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Short Message Service:What is Alibaba Cloud SMS?

Last Updated:Sep 24, 2025

Short Message Service (SMS) is a cloud-based SMS platform accessible via standard HTTP APIs, enabling message delivery to over 200 countries and regions. It supports three types of messages: verification codes, notifications, and marketing.

Use cases

Use case

Description

Verification codes

Send messages that contain verification codes to mobile numbers. You can use variables to customize messages.

This service is typically used for verifying new users during registration, securing accounts against unauthorized access from new locations, authenticating password resets and high-risk actions, authorizing payments and transactions, binding accounts to phone numbers, and logon without passwords.

Notifications

Send notifications to mobile numbers. You can use variables to customize messages.

This service is typically used to send system-level messages, such as notifying users of system upgrades, confirming service activations, providing pricing or shipping updates, and verifying payments and transactions.

Promotional messages

Send messages that contain promotional content to mobile numbers.

This service is typically used to engage users with targeted campaigns, including sales, business advertising, new product launches, and member-only offers. It helps increase product exposure and raise brand awareness.

Benefits

  • Global coverage: Deliver messages to over 200 countries and regions.

  • Fast and stable: Provide real-time performance monitoring and carrier-grade O&M, ensuring messages are delivered in seconds worldwide.

  • Easy integration: Enable seamless integration with APIs and multi-language SDKs to save development time and costs.

  • High concurrency: Manage high traffic during peak hours using efficient scheduling algorithms.

  • Intelligent channel scheduling: Obtain real-time data from carriers and regulatory authorities to verify mobile number registered locations and account for Mobile Number Portability (MNP), enabling intelligent multi-channel scheduling with one-second route switching to ensure a high delivery rate.

  • Message queue management: Use queues for peak-load shifting to reduce system pressure during peak hours.

  • Automatic content classification: Use AI-powered content moderation to automatically review and classify message content, enabling fine-grained control based on business type and industry.

  • Message withholding prevention: Collaborate with carriers on end-to-end audits, ensuring messages reach their intended recipients. We also provide complete sending logs for reconciliation and data analytics.

Features

Feature

Description

Channel Management

Centrally manage the channel instances and resource configurations used for sending messages.

Go Globe

Send messages to mobile numbers worldwide using APIs, SDKs, or the console.

  • Developer Guide: Introduce how to use APIs to send messages to regions outside the Chinese mainland.

  • SMS Campaign: Create scheduled tasks to send a notification or promotional message in batches.

  • SenderID: Register a sender ID, which can be configured when using the latest API to send messages. For details, see Register a sender ID.

Go China

Send messages to mobile numbers in the Chinese mainland using APIs, SDKs, or the console. 

Important

Due to carrier policy restrictions, we are currently unable to activate the Go China feature for new applicants. For existing users, all signatures used for messaging to the Chinese mainland must undergo real-name verification. Unregistered signatures are at risk of being forcibly deactivated, causing service disruptions.

Detailed instructions on the verification requirements and procedures have been sent to Message Center and your email address. To ensure uninterrupted service, complete the verification process at your earliest convenience.

  • Signatures: Create SMS signatures for review and approval.

  • Templates: Create templates for verification code and notification messages.

  • Broadcast: Create scheduled tasks to send verification codes or notifications in batches.

Analytics

Help you track message sending details in the console.

  • View details of message sending tasks and data trends.

  • Query message sending records by delivery date, mobile number, destination, and delivery status.

  • View monthly bills, including standard and package fees, to quickly understand your spending.

  • Query SMS logs in real time and analyze log data. This feature is disabled by default.

System Settings

Provide API reference for development and configure general settings, including sending limits, balance alerts, delivery frequency limits, contact information, and default validity period.

Quick start

Send your first test message in five minutes using either the console or APIs.

References

Category

Details

Developer Guide

User Guide

Billing

  • Billing: Detailed billing rules and prices.

Troubleshooting

  • FAQ: Frequently asked questions and solutions.

  • Error codes: Error codes for delivery failures.