How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Best SMS fraud detection software at a glance
Twilio Verify is the top pick for most teams, because it combines managed OTP verification with Fraud Guard protection against SMS pumping at a published price of 0.05 dollars per successful verification. Vonage Verify is the best alternative, because it includes Fraud Defender Advanced at no extra cost and charges only for successful verifications.
- SMS pumping, also called artificially inflated traffic or AIT, is the most expensive SMS fraud type, because bots trigger OTP messages to numbers the attacker controls and pockets the termination fees.
- Most tools in this guide are quote-only or usage-based, so the real comparison is cost per verified user, not cost per message.
- Twilio Verify and Vonage Verify publish per-verification prices, while Telesign, Sinch, Infobip, BICS, GMS, and Mitto need a sales quote for exact rates.
- BICS and GMS sell mainly to mobile operators, so app teams should start with the verification APIs and use the operator tools when they run a network.
What is SMS fraud, and which types should you stop first?
SMS fraud covers three problems that share one goal, which is to turn your messaging spend into someone else's revenue. SMS pumping, or artificially inflated traffic (AIT), uses bots to trigger large numbers of one-time passcode requests to phone numbers on a network where the attacker shares in the termination fee. OTP and verification fraud covers fake signups, account takeover attempts, and brute-force guessing of codes. Smishing uses text messages that pretend to be from a bank, delivery company, or your own brand to steal credentials or money from your customers.
Stop SMS pumping first, because it hits your bill directly and can run for hours before anyone notices. Then tighten OTP verification, because fake accounts and account takeovers damage trust and create support costs. Smishing protection matters most if your brand is impersonated.
How does SMS pumping fraud work, and what does it cost?
SMS pumping works by abusing a public endpoint, usually a signup or login form that sends a one-time passcode by SMS. Bots submit thousands of requests using phone numbers on a specific mobile network, often in a narrow range of prefixes. The attacker, or a partner, shares in the termination fee the carrier charges for each message. The code is never used, because the send itself is the payout.
The cost scales fast. Infobip reports that AIT accounts for 5 percent to 40 percent of all international A2P SMS traffic in some regions, and that businesses lost an estimated 1.6 billion dollars to it in 2023. A single night of pumping can add thousands of dollars to a messaging bill. The warning signs are a sudden spike in OTP requests, a low ratio of completed verifications to sent codes, and traffic concentrated in a few country prefixes you do not serve.
How much does SMS fraud detection software cost?
SMS fraud detection software costs from about 0.05 dollars per successful verification for a published verification API to custom annual contracts for operator-grade firewalls. Twilio Verify charges 0.05 dollars per successful verification plus channel fees, which is 0.0083 dollars per SMS in the United States. Vonage Verify charges 0.06084 dollars per successful verification under its Verify Conversion model, plus messaging rates. Telesign, Sinch, Infobip, BICS, GMS, and Mitto do not publish a standard verification rate, so buyers need a quote based on volume, destinations, and channels.
A worked example shows why the fraud layer matters more than the message price. Take 10,000 SMS pumping attempts sent to a pumped international route at 0.10 dollars per message. Without protection, those attempts cost 1,000 dollars in channel fees, and the codes are never used. At 0.50 dollars per message on a high-cost route, the same 10,000 attempts cost 5,000 dollars. On Twilio Verify, the 0.05 dollar verification fee applies only to successful verifications, so blocked pumping attempts cost only the channel fee. On Vonage Verify, Fraud Defender Advanced is included at no extra cost, and fraudulent traffic is covered in full.
What should you check before you buy SMS fraud detection software?
You should check four things before you sign, because the wrong tool either blocks real users or lets pumping through. First, confirm whether protection runs before the message is sent. Pre-send scoring, like Infobip Signals or Telesign Intelligence, stops a bad request before it costs a message, while post-send blocking only limits the damage. Second, ask what happens to blocked traffic on the invoice. Some vendors do not charge for blocked messages, while others charge a reduced fee.
Third, check the controls you can set yourself, such as rate limits per number, IP address, and device, country allow lists, velocity caps, and spend caps. Fourth, confirm the fallback channels. Silent network authentication, voice, WhatsApp, and email let real users verify when SMS is blocked or too expensive. Run a pilot on real traffic and measure the ratio of completed verifications to sent codes.
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
| Telesign | Fraud scoring before the code is sent | Quote; third-party reported 0.0072 dollars per SMS Verify message | Free trial with test credit |
| Sinch Verification | Enterprise teams scaling OTP globally | Quote; SMS from 0.0078 dollars per message, third-party reported | 14-day trial with credits |
| Twilio Verify | Most teams that want published pricing | 0.05 dollars per successful verification plus 0.0083 dollars per SMS in the US | Free trial with credit |
| Infobip | Infobip users who need AIT blocking built in | Quote; destination-based SMS pricing | Free trial available |
| Vonage Verify | Outcome-based pricing with free fraud cover | 0.06084 dollars per successful verification plus messaging rates | Free trial with credits |
| BICS | Mobile operators fighting AIT at network level | Quote only | No |
| GMS | Operators blocking smishing, spam, and SIM-box fraud | Quote only | Free network test; no free plan |
| Mitto | Mid-market teams adding AIT and number checks | Quote; third-party reported 0.0083 dollars per message | Free trial available |
We picked tools with a real SMS fraud or verification product that was live on 11 November 2026, and we checked all eight vendor homepages on that date. We included verification APIs with built-in pumping protection, such as Twilio Verify, Vonage Verify, Telesign, Sinch Verification, and Infobip, plus operator-grade fraud tools from BICS and GMS, and Mitto for AIT detection and number intelligence. We excluded general fraud tools such as Sift, Forter, Riskified, Signifyd, Kount, SEON, Fingerprint, ClearSale, and NoFraud, because those are covered by the live best fraud detection software page and are not SMS specific. Where a vendor publishes a price, we state the vendor figure. Where it does not, we state quote and give the clearest third-party reported figure, labeled as such.
Last verified: 11 November 2026.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Telesign | Teams that want to score a phone number for fraud risk before sending a verification code | Quote; third-party reported 0.0072 dollars per SMS Verify message, 0.011 dollars per Phone ID lookup, and 0.15 dollars per Intelligence risk score | Free trial with test credit; no permanent free plan |
 Sinch Verification | Enterprise teams that send high volumes of OTP traffic across many countries | Quote for Verification; SMS pay-as-you-go from 0.0078 dollars per message on 10DLC in the US, third-party reported | 14-day trial with credits |
 Twilio Verify | Most teams that want a managed verification API with published pricing and pumping protection included | 0.05 dollars per successful verification plus 0.0083 dollars per SMS in the US | Free trial with credit; no permanent free plan |
 Infobip | Teams already on Infobip that want automated AIT detection without a separate fraud layer | Quote; destination-based SMS pricing on a pay-as-you-go model | Free trial available; no permanent free plan |
 Vonage Verify | Teams that want outcome-based pricing with fraud protection included at no extra cost | 0.06084 dollars per successful verification under Verify Conversion, plus messaging and voice rates | Free trial with credits; no permanent free plan |
 BICS | Mobile operators and large carriers that need network-level fraud blocking | Quote only | No free plan; demo and quote only |
 GMS | Mobile operators that need a firewall against smishing, spam, and SIM-box fraud | Quote only | Free network test available; no free plan |
 Mitto | Mid-market teams that want AIT detection, number intelligence, and omnichannel messaging from one vendor | Quote; third-party reported 0.0083 dollars per message for SMS, and Number Insight from 300 euros for 5,000 numbers | Free trial available; no permanent free plan |
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#1
Telesign
Best for: Teams that want to score a phone number for fraud risk before sending a verification code
Visit telesign.com
Starting priceQuote; third-party reported 0.0072 dollars per SMS Verify message, 0.011 dollars per Phone ID lookup, and 0.15 dollars per Intelligence risk score
Free planFree trial with test credit; no permanent free plan
Telesign pairs its Verify API with Phone ID and Intelligence products that score a number for fraud risk before a code goes out. Phone ID returns line type, carrier, and a risk score, so a signup flow can decide whether the number is worth verifying at all. That pre-send check is the main reason to choose Telesign, because it stops pumping attempts before they cost a message.
What we like- Strong phone intelligence and risk scoring, multichannel verification across SMS, voice, WhatsApp, and push, wide coverage in more than 230 countries and territories
Watch out for- Risk scoring is billed as a separate product from verification, so the two charges need modeling together, and no standard verification rate is published
#2
Sinch Verification
Best for: Enterprise teams that send high volumes of OTP traffic across many countries
Visit sinch.com
Starting priceQuote for Verification; SMS pay-as-you-go from 0.0078 dollars per message on 10DLC in the US, third-party reported
Free plan14-day trial with credits
Sinch Verification covers phone number verification through SMS OTP, flash calls, and data verification, with AI-driven fraud controls that catch bad traffic before it reaches the bill. Sinch owns carrier infrastructure in many markets, which helps deliverability and latency at enterprise volume. Flash call verification is a useful cost lever, because it can cost about half as much as an SMS OTP at volume and needs no code entry.
What we like- Own carrier infrastructure in many countries, traffic pumping prevention built into Verification, flash call verification can cut OTP cost by about half at volume
Watch out for- Verification pricing is not published, so buyers need a quote, and the compliance checks that protect deliverability can slow the first launch
#3
Twilio Verify
Best for: Most teams that want a managed verification API with published pricing and pumping protection included
Visit twilio.com
Starting price0.05 dollars per successful verification plus 0.0083 dollars per SMS in the US
Free planFree trial with credit; no permanent free plan
Twilio Verify is the most complete verification API in this guide, and it is the easiest to budget for, because the price is published. Fraud Guard is built in, and Twilio reports it has saved customers over 82 million dollars by blocking 747 million fraud attempts. The 0.05 dollar fee applies only to successful verifications, which means abandoned signups do not trigger it, though every SMS attempt still costs 0.0083 dollars in the US.
What we like- Clearest published pricing in this guide, Fraud Guard protection against SMS pumping included, widest channel set including SMS, voice, WhatsApp, email, push, TOTP, and silent network authentication
Watch out for- The 0.05 dollar platform fee is larger than the SMS itself, so it dominates the bill at scale, and failed attempts still incur channel fees even though no verification fee applies
#4
Infobip
Best for: Teams already on Infobip that want automated AIT detection without a separate fraud layer
Visit infobip.com
Starting priceQuote; destination-based SMS pricing on a pay-as-you-go model
Free planFree trial available; no permanent free plan
Infobip Signals is designed specifically to detect artificially generated OTP traffic, using machine learning to analyze phone number behavior, number ranges, phone number types, message frequency, and error patterns. It can automatically block destinations or number ranges that exceed configured thresholds, and Infobip says blocked traffic is not charged. Juniper Research ranked Infobip as a leading AIT prevention vendor, citing Signals as a key tool.
What we like- Signals uses machine learning to detect and block AIT traffic automatically, blocked traffic is not charged and does not count toward monthly volumes, broad international coverage
Watch out for- Signals only works inside the Infobip ecosystem, so it cannot sit in front of another SMS provider, and no standard verification rate is published
#5
Vonage Verify
Best for: Teams that want outcome-based pricing with fraud protection included at no extra cost
Visit vonage.com
Starting price0.06084 dollars per successful verification under Verify Conversion, plus messaging and voice rates
Free planFree trial with credits; no permanent free plan
Vonage Verify is a managed two-factor authentication API covering SMS, RCS, WhatsApp, voice, email, and silent authentication, with automatic voice failover when SMS delivery fails. Its strongest selling point is Fraud Defender Advanced, which adds AIT protection, SMS burst protection, network blocks, and custom alerts, and is included with Verify at no additional cost. Vonage states that fraudulent Verify traffic is covered in full, so blocked pumping attempts do not add to the bill.
What we like- Fraud Defender Advanced is included with Verify at no extra cost, fraudulent Verify traffic is covered in full, silent authentication removes the code step for many users
Watch out for- The per-verification fee is higher than Twilio Verify, and the all-in Verify Success plan is available only through sales
#6
BICS
Best for: Mobile operators and large carriers that need network-level fraud blocking
Visit bics.com
Starting priceQuote only
Free planNo free plan; demo and quote only
BICS FraudGuard is an international fraud prevention service that automatically blocks calls and messages to known fraudulent numbers and proactively identifies new incidents. BICS says its threat intelligence database holds more than 55 million numbers, updated daily, and draws on the SMS traffic it carries, about 50 million messages per day through its SMS hub. BICS reports that 98 percent of fraud attempts are proactively blocked.
What we like- Threat intelligence database built from global carrier traffic, FraudGuard blocks calls and messages to known fraudulent numbers, 24/7 fraud expert monitoring
Watch out for- Built for operators rather than app teams, so there is no self-serve signup or published price, and it is not a verification API for a signup form
#7
GMS
Best for: Mobile operators that need a firewall against smishing, spam, and SIM-box fraud
Visit gms.net
Starting priceQuote only
Free planFree network test available; no free plan
GMS, or Global Message Services, sells a Network Protection suite that includes an SMS firewall, adaptive SIM-box fraud management, and spam protection, all built to protect operator revenue and subscribers. Its firewalls analyze SMS, voice, and data traffic 24 hours a day and block fraud, spam, and unauthorized A2P bypass before it reaches subscribers. GMS also offers network APIs for enterprises, including number verification and SIM swap detection.
What we like- Firewall Suite analyzes SMS, voice, and data traffic around the clock and blocks fraud automatically, strong smishing and spam filtering with machine learning, network APIs for enterprises add number verification and SIM swap checks
Watch out for- The core firewall product is built for operators, so app teams cannot buy it as a standalone verification API, and pricing is quote-only
#8
Mitto
Best for: Mid-market teams that want AIT detection, number intelligence, and omnichannel messaging from one vendor
Visit mitto.ch
Starting priceQuote; third-party reported 0.0083 dollars per message for SMS, and Number Insight from 300 euros for 5,000 numbers
Free planFree trial available; no permanent free plan
Mitto is an omnichannel messaging platform with security features built in, including two-factor authentication, one-time passcodes, and mobile intelligence for cleaning up number lists. Its platform analyzes traffic patterns, routing behavior, and anomalies to detect and mitigate AIT attempts in real time, and its Number Insight product validates numbers and flags fake, temporary, and risky ones before a message is sent. Mitto offers pay-as-you-go pricing with volume discounts.
What we like- Real-time AIT detection and mitigation, Number Insight flags fake, temporary, and risky numbers, pay-as-you-go pricing with volume discounts
Watch out for- No published verification rate, so buyers need a quote, and the fraud features are tied to the Mitto messaging platform rather than sold as a standalone scoring API
Frequently asked questions
What is the best SMS fraud detection software?
Twilio Verify is the best pick for most teams, because it combines managed OTP verification with Fraud Guard pumping protection at a published price of 0.05 dollars per successful verification. Vonage Verify is the best alternative, because it includes Fraud Defender Advanced at no extra cost. Teams that need pre-send risk scoring should look at Telesign, and Infobip users should start with Signals.
How much does SMS pumping fraud cost a business?
SMS pumping can cost thousands of dollars in a single attack, because every fake OTP request generates a message charge on a route the attacker profits from. Infobip reports that businesses lost an estimated 1.6 billion dollars to artificially inflated traffic in 2023. The cost depends on the destination rate, so 10,000 attempts at 0.10 dollars per message cost 1,000 dollars, and at 0.50 dollars they cost 5,000 dollars.
What is artificially inflated traffic, or AIT?
Artificially inflated traffic, or AIT, is SMS pumping fraud. Bots trigger large numbers of fake one-time passcode requests, usually through a signup or login form, to phone numbers on a network where the attacker shares in the termination fee. The codes are never used, because the send itself is the payout. It is also called SMS toll fraud when the traffic crosses borders.
Can SMS fraud detection software stop smishing?
It can help, but a verification API alone does not stop smishing. Smishing is a message sent to your customers pretending to be from your brand, so stopping it needs a firewall or operator filter that checks message content, sender identity, and traffic patterns. GMS and BICS sell that kind of network-level protection to operators. App teams should also register sender IDs and report impersonation quickly.
Should I build my own SMS fraud checks or buy a verification API?
Buy a verification API unless you have a dedicated fraud team. A managed API such as Twilio Verify or Vonage Verify handles code generation, expiry, retries, rate limits, and pumping protection, and it only charges the platform fee on successful verifications. Building your own means maintaining rate limits, number intelligence, and route monitoring yourself, and a single missed pumping spike can cost more than a year of API fees.
Sources we checked (20)
- https://www.telesign.com/
- https://softwarefinder.com/customer-service-software/telesign
- https://www.sinch.com/
- https://sinch.com/industries/retail/
- http://sinch.com/blog/the-best-sms-api/
- https://www.twilio.com/en-us/verify
- https://www.twilio.com:443/en-us/verify/pricing
- https://www.infobip.com/
- https://www.infobip.com/blog/artificially-inflated-traffic
- https://prelude.so/blog/sms-pumping-solutions
- https://www.vonage.com/communications-apis/verify/
- https://www.vonage.com/communications-apis/fraud-defender/
- https://sms.to/blog/7-best-otp-api-providers-full-comparison-guide/
- https://www.bics.com/
- https://www.bics.com/blog/protect-business-from-ait-sms-pumping-fraud/
- https://gms.net/
- https://gms.net/blog/securing-latam-networks-a-gms-webinar-overview
- https://mitto.ch/
- https://mitto.ch/pricing/
- https://mitto.ch/business-messaging-in-2025-a-year-defined-by-scale-security-intelligence-and-smarter-engagement/
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.