The BulkGate alternative for texting your own customers at a flat price
BulkGate is pay-as-you-go bulk messaging over carrier routes: you buy credit and each SMS or WhatsApp message deducts a per-country rate. If most of what you send goes to your own list, in your own country, from a number they recognise, SharkSMS replaces the credit meter with one flat monthly plan.
Prices are as listed on each provider's public site on the date shown below. Ours comes from our live pricing table.
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BulkGate is a proper bulk-SMS operator with routes in many countries. The comparison is about how the two bills behave for a small business and where the message actually comes from.
| What | BulkGate | SharkSMS |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Pay as you go. Buy credit; each SMS or WhatsApp message deducts a per-country rate. No monthly fee. | Flat monthly subscription. Nothing per message; texts ride on your own SIM plan. |
| 5,000 texts in a month | Roughly EUR 180 at the Ireland list rate; other countries differ. | The Enterprise plan price, or Professional for up to 2,000 a month. Same every month. |
| What sends the message | BulkGate's carrier routes. They also offer sending through your own Android phone as a separate service. | Your own Android phone, paired with a QR code. |
| Number your customers see | A system number or a text sender ID, depending on country and route. | The number on your SIM, the one your customers already know. |
| Yes, per-message pricing. | Yes, included, from your linked WhatsApp account. Text, photos, documents, groups. | |
| Setup before the first message | Create an account, top up credit, in some countries register a sender ID. | Install the gateway app, scan a code, create an API key. |
| Replies and opt-outs | Inbound depends on route and country. | Replies land on your phone and in your dashboard inbox; webhooks, auto-replies, flows, automatic STOP handling. |
| Best fit | Bulk campaigns to many countries where you want carrier routes and a text sender ID. | A business messaging its own customers, mostly in one country, from a number they recognise, at a flat cost. |
Competitor figures as listed on BulkGate's public pages on 19 August 2026 and may have changed since. Check their current pricing
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You send to many countries and need carrier routes with a branded sender ID, or your volume swings so much that pay-as-you-go beats any subscription.
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You message your own list, mostly domestically, want customers to see the number they already have for you, and want the bill to be the same every month.
Three plans, one flat price each
Live from our pricing table, so this is the price you will pay. Every plan includes SMS, WhatsApp, scheduling, replies and the API; they differ by contacts, phones and monthly volume.
- Free trial USD 0/ month 1 paired device · 10 SMS per month
- Professional USD 9/ month 3 paired devices · 2,000 SMS per month
- Enterprise USD 19/ month 50 paired devices · 5,000 SMS per month
Straight answers
Can I send to other countries with SharkSMS?
Your phone sends wherever its SIM plan allows, at whatever your plan charges for international texts. For heavy multi-country sending a route-based provider like BulkGate is built for that; SharkSMS is built for a business texting its own customers.
What does switching involve?
Export your contacts as CSV or Excel and import them into SharkSMS. Pair an Android phone by scanning a QR code, or link a WhatsApp account. Point your code at /api/send/sms with a form POST. Most teams are sending the same afternoon.
Do I keep my number?
You use the SIM's own number, so if the phone you pair is the one your customers already know, yes. There is no number to rent and nothing to port.
Try it on the free plan first
Pair one phone, send a real message to yourself, and compare against your current bill. It takes about five minutes.
Start free