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IRIS
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One-shot SMS by API, on prepaid credits

Sometimes a message just needs to go out — no escalation chain, no acknowledgement, no on-call rota. The IRIS SMS-sending API delivers a single SMS with a single REST call, secured by a dedicated key and a fail-closed destination allowlist, and you only ever pay for what is actually sent.

Start free — 1,000 creditsView the API
POST /api/v1/sms/send
curl https://api.my-iris.io/api/v1/sms/send \
  -H "X-Direct-Send-Key: $IRIS_SEND_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": "+358400000000",
    "message": "Door sensor #7: low battery"
  }'
One send, one message — no escalation started.

Know which tool you need

Notification, not escalation

The direct-send API is deliberately non-escalating. If nobody needs to acknowledge and nothing must be chased, this is the lighter, cheaper tool. The moment a message becomes critical — someone must act, and you must prove it — useIRIS alert management instead: same platform, same credits, full escalation engine.

SMS-sending API
  • One-shot: send and done
  • No acknowledgement tracking
  • Prepaid credits, no subscription
Alert Management (SMS + Voice)
  • Escalates up to ~20 rounds until someone acts
  • Two-way acknowledgement + audit trail
  • Per-user plans with bundled credits

Small surface, hard guarantees

One call, one message

POST /api/v1/sms/send delivers a single SMS to a single recipient. No rounds, no state machine, no acknowledgement tracking.

Dedicated API key

Direct sends authenticate with their own X-Direct-Send-Key — separate from your alert-ingestion key, rotatable on its own.

Destination allowlist, fail-closed

Every tenant has a destination allowlist. A number that is not explicitly approved is never dialed — the send is rejected, not queued.

Event-frequency filtering

A per-recipient hourly cap stops message storms — 100 an hour by default, tunable per workspace. Overflow folds into a digest, and suppressed messages are never charged.

Only sent messages are charged

Sends rejected by the allowlist, the frequency cap or validation never debit your credits. A digest SMS that does go out charges as one message.

One credit ledger

Direct sends draw from the same per-tenant credit balance as your alerts (1 credit = €0.01), itemised separately on your usage report.

How you pay

Prepaid credits — nothing recurring

Buy credits in advance and spend them per message at the SMS rate (1 credit = €0.01). No subscription, no seat fee, no minimum term — a workspace that only sends one-shot SMS never pays a recurring fee.

  • €50
    5,000 credits
  • €200
    20,000 credits
  • €500
    50,000 credits
Credits expire 12 months after purchase Prefer an invoice? Credit purchases can be invoiced and settled by bank transfer Only messages actually sent are charged

Direct sends run on Cloudflare’s EU edge with the same audit logging as the rest of IRIS. A recipient who replies STOP — in any of 7 languages — is unsubscribed and removed from your destination list automatically.

Compliance details

SMS-sending API — frequently asked

How is the SMS-sending API different from IRIS alert management?

Alert management is stateful: an alert escalates through an on-call chain, tracks acknowledgements and writes an audit trail. The SMS-sending API is one-shot: one call sends one message and that is the end of it — no escalation, no reply tracking. Use it for notifications that inform rather than alarms that must be acted on.

How do I pay for it?

Prepaid credits only. You buy credits in advance — credit packs, or an invoiced credit purchase settled by bank transfer — and each sent message consumes credits at the SMS rate. There is no subscription, no seat fee and no minimum term; a workspace that only uses the direct-send API never pays a recurring fee.

What happens to messages suppressed by the frequency filter?

They are never charged. The per-recipient hourly cap folds overflow into a digest SMS summarising what was withheld; only the messages actually handed to the carrier — including a digest that does go out — consume credits. A suppressed message is not re-sent automatically, so a caller that needs one delivered should retry once the hour rolls over.

Can anyone with the key send to any number?

No. Sends are checked against your tenant's destination allowlist, and the check fails closed: a number that has not been approved is rejected before anything is dispatched. The X-Direct-Send-Key is also separate from your alert API key, so exposure of one never grants the other.

Send your first message on trial credits

1,000 free credits, no credit card — the same balance works for direct sends and alerts. Verify your email and admin mobile to spin up a workspace.

Start free — 1,000 creditsSee payment models