY;

const res = await fetch("https://api.smsroute.cc/v1/messages", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${apiKey}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    to: "+9665551234567",
    from: "smsroute",
    text: "Your verification code is 384921",
  }),
});

console.log(await res.json());

package main

import (
    "bytes"
    "encoding/json"
    "fmt"
    "io"
    "net/http"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    payload, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]string{
        "to":   "+9665551234567",
        "from": "smsroute",
        "text": "Your verification code is 384921",
    })

    req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST",
        "https://api.smsroute.cc/v1/messages",
        bytes.NewBuffer(payload))
    req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+os.Getenv("SMSROUTE_API_KEY"))
    req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

    resp, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
    if err != nil { panic(err) }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
    fmt.Println(string(body))
}

<?php
$apiKey = getenv('SMSROUTE_API_KEY');

$payload = json_encode([
    'to'   => '+9665551234567',
    'from' => 'smsroute',
    'text' => 'Your verification code is 384921',
], JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE);

$ch = curl_init('https://api.smsroute.cc/v1/messages');
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_POST => true,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
        'Authorization: Bearer ' . $apiKey,
        'Content-Type: application/json',
    ],
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => $payload,
]);

echo curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);