Software Alternatives & Startups

Decodo VS VirtualSMS.io

Compare Decodo VS VirtualSMS.io and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Decodo logo Decodo

Decodo is perhaps the most user-friendly way to access local data anywhere. It has global coverage with 195 locations, offers more than 55M residential proxies worldwide and a great deal of scraping solutions.

VirtualSMS.io logo VirtualSMS.io

Real SIM cards for OTP verification — 145+ countries, 2500+ services (WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord). From $0.05/code. API + MCP server for developers and AI agents.
  • Decodo Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-08-26

Decodo has been a promising proxy provider since its first days in 2018. They offer a wide selection of proxies (residential, shared and private datacenter proxies) and three full-stack scraping APIs with 100% success rates and a no-code scraper. It has an easy-to-use dashboard, public API, and flexible payment methods. Being awarded for its consumer-centric approach, Decodo continues to look for ways to make public data gathering as simple and accessible to everyone as possible.

The key things Decodo offers for you:

  • 55M+ high-quality residential IPs with an average speed of <0.5 sec.

  • Global coverage – target 195+ locations, including cities and 50 US states.

  • Pay As You Go option - $3.5 per 1GB.

  • 500K+ shared and dedicated datacenter IPs.

  • Unlimited connections and threads.

  • Full anonymity and security.

  • Smart Wallet for easy payment management.

  • Fantastic 24/7 support with 40s average response time.

  • User-friendly dashboard with a quick and easy proxy setup.

  • Detailed documentation and an informative blog.

  • A bunch of free tools with any plan subscription.

  • Free trial for all products..

  • VirtualSMS.io Homepage — SMS verification with real SIM cards
    Homepage — SMS verification with real SIM cards //
    2026-05-16
  • VirtualSMS.io Real-SIM SMS verification for AI agents
    Real-SIM SMS verification for AI agents //
    2026-05-16
  • VirtualSMS.io Dashboard — buy a number, receive OTP in seconds
    Dashboard — buy a number, receive OTP in seconds //
    2026-05-16
  • VirtualSMS.io MCP server — for Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT
    MCP server — for Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT //
    2026-05-16
  • VirtualSMS.io Pricing — pay-per-use from $0.05/code
    Pricing — pay-per-use from $0.05/code //
    2026-05-16
  • VirtualSMS.io Developer docs — REST API + quickstart
    Developer docs — REST API + quickstart //
    2026-05-16

VirtualSMS is a developer-first SMS verification API that uses real SIM-backed phone numbers, not VoIP. Receive OTP codes for any service that sends SMS — built for signup testing, account verification, 2FA flows, and autonomous AI agent workflows.

Why VirtualSMS

  • Real SIM numbers work where VoIP fails. Most providers (5SIM, SMS-Activate, SMSPVA, Veritel, SMSPool) lean heavily on VoIP. Our numbers don't get rejected by WhatsApp Business, Telegram bot at scale, banking apps, or dating platforms.
  • Built-in MCP server for AI agents. Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, and any Model Context Protocol-compatible AI agent can handle phone verification autonomously. We're the only SMS verification API that ships with an MCP server out of the box.
  • x402 stablecoin payments. Auto-topup from any crypto wallet — Base, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism. No KYC friction for international developers.
  • Free public price endpoint. Query pricing for any service/country combo without an API key — verify the API works before signing up.

Core capabilities

  • 145+ countries and 2,500+ services (WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Gmail, Snapchat, Tinder, banking apps, e-commerce, gig platforms)
  • REST API with OpenAPI 3.1 spec, webhooks, WebSocket for real-time SMS delivery
  • Drop-in sms-activate-style compatibility at /stubs/handler_api.php — migrate by changing only the base URL
  • Pay-per-use from $0.05/code, no contracts, no minimum deposit, auto-refund on failed delivery
  • CORS enabled for browser-based AI agents and dev playgrounds
  • PHP SDK via composer require virtualsms/sdk; npm via npx -y virtualsms-mcp

Quick links

Free API key, instant, no credit card. Sign up at virtualsms.io.

VirtualSMS.io

$ Details
freemium $0.05 (Per OTP code, pay-per-use, no contracts.)
Platforms
REST API PHP
Release Date
2025 January

Decodo features and specs

  • Large Proxy Pool
    Smartproxy offers a vast pool of residential and data center proxies, which expands the choice and decreases the chance of IP bans.
  • User-friendly Dashboard
    The service provides an intuitive and easy-to-use dashboard, making it simple for users to manage their proxies and monitor usage.
  • High Anonymity
    Smartproxy ensures high levels of anonymity and privacy, useful for activities requiring discreetness like web scraping.
  • Global Coverage
    With proxies available in numerous locations worldwide, users can access geographically restricted content or conduct broad market research.
  • 24/7 Customer Support
    Their customer support is available around the clock, offering reliable and prompt assistance to users via live chat and email.
  • Flexible Pricing Plans
    Smartproxy provides a range of pricing plans catering to different needs and budgets, including pay-as-you-go options.

Possible disadvantages of Decodo

  • Higher Cost for Premium Plans
    While they do offer flexible pricing, the more advanced plans can be expensive, making them less accessible for smaller businesses or individual users.
  • Usage Limitations
    There are bandwidth limitations depending on the plan you choose, which can be restrictive for tasks requiring large data transfers.
  • Shared Proxies
    Some of the proxies are shared, which can potentially slow down connection speeds or lead to IP bans if other users abuse the service.
  • No Free Trials
    Smartproxy does not offer a free trial, which could deter potential customers who are unwilling to commit without trying the service first.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    Utilizing some of the more sophisticated functionalities might require a learning curve, especially for users not familiar with proxy services.

VirtualSMS.io features and specs

  • Countries Supported
    145+
  • Services Supported
    2,500+ (WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Gmail, social apps)
  • Number Type
    Real SIM cards (not VoIP)
  • MCP Server
    Yes (Model Context Protocol)
  • x402 Stablecoin Payments
    Yes (Base / Polygon / Arbitrum / Optimism)
  • Webhooks
    Yes (async event notifications)
  • OpenAPI Spec
    Yes (v1.1.0, machine-readable)
  • Auto-Refund
    Yes (on failed delivery)
  • Authentication
    API Key (X-API-Key header)
  • Public Price Endpoint
    Yes (no auth required)
  • CORS Enabled
    Yes (browser + AI agents)
  • Legacy Compatibility
    sms-activate-style at /stubs/handler_api.php
  • Response Format
    JSON

Analysis of Decodo

Overall verdict

  • Smartproxy is generally well-regarded in the proxy service industry. It is recommended for those who need reliable and efficient proxy solutions with a balance of cost and performance. However, like any service, it’s important for users to assess their specific needs and test the platform to ensure it meets their requirements.

Why this product is good

  • Smartproxy is considered a good proxy service provider due to its extensive network of residential IP addresses, competitive pricing, and high success rates for web scraping and bypassing geo-restrictions. The service offers user-friendly management tools and responsive customer support, making it suitable for both beginners and advanced users. Additionally, Smartproxy places a strong emphasis on security and privacy, which are crucial factors for many users.

Recommended for

  • Web scraping professionals
  • SEO specialists
  • Businesses looking to bypass geo-restrictions
  • Users concerned with online privacy and security
  • Data miners needing reliable residential proxies

Analysis of VirtualSMS.io

Overall verdict

  • VirtualSMS.io appears to be a functional virtual phone number and SMS verification service that offers a convenient way to receive text messages online, though as with many services in this category, users should verify its current reliability and reputation before committing.

Why this product is good

  • Provides temporary or virtual phone numbers for receiving SMS without using your personal number
  • Useful for protecting privacy when signing up for online services and apps
  • Typically supports one-time password (OTP) and verification code reception
  • Often offers numbers from multiple countries for regional flexibility
  • Can be a cost-effective alternative to buying physical SIM cards for verification

Recommended for

  • Users who want to protect their personal phone number when registering for online accounts
  • Businesses needing bulk SMS verification for testing or account creation
  • Developers testing SMS-based features and integrations
  • People who need a temporary number for one-time verifications
  • Privacy-conscious individuals avoiding spam on their primary number

Decodo videos

Residential rotating proxies. Why choose Smartproxy?

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Smartproxy review &amp; How to smartproxy
  • Review - Proxies for Scraping
  • Tutorial - How to Start Using Smartproxy
  • Review - Smartproxy Review 2023: Best Price To Value Proxies
  • Review - IPFighter| Review Smartproxy
  • Review - DECODO Review 2025 (Ex-Smartproxy) | Still the BEST Proxy?
  • Review - Decodo Review 2025 (former Smartproxy) | FULL Review of new features!

VirtualSMS.io videos

No VirtualSMS.io videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Decodo and VirtualSMS.io)
Proxy
100 100%
0% 0
Phone Number Verification
Residential Proxies
100 100%
0% 0
SMS
0 0%
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Decodo and VirtualSMS.io.

What makes your product unique?

VirtualSMS.io's answer:

VirtualSMS uses real SIM-backed phone numbers, not VoIP — so it works with services that reject VoIP (WhatsApp Business, Telegram bot at scale, banking apps, dating platforms). It's also the only SMS verification API that ships with an MCP server for AI agents and x402 stablecoin payment support — making it the first SMS API designed for both developers and autonomous AI agents.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

VirtualSMS.io's answer:

Three reasons:

  1. Real SIM numbers work where VoIP fails. Most competitors (5SIM, SMS-Activate, SMSPVA) lean heavily on VoIP. That gets blocked by services that matter — WhatsApp Business, banking apps, dating platforms. Our numbers don't.

  2. Built-in MCP server for AI agents. Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, and any MCP-compatible AI agent can handle phone verification autonomously through our MCP server. No other SMS API in this category ships with this.

  3. Pay-per-use, no contracts, no minimum deposit. From $0.05/code. Free API key. Public price endpoint lets you check pricing before signing up. Auto-refund on failed deliveries. x402 stablecoin payments for international developers who want to skip KYC.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

VirtualSMS.io's answer:

Developers building OTP-dependent workflows: signup testing, QA automation, account verification at scale, and onboarding flows.

Growing segment: AI agent builders using MCP-compatible tools (Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT) that need autonomous phone verification capability.

Also: teams migrating from legacy SMS verification providers that no longer meet their needs — either because their suppliers shut down or because their numbers are now blocked as VoIP.

What's the story behind your product?

VirtualSMS.io's answer:

VirtualSMS launched because every SMS verification API on the market was either VoIP-only — rejected by WhatsApp, banking apps, and most major services — or built around legacy plain-text protocols that modern AI agents couldn't use natively.

We started with a modern REST API and real-SIM-backed numbers. We added an MCP server from day one, making us the first SMS verification service designed for both developers and autonomous AI agents. x402 stablecoin payment support followed — removing KYC friction for international developers who'd been priced out of legacy providers.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

VirtualSMS.io's answer:

REST API over HTTPS with OpenAPI 3.1 specification

TypeScript MCP server (Model Context Protocol)

Mintlify-hosted developer documentation

x402 stablecoin payment protocol on Base / Polygon / Arbitrum / Optimism

WebSocket for real-time SMS delivery notifications

Webhook event notifications for async integration

sms-activate-style legacy compatibility endpoint (/stubs/handler_api.php) for drop-in migration

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

VirtualSMS.io's answer:

-AI agent platforms integrating our MCP server for autonomous phone verification

-E-commerce QA automation teams testing signup and checkout flows

-Crypto-native developer projects using x402 stablecoin payments

-Developers migrating from sms-activate-style legacy providers

User comments

Share your experience with using Decodo and VirtualSMS.io. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Decodo and VirtualSMS.io

Decodo Reviews

  1. Vladyslav
    · Backend Developer at KittenProperties ·
    Very good quality

    Residential proxy is quite good. High success rate with their proxies even though it is quite expensive

    Competitors: NetNut.io
    Cons:    Expensive
  2. CPAScraping
    · Working at CPA Scraping ·
    My Review of Smartproxy Service

    Smartproxy, in my experience, is a solid choice for heavy-duty web scraping tasks. Been using it for bulk data mining. Their proxy pool's massive – good for avoiding blocks and captchas. Speed's decent, uptime mostly consistent. Setup? Straightforward. But yeah, pricing's a bit on the higher side, especially for large-scale operations. Overall, Smartproxy delivers, especially for those heavy scraping needs.

    Pros:    Ip diversity|Quick data access|Minimal downtime|User-friendly interface:
    Cons:    Pricey|Some geo-restrictions.|Ometimes slow response.

Proxy Service Awards 2024
After all these years, we still can’t find a provider that combines mid-market rates, premium-grade performance, and newbie-friendly user experience as well as Smartproxy. You can get proxies that work effectively as well or better than enterprise providers, without investing thousands of dollars to reach their bulk rates. The plans start at single digits, but even then you...
Source: proxyway.com
OxyProxy vs. Smartproxy: A Detailed Comparison
Set of Services Provided by Smartproxy Service TypeDescriptionResidential ProxiesOffers IP addresses from real residential connections, ideal for high anonymity and avoiding blocks.Data Center ProxiesProvides faster speeds, suitable for tasks requiring high-speed connections.Rotating ProxiesAutomatically rotates IP addresses, enhancing anonymity and reducing the risk of...
Source: oxyproxy.pro
Top 10 Alternatives to Bright Data (formerly Luminati Proxy Networks)
The proxy pool is one of the cleanest as it is regularly being updated. Currently, it has over 5 million residential IP addresses sourced from many locations. As stated earlier, Soax is affordable even though its pricing model is the same with both Smartproxy and Bright Data – bandwidth-based. Just like Smartproxy, all you need to use the Soax service is a minimum of $75.
17 BEST Residential Proxies to Buy in 2022 (Cheap & Premium)
Smartproxy offers both residential and datacenter proxies, but their residential ones have the best features. Unlike most other residential proxy providers, Smartproxy focuses solely on providing the best residential IPs to businesses.
Source: earthweb.com
10 Best Free Online Proxy Server List of 2022 [VERIFIED]
Smartproxy offers a residential proxy network with 40M+ IPs. It offers the solutions of data center proxies, search engine proxies, etc. Chrome proxy extension will help you with accessing the localized content. Proxy address generator provides the facility of exporting the proxy list for any software.

VirtualSMS.io Reviews

We have no reviews of VirtualSMS.io yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Decodo seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 6 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Decodo mentions (6)

  • Best Amazon Scraper APIs To Check Out in 2024
    Smarproxy is another proxy provider that offers a dedicated section for scraping e-commerce platforms including Amazon. Their Amazon API is known for its speed and quality and can be used just with a simple POST request. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Basic Web Browser with Electron +APIS
    Smartproxy: Offers residential proxies with support for HTTP(S) and SOCKS5. It is known for its high success rate and 24/7 technical support. Smartproxy provides a balance between price and performance, making it accessible to less experienced users (Smartproxy). - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Cheap Residential Proxy: Affordable and Reliable Proxy Service for Anonymous Browsing
    For instance, imagine you are conducting market research and need to scrape data from various websites for analysis. By using a residential proxy service like anyip.io or Smart Proxy, you can ensure that your scraping activities are secure and undetectable while maintaining anonymity. Additionally, these services effortlessly handle throttling of threads and swiftly manage captchas. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Proxy for Instagram: What is It and How to Get It?
    Smartproxy Rotating residential IPs for multi-accounting. Large rotating residential proxy pool, 195+ countries, no subnets, an easy setup process. The IPs are from both desktop and mobile devices. Different tools for IG automation and affordable price plans ($75/5 GB ($15/GB). However the residential IPs are still P2P, so you have sticky sessions up to 30 min and then proxies rotate. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • Smartproxy Review
    Smartproxy is one of the latest rotating residential proxy services to hit the market. Smartproxy offers its users immense features and functionality at affordable rates. If you’re looking for a long-term proxy service to stick to, it’s worth looking at Smartproxy’s unique offerings. - Source: dev.to / about 5 years ago
View more

VirtualSMS.io mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of VirtualSMS.io yet. Tracking of VirtualSMS.io recommendations started around May 2026.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Decodo and VirtualSMS.io, you can also consider the following products

Bright Data - World's largest proxy service with a residential proxy network of 72M IPs worldwide and proxy management interface for zero coding.

Grizzly SMS - Grizzly SMS offers to get temporary phone numbers for OTP from any popular service. Here you can get a virtual mobile number for SMS verification of any country in the world. ✅ Legal service. ✅ Best price

Oxylabs - A web intelligence collection platform and premium proxy provider, enabling companies of all sizes to utilize the power of big data.

SMSCode.gg - Buy virtual numbers to receive SMS online for OTP verification. Temporary phone numbers with real SIM, fast activation, 100+ countries. A reliable sms-activate alternative.

IPRoyal - At IPRoyal, we offer premium proxy servers, including residential, datacenter, ISP, and mobile proxies.

SMS-Activate.guru - SMS-Activate is a service for sale and rent of virtual numbers of more than 180 countries. We provide virtual numbers in most countries of the world so that you can use them to receive an SMS with a confirmation code online.