Overview

VirtualSMS is an SMS-verification provider backed by real, physical SIM cards in Europe. The API gives you on-demand virtual phone numbers across 145+ countries to receive SMS verification codes for 700+ services (WhatsApp, Telegram, Google, Facebook, Tinder, Instagram, exchanges, marketplaces, dating apps, and more). Numbers are non-VoIP, you pay only when an SMS arrives, and rentals can be cancelled for a refund if no message is received.

With Pipedream you can wire VirtualSMS into any of 3,000+ apps to automate verification flows that previously required a human to copy a code by hand.

Example Use Cases

• Headless account creation pipeline. A workflow rents a number for the target service, posts the number to your signup automation, and the New SMS Received trigger forwards the verification code back the moment it arrives — no polling code on your side.
• Multi-region testing. Rent UK / Poland / Germany / Czech numbers in parallel from a Pipedream loop, capture the SMS each provider delivers, and write the latency + success matrix to Google Sheets or a database.
• Low-balance Slack alerts. Run Get Balance on a daily schedule and post to Slack when balance falls below your reorder threshold so a verification campaign never stalls mid-batch.
• Refund unused rentals. When a downstream signup flow detects an account creation failure, branch into Cancel Rental to release the number and refund the unused balance automatically.

Getting Started

1. Sign in at virtualsms.io and open Settings → API Keys.
2. Create a key (we recommend naming it Pipedream for easy identification) and copy it.
3. In Pipedream, when prompted by any VirtualSMS action or trigger, paste the key into the API Key field of the connected account dialog.
4. Top up your balance from the dashboard before renting numbers — the Rent Number action will return a 402 if you're under the per-rental price.

Troubleshooting

VirtualSMS uses standard HTTP status codes:

• 401 Unauthorized — your API key is missing, mistyped, or revoked. Re-create the key in the dashboard and reconnect the account.
• 402 Payment Required — insufficient balance. Top up at virtualsms.io and retry.
• 404 Not Found — the order ID does not belong to your account, or the requested service / country combination is currently out of stock.
• 429 Too Many Requests — you've exceeded the per-key rate limit (60 req/min). Throttle the workflow or use Pipedream's concurrency controls.
• 5xx — VirtualSMS server-side issue; retry with backoff. Pipedream surfaces the upstream status code so you can branch on it.