Help centre
How can we help?
Short answers to the questions we get most. If yours is not here, email us.
Getting started
How do I create an account?
Go to the sign-up page, enter your name, email and a password, and your account is created. You can look around the dashboard straight away — you only need credits when you are ready to send.
I forgot my password. How do I get back in?
Use the forgot-password link on the sign-in page. Enter the email address on your account and we will send you a reset link. The link is single-use and expires, so request a fresh one if it has been sitting in your inbox a while.
What do I need before I can send my first message?
Three things: SMS credits in your wallet, at least one recipient number, and a sender ID to send from. If you have not set up your own sender ID yet, your message goes out on the platform default.
Credits and payment
How do I buy SMS credits?
Open Top up in your dashboard, choose a credit package or enter an amount, and pay. Your balance updates once the payment is confirmed.
How do I pay?
Card and mobile money payments are handled by Paystack. Your card details are entered on Paystack’s own payment page and are never stored by FastSMSOnline.
Do my credits expire?
No. Credits stay in your wallet until you use them.
Where can I see what I have spent?
Your Transactions page lists every top-up and every deduction, with the balance before and after each one.
Can I get a refund on unused credits?
Email us and we will look at it case by case. Credits already spent on messages that were accepted by the network cannot be refunded.
Sender IDs
What is a sender ID?
It is the name that appears where a phone number normally would when your message arrives — your business name instead of a string of digits. Recipients are far more likely to read a message from a name they recognise.
How do I get one?
Request it from the Sender IDs page in your dashboard. Requests are reviewed before they go live, because networks require sender names to be registered and to genuinely represent the sender.
What can a sender ID look like?
Up to 11 characters — letters, digits and spaces. Pick something recognisable and short. Capitalisation is preserved exactly as you register it, so BrightCo and BRIGHTCO are different sender IDs.
What happens while my sender ID is being reviewed?
You can still send. Messages go out on the platform default sender ID until yours is approved.
Sending messages
How do I send to a lot of people at once?
Write your message in the composer, pick a contact group or paste your numbers, and send. Large sends are queued and processed in the background, so you can close the page and check the result later.
Can I schedule a message for later?
Yes. Set a date and time in the composer and the message sits on your Scheduled page until then. A scheduled message that targets a group resolves that group at send time, so contacts you add in the meantime are included.
How long can a message be?
A single SMS holds 160 standard characters. Longer messages still arrive as one message on the handset, but they are billed per part — see the guide on message length for how that works.
Can I manage contacts in groups?
Yes. Your Contacts page holds your address book, and you can organise contacts into groups so you can send to a whole set by name instead of picking numbers each time.
Delivery and reports
What is the difference between sent and delivered?
Sent means the network accepted your message. Delivered means the handset confirmed it arrived. They are genuinely different, and the gap between them is where switched-off phones and invalid numbers live.
Why did a message fail?
Most commonly the number is not in service, is not a mobile number, or was typed wrong. Delivery reports show the status for each recipient so you can find the specific numbers that did not work.
How long do delivery reports take?
Statuses update as the networks report back. A message can sit in a pending state for a while before it resolves — that is normal, particularly if the handset is switched off.
Account and referrals
How do I change my name, email or password?
All three are on your Profile page in the dashboard.
Is there a referral programme?
Yes. The Affiliate section of your dashboard gives you a referral link and tracks commission earned on people who sign up through it.
Can more than one person use our account?
An account is a single sign-in today. If your team needs separate logins, email us and tell us how you would want it to work.
Still stuck?
Email us with your account email address and what you were trying to do. If it is about a specific message, the date and the recipient number help us find it quickly.
Contact supportReady to start sending?
Create your account and send your first message today.