Receive SMS Online Pricing: Credits & Billing Explained
Receive SMS Online credits on HeroSMS CC: pricing, deductions, and refund basics. Learn how virtual phone numbers impact OTP verification success rates.
HeroSMS CC uses a credits model to keep pricing simple across different countries/regions and services. This page explains how credits are charged, what affects cost, and how to pick a plan with fewer retries.
Note: Availability and delivery speed can vary by service and country/region due to upstream routing. Always rely on the live list and current prices in your dashboard.
How credits work (the simple model)
At a high level:
- You top up credits
- You select a service and country/region
- You apply for a temporary virtual phone number
- When an SMS arrives, you use the OTP and complete verification
Start here:
What affects the credit cost?
The credit cost depends on real-world constraints, including:
- Service and region demand: popular platforms and certain regions cost more
- Upstream routing and carrier availability: limited inventory can increase price and decrease success rate
- Timing and retries: repeated attempts may lead to throttling, which increases total cost even if the per-number price is stable
Practical takeaway: for critical flows, prioritize combinations with stable availability even if the unit price is slightly higher.
Billing rules and common misconceptions
- Credits are not “per message” in a vacuum: orders are tied to a specific service and region, and the order lifecycle matters.
- Success rate is part of cost: a cheaper region with frequent failures often costs more overall.
- Re-tries can trigger platform throttling: rapid OTP requests may be blocked; spacing retries reduces both failures and wasted credits.
How to choose a plan (for individuals, teams, and developers)
Pick based on your usage pattern:
- One-off verification: start small, test one region, then scale if it works.
- Multi-step onboarding (multiple OTPs): budget extra time and credits; some platforms re-verify on login or device change.
- Team/automation scenarios: prefer predictable regions and build retry logic (timeouts, backoff) instead of hammering requests.
If you plan to automate in a compliant way, see: API Integration
Compliance and responsible use
HeroSMS CC is intended for legitimate, compliant use cases (privacy protection, QA testing, regional compatibility checks, and approved automation). You must comply with applicable laws and platform rules.
- Terms: Terms of Service
- Privacy: Privacy Policy