SMS8 – SMS Gateway for WooCommerce, Order Notifications, OTP Login & 2FA via Android

Description

SMS8 turns your Android phone into a free SMS gateway for WordPress and WooCommerce. Send WooCommerce order SMS notifications, OTP login codes, two-factor authentication messages and bulk SMS straight from your own SIM card — no Twilio, no Vonage, no Plivo, no per-message fees, no US A2P 10DLC paperwork. Pair an Android device with your SMS8 account, paste your API key into the plugin, and your WordPress site starts texting customers in minutes.

Built for WooCommerce stores tired of getting nickel-and-dimed by CPaaS providers, OTP-driven membership sites that don’t want to pay per verification, and any WordPress install that just wants reliable SMS without subscribing to a third gateway. Full project home and documentation at sms8.io.

Features

• SMS gateway for WordPress — send through your real mobile number with no per-SMS fees. SMS8 starts at $29/month for unlimited messages through one device.
• WooCommerce SMS notifications for every order status — Pending, Processing, On hold, Completed, Cancelled, Refunded, Failed — each with its own toggle and message template. Placeholders for customer name, order ID, total, tracking number, payment method and more.
• Admin order SMS alerts — text the store owner whenever a new order lands, with a separate template.
• OTP login shortcode — drop [sms8_otp] on any page to render a two-step phone verification form. Works with membership plugins, custom registration flows, account-recovery pages.
• Two-factor authentication (2FA) helper — SMS8_API::send_otp() and verify_otp() for your own login hooks, including BuddyPress, WP Members, and custom theme registration.
• Bulk SMS from custom code — do_action('sms8_send_sms', '+14155550101', 'Hi') from any theme, MU-plugin or cron job.
• Device & SIM picker — pull the list of your paired Android phones with one click and pin a specific device or SIM slot for sends.
• Setup wizard — 3-step onboarding on activation: Connect, pick device, send a test SMS.
• One-click Connect — popup OAuth-style flow grabs your API key from SMS8 automatically. No copy-paste.
• Send log — last 100 attempts with status, error, source, and timestamp. Auto-pruned per retention setting.
• HPOS-compatible — full support for WooCommerce High-Performance Order Storage.
• Translations included — English, French, Spanish, Arabic (RTL).
• No tracking, no analytics, no phone home. GPLv2. The plugin only talks to the SMS8 API endpoint you configured.

Why pick SMS8 over Twilio / Vonage / Plivo?

Twilio, Vonage, MessageBird and Plivo charge $0.0075 to $0.04 per SMS in the US, require A2P 10DLC registration paperwork, and route your messages as third-party A2P traffic. Recipients see a short code or random number they don’t recognise — and reply rates collapse.

SMS8 routes through a real Android phone you own. The message arrives from your real local number. Recipients reply directly to you, not to a 5-digit short code that disappears next quarter. And it costs $29/month flat for unlimited SMS, not $300/month at any meaningful volume. Full pricing and pricing calculator on sms8.io.

How does it work?

1. Install the free SMS8 Android app from sms8.io/sms-gateway-apk-android, sign in with your SMS8 account, scan the QR on app.sms8.io/devices.php to pair the phone.
2. Install this WordPress plugin, click Connect with SMS8 in the setup wizard — a popup signs you in and auto-fills your API key.
3. Configure WooCommerce templates per order status, or just turn on Processing + Completed defaults and you’re done.
4. When a WooCommerce order triggers a status change, the plugin POSTs to app.sms8.io with Authorization: Bearer <api_key>, SMS8 queues the message, your paired Android polls SMS8, sends the SMS, and reports back.

The whole round-trip is typically under 4 seconds. Plugin requests use a 10-second timeout — checkout will never block longer than that even if the SMS8 API is slow.

WooCommerce SMS notification templates

Every WooCommerce order status has its own message template with these placeholders:

• {first_name} {last_name} {full_name} {customer_name}
• {order_id} {order_total} {order_currency} {order_status}
• {tracking_number} (works with most shipment-tracking plugins)
• {site_name} {site_url} {payment_method}

Send SMS from your own code

Use the sms8_send_sms action from any plugin or theme. Example: send the admin an SMS when a new user registers.

add_action('user_register', function ($user_id) {
    $user = get_userdata($user_id);
    do_action('sms8_send_sms', get_option('admin_phone'), "New signup: {$user->user_email}");
});

OTP login and 2FA shortcode

The [sms8_otp] shortcode renders a self-contained two-step form: phone field, “Send code” button, code field, “Verify” button. On successful verification it fires do_action('sms8_phone_verified', $phone) so any membership plugin or theme can mark the phone verified. Optional redirect="/my-account" attribute sends the user somewhere after verification.

Legal and compliance

The plugin sends SMS through your real mobile number via P2P (person-to-person) messaging. In the US this is exempt from A2P 10DLC registration requirements that apply to bulk SMS providers. You still need to comply with TCPA: get explicit opt-in from recipients for marketing messages, honor STOP keywords, and never send between 9pm and 8am local time. Outside the US, check your local regulator’s text-marketing rules.

About SMS8

SMS8 is an Android-phone-based SMS gateway service running since 2024, used by hundreds of e-commerce stores, agencies and SaaS apps to send SMS without CPaaS fees. Marketing site, blog and pricing at sms8.io. REST API documentation at sms8.io/sms-api-documentation. Get the Android gateway app at sms8.io/sms-gateway-apk-android.