Phone number verification: what does it cost?
Verifying a phone number costs a few cents per attempt with an SMS code, but the list price is only part of the bill. This guide compares the list prices of common providers, shows the costs that are not in them and how to work out what one verified number costs you.
- List prices compared
- Costs outside the list price
- Working out your own cost
Christian Schätzlein, Founder and developer of Sendity
3 min read
One verified number, list price
Germany, as of 2 Nov 2026, excl. VAT, without failed attempts
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Twilio Verify SMS: $0.05 per success + $0.112 per SMS $0.162
Every resend adds another SMS.
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otp.dev SMS: $0.0825 per SMS sent from $0.0825
Billed per message, whether the code is entered or not.
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otp.dev WhatsApp: $0.0616 per message + $28/month from $0.0616
Outgoing WhatsApp code, plus a monthly fee.
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phone-verif Reverse OTP via WhatsApp: €0.01 per success €0.01
Cheaper than Sendity, WhatsApp only.
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Sendity Reverse OTP: €0.02 per verified number €0.02
Failed attempts are free. Email addresses €0.005.
Sign-ups by message. No form, no code.
Sendity is a sign-up widget for your website. Instead of filling in a form, your visitors send one short message via WhatsApp or email. Sendity checks who it came from and hands your site the name and the confirmed phone number or email address.
See how Sendity works →-
One message instead of a form Visitors tap send in WhatsApp or their email app. Nothing to type, no confirmation email to click.
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Confirmed by the message itself The contact comes from the sender of the message, so typos and made-up addresses never reach your list.
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Pay per confirmed contact Start with 1,000 free credits, no credit card. After that, prepaid packages with no subscription.
Providers bill either every message they send or every number that is verified. That difference decides more than the price per unit.
Per message or per success
With an outgoing SMS code you pay for every SMS, including resends and codes nobody enters. Twilio Verify charges a fee per successful verification on top of the SMS price.
Costs outside the list price
Resends after a delay, typos in the number, bots that pump SMS to expensive ranges, and the time spent on fraud rules and country blocks. For outgoing WhatsApp codes, Meta also requires a verified business and an approved template.
Reverse OTP
Here the user sends the code, so you send nothing and pay per verified contact. Failed attempts cost nothing, and there is nothing a bot could pump.
Price is not everything
phone-verif is cheaper than Sendity but only does WhatsApp. Sendity adds email verification in the same widget, campaigns and self-hosting. Contiguity offers reverse OTP without publishing a price.
Working out your cost.
Three numbers from your own logs are enough.
Messages sent
All SMS codes in a month, including resends.
Numbers verified
How many of them ended with a correctly entered code.
Divide
Total SMS cost divided by verified numbers is your real price per number. Compare that, not the list price.
SMS code provider or reverse OTP?
How the bill comes about.
| Aspect | SMS code provider | With Sendity |
|---|---|---|
| Billed per | SMS sent, sometimes plus success fee | Verified contact |
| Failed attempts | Billed | Free |
| Pumping risk | Yes, needs protection | None: you send nothing |
| Email verification | Separate service | Same widget, €0.005 per address |
List prices for Germany, retrieved on 2 November 2026, in the original currency and excluding VAT, from the pricing pages of Twilio Verify, Twilio SMS Germany, otp.dev and phone-verif. Sendity: smallest package (€50 for 10,000 credits); larger packages include bonus credits. Prices change, we review this comparison every quarter.
What paying per success changes.
The bill follows your verified contacts, not your traffic.
Only success costs
Abandoned attempts and resends are free.
No surprise bills
Without outgoing messages, a bot attack cannot run up your costs.
Prepaid, no subscription
Credits do not expire and work for all campaigns.
Live on your page in minutes.
Sendity runs as a compact widget on your page. Pick the path that fits your website.
Verification cost: common questions.
Why is phone-verif cheaper?
It focuses on WhatsApp alone. If that is all you need, it is a fair choice. Sendity costs more and also covers email, campaigns and self-hosting.
Does a low volume change the picture?
With a few hundred verifications a month, price differences stay small. Then the pumping risk and the effort of building and protecting the flow matter more.
Are there other fees with Sendity?
You pay for credits, nothing else. Unused credits do not expire.
What about SMS when users have no WhatsApp?
If you allow the SMS fallback, the user sends the code by SMS from their own phone and pays their usual rate. For you it costs the same as WhatsApp.
Keep reading.
Reviewed for accuracy in by Christian Schätzlein.
Pay per verified number, not per SMS.
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