Send SMS & MMS With PHP (Sample Code)

SMS Arc provides a simple way to send SMS with PHP allowing you to integrate text messages into your web application and connect with your users.

Send SMS with PHP using one line of code!

After adding our plug and play code, you can easily send a text message in PHP with the following: sms($to, $from, $msg) will send a message to the number you specify. This allows you to control the message you are sending, as well choosing the FROM phone number attached to the message.

Send SMS with PHP POST

Click to show PHP Post Sample Code

<?php	
//Step 1: Prepare your message.
$msg = 'YOUR MESSAGE HERE'; //160 characters per segment: SMS Arc will split large messages for you.
$to = ''; //11 digits minimum (e.g. 19379155922)
$from = ''; //11 digits minimum; Must be a number in your account: https://smsarc.com/ui/numbers/
$apikey = 'E5FF174E-62A7-4C57-954C-5944C96FA183A'; //your api key: https://smsarc.com/ui/apikeys/
$img = ''; //optional url of image attachment (jpeg,jpg,gif)

//Step 2: Add SMS Function to your code	
function sms($apikey, $to, $from, $msg, $img) 
{		  		  
	$params = array(
		'to'        => $to,
		'from'   => $from,
		'msg'      => $msg,
		'attach'      => $img,
		'key'      => $apikey
	);
	$ch = curl_init('https://smsarc.com/endpoint/sendsms/');	
	curl_setopt ($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);	
	curl_setopt ($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $params);
	curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, false);	
	//curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSLVERSION, CURL_SSLVERSION_TLSv1_2); //optional
	curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true); 
	$response = curl_exec($ch); 
	curl_close($session);	
	return $response;		
}	


//Step 3: Send the message.
$sms = sms($apikey, $to, $from, $msg, $img);	
if($sms == 'Success') { echo 'SMS Sent'; } else { echo 'Error Sending SMS: '.$sms; }	
?>

After you integrate the code the code found above and change the API Key and FROM phone number to valid values for your account, you will be able to send a successful text message with PHP POST.

Note: For a simpler approach, you can also create your own endpoint and call it anyway you would like. Take a look at our other code samples below to see how you can send text messages with PHP GET.

Send SMS with PHP GET

Click to show PHP Post Sample Code

We provide a few different methods of sending sms with PHP GET. You can experiment with all of the options to see what works for your use case. You can copy and paste the code sample below just be sure to update your API Key

<?php
//Step 1: Prepare your SMS

//your api key from https://smsarc.com/ui/apikeys/
$smsarc_apikey = '0A062139-BF83-450A-BD8F-BC556D2874B5'; 

//11 digits minimum (e.g. 19379155922)
$smsarc_to = '5554443333'; 

//160 characters per segment: SMS Arc will split large messages for you.
$smsarc_msg = 'YOUR MESSAGE HERE';

//optional url of image attachment (jpeg,jpg,gif)
$smsarc_img = '';

//Step 2: Build the SMS Arc Endpoint URL
$smsarc_endpoint = 'https://smsarc.com/endpoint/sendsms/'.$smsarc_apikey.'/'.$smsarc_to.'/'.urlencode($smsarc_msg).'/';
if($smsarc_img != '') { $smsarc_endpoint .= $smsarc_img.'/'; }

//Step 3: Call the SMS Arc Endpoint URL
$result = 'Please select a method of calling SMS Arc Endpoint URL'; //remove this after choosing:
//OPTION 1: Uncomment to Call $smsarc_endpoint with file_get_contents();
/*	
	$result = file_get_contents($smsarc_endpoint); 
*/		

//OPTION 2: Uncomment to Call $smsarc_endpoint with curl;
/*
	$ch = curl_init();
	curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL,$smsarc_endpoint);
	curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, false);
	curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
	$result = curl_exec($ch);
	curl_close($ch);
*/

//OPTION 3: echo and manually visit $smsarc_endpoint in your browser
/*
	echo '<a href="'.$smsarc_endpoint.'">Click here to send SMS</a>';
*/		

//Step 4: Check results of message sending
if($result === 'Success') {	echo 'Success - SMS Sent'; } else { echo 'Error: '.$result; }
?>

Note that when using PHP GET to send text messages the FROM recipient is automatically chosen based on available numbers in your account. Use PHP POST to choose a specific "from" number.

Send SMS From Your Web Application

Now that you know how to send a text message using PHP, you can begin integrating SMS into your web applications and create new features with SMS functionality. Before you can get started you need to create an account and choose a number to send text messages from.

Get Your API Key Free

What Number does PHP display to recipients?

When you send a text message with PHP, the message will display the number provided by your account. SMS Arc provides you with thousands of numbers to choose from. You can activate any number, and even choose a number in a specific area or region. Activating a number with SMS Arc is instant, and the number you choose will be the number associated to any SMS messages that you send with PHP.

Need more than one number?
SMS Arc allows you to activate as many local or toll-free numbers as your platform needs with one click.

Still have questions?

How To Send SMS with PHP

We answer frequently asked questions below. Click on one of the questions below to find the answer.

Do I need to install anything on my web server?

You do not need any special software to send SMS with PHP.

SMS Arc handles all of the heavy lifting, and sends the SMS for you. Using our API you send us the destination number and message to send using PHP. With our API, we help you to instantly deliver SMS across the globe.

Can I send SMS with PHP curl?

Definitely. We provide an endpoint you can call using CURL. You can perform a GET or a POST request to send your text message.

How Fast can PHP send SMS?

You can send one SMS per second using PHP with the SMS Arc API. Messages sent during this cooldown will be rejected. Please be sure you use PHP sleep(1); between messages if you are sending multiple text messages.

What is the longest text message PHP can send?

The longest message that can be sent is 160 characters. However, if you send us a longer message we will automatically split it up for you into multiple messages.

Can I send MMS with PHP?

Of course. You can provide the SMS Arc API with any valid http or https URL of any JPG, PNG or GIF. We will attach this to any message to send a MMS with PHP.

Can I verify mobile phone numbers with PHP?

With our SMS API, you can send a verification code to your users when they provide their number. Ask them for the verification code that you send to verify their mobile number.

How do I perform a Carrier Lookup with PHP?

SMS Arc will automatically manage all of the difficulty with handling carrier support and SMS deliverability. Save time, and steps with our API!

Where do I get my API Key from?

You can generate as many API Keys as you need from within your SMS Arc dashboard. Click here to view your API keys.