Virtual Number API: Phone Numbers on Demand

The SMSBulk virtual number API turns phone numbers into an on-demand resource: query live availability and pricing, provision a temporary number with a single POST and release it when you are done. No telecom contracts, no SIM hardware, no monthly fees.

Discover, provision, release

The catalogue endpoints are public, so your code can compare markets before spending a cent. Provisioning itself is one authenticated POST. This walkthrough runs against production as written:

const BASE = 'https://smsbulk.net/api/v1';
const KEY = process.env.SMSBULK_API_KEY; // smsbulk_...

async function main() {
  // 1) Browse the live catalogue (public, no key needed)
  const { data: services } = await (await fetch(BASE + '/services')).json();
  console.log('First service:', services[0].name, services[0].minPrice);

  // 2) Where does Telegram have numbers right now, at what price?
  const tg = await (
    await fetch(BASE + '/services/telegram-verification/countries')
  ).json();
  const target = tg.countries[0]; // ranked by speed tier and score
  console.log('Best market:', target.name, target.price);

  // 3) Provision a number there (charged to your balance)
  const res = await fetch(BASE + '/activations', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'X-API-Key': KEY, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({ serviceCode: 'tg', countryIso: target.isoCode }),
  });
  if (!res.ok) throw new Error('HTTP ' + res.status);
  const number = await res.json();
  console.log('Provisioned:', number.phoneNumber, 'until', number.expiresAt);

  // 4) Release it unused later and the charge is refunded automatically
  await fetch(BASE + '/activations/' + number.id, {
    method: 'DELETE',
    headers: { 'X-API-Key': KEY },
  });
}

main();

Every endpoint, parameter and response schema is specified in the API documentation. Numbers are billed per activation from your prepaid balance, and releasing an unused number refunds it automatically.

Integration in four steps

Why teams provision numbers through SMSBulk

A number provisioning API has one job: when your workflow asks for a phone number, a working one appears, and when the workflow ends you are not stuck paying for it.

Live provisioning prices

Numbers are priced per service and country. These are live starting prices from the catalogue, refreshed hourly on this page:

Your code can read the same data: GET /v1/services returns catalogue-wide starting prices, GET /v1/services/{slug}/countries the exact per-market price.

Temporary, disposable or dedicated: the same API

Search for a temporary number API, a disposable number API or a phone number API for developers and you will find the same underlying need: numbers that appear when code asks and disappear without a contract. An activation gives you a private, dedicated number for its lifetime; it is never shared while you hold it, which is what separates this from public receive-SMS lists.

Typical integrations: QA suites that verify signup flows across markets, onboarding pipelines that provision a number per business account, privacy layers that keep real numbers out of third-party forms, and research tools that need region-specific presence.

If what you actually need is the verification code rather than the number itself, the SMS verification API page walks through the OTP loop end to end.

Numbers for AI agents

Virtual number API FAQ

Keep exploring

Building a verification flow on top of these numbers? The SMS verification API guide covers the OTP loop. Need the same number for longer? See number rentals.