BulkSMS Nigeria: Affordable SMS Platform Development
Emmanuel Olumide
📱 BulkSMS Nigeria
Nigeria's affordable bulk SMS service
The Story
Every Nigerian business needs to reach its customers.
Whether it's a boutique announcing a sale, a school sending exam reminders, or a church sharing event updates; SMS works where the internet doesn't. But the existing bulk SMS platforms charge too much, have clunky interfaces, or lock you into monthly subscriptions.
BulkSMS Nigeria was built to fix that. One simple mission: the cheapest rates, the best experience, zero nonsense.
Pay only for what you send. No monthly fees. No hidden charges. No bloated interfaces. Just a clean, fast way to reach your audience.
Features
✉️ Core SMS
Feature Why It Matters Send to any Nigerian network MTN, Glo, Airtel, 9mobile — one platform covers all Bulk sending Paste hundreds of numbers, or import from CSV Contact groups Organize audiences, send to thousands in one click Delivery reports Know exactly what reached and what didn't Custom sender IDs Your brand name shows as the sender (AT approved)
💰 Pricing & Payments
₦6.99/SMS — flat rate, no tiers, no minimum
Paystack — Card, bank transfer, USSD
Flutterwave — Card, bank transfer, USSD
Bank Transfer — Direct deposit, receipt upload, admin approval
Pay-as-you-go — Buy credits when you need them, they never expire
🔐 Security
20-minute idle auto-logout
Session-based authentication
CSRF protection
Admin approval for bank transfers and sender IDs
Screenshots
Landing Dashboard Send SMS Gradient hero, feature cards, pricing section Wallet balance, quick actions, recent activity Sender ID, recipients, cost calculator
Login Register History Clean card with gradient accent Quick sign-up in seconds Full message log with status
Tech Stack
Layer Technology Backend Django 6.0, Django REST Framework Frontend Django Templates, Tailwind CSS v3, HTMX Database PostgreSQL (Neon) SMS Provider Africa's Talking (API) Payments Paystack API, Flutterwave API Email SendGrid (SMTP) Hosting Render (free tier) Image Storage Local filesystem (ephemeral — needs Cloudinary)
Getting Started
Prerequisites
Python 3.12+
PostgreSQL (or Neon connection string)
Africa's Talking API key (get one free)
1. Clone & Setup
2. Configure Environment
Copy
.env.example to .env and fill in your values:Variable What to put
SECRET_KEY Django secret key (generate at djecrety.ir) DATABASE_URL Your Neon/PostgreSQL connection string AT_API_KEY Your Africa's Talking API key AT_USERNAME Your Africa's Talking username (sandbox for testing) SMS_PRICE_PER_UNIT 6.99 MINIMUM_TOPUP 5003. Run
Visit
http://localhost:8000 and you're live.Deployment
Render (Backend)
Push this repo to GitHub
Go to Render Dashboard → New + → Web Service
Connect your repo and use these settings:
Setting Value Build Command
./build.sh Start Command gunicorn config.wsgi --bind 0.0.0.0:$PORT --workers 2 Runtime Python 3Add all your environment variables in the Render dashboard
Click Create Web Service
Keep Alive (Free Tier)
Render free tier spins down after 15 minutes idle. Set up a cron-job.org ping:
URL:
https://your-app.onrender.com/Schedule: Every 10 minutes (
*/10 * * * *)Project Structure
Roadmap
Cloud image storage (Cloudinary) — persistent receipt uploads
Paystack/Flutterwave live keys — enable card payments
SendGrid API key — delivery reports via email
Scheduled SMS — send messages at a future date
Bulk CSV upload — full contact import from spreadsheet
API for developers — REST API for third-party integrations
The Numbers
Metric Value Price per SMS ₦6.99 Minimum top-up ₦500 SMS credits for ₦500 ~71 SMS AT charges us ₦5.00/SMS Our margin ₦1.99/SMS
Why Open Source?
We believe communication should be accessible. By open-sourcing BulkSMS Nigeria, we're inviting developers to audit, improve, and adapt this platform for their own communities. Fork it, deploy it, make it yours.
License
MIT — do what you want with it. Build something awesome.
Built with ❤️ for Nigerian businesses.
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Posted Jul 3, 2026
Built BulkSMS Nigeria, an affordable and efficient SMS service.
