Send an MMS Message

Learn more about sending an MMS with Mobile Text Alerts

MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service. It is used for sending messages that include a media attachment. MMS messages have a 500 KB size limit, a 1550 character limit, and a higher credit cost per send than SMS.

MMS example

Credit Costs

• 1 credit cost per SMS message (160 character limit, no attachment)

• 3 credit cost per MMS message (1550 character limit, plus 500KB image attachment)

A message with an attachment will be sent as MMS by default (messages without an attachment will be sent as SMS). Messages without an attachment can be sent as MMS if isMMS is set to true.

Before sending a message, you can calculate the will cost with the POST /send/cost endpoint. The messageCredits field indicates the number of credits to be consumed.

When to use MMS over SMS

Some situations where MMS is worth using instead of SMS:

• Very long text content

• Sales-oriented content, where an image can help drive the call-to-action

• Audience is primarily within the US/Canada

• A Mobile Text Alerts plan with rollover and/or excess credits

• Target audience responds better to media in messages

• To include a contact card with the message

Supported attachment types

The following file types are supported to use as attachments for MMS:

Image file types

.jpeg
.jpg
.gif
.png
.bmp

Audio file types

.mp4
.mpeg
.ogg
.rn-realaudio
.wav
.3gpp
.3gpp2
.ac3
.webm
.amr-nb
.amr

Video file types

.mpeg
.mp4
.quicktime
.webm
.3gpp
.3gpp2
.3gpp-tt
.h261
.h263
.h264

Other file types

.vcard
.csv
.rtf
.pdf

Attachment hosting with rehost field

You can choose to host the URL of an attachment for an MMS on your own servers, or it can be hosted by Mobile Text Alerts. When sending a request to the /send endpoint, if the rehost flag is set to true, the attachment will be rehosted by Mobile Text Alerts before sending. This can be useful if the recipient isn't receiving your attachment, or you don't want to host the attachment.

How to send an MMS with the API

MMS messages are sent via the API with a POST request to the /send endpoint, just like SMS. Include the image (or images) field with the string of the URL of the attachment to send. All requests to this endpoint must contain both recipient and content information.

Required request fields:

• Choose recipient(s): (Must be one of the following)

  • subscriberIds: number[] - List of subscriber IDs of recipients. Messages can be sent to specific subscribers, with each subscriber assigned a unique subscriberId.

  • subscribers: (number | string)[] - List of recipient phone numbers or email addresses. A new subscriber will be created for new recipients that are not already subscribers on your account.

    • To ensure your messages are sent to the intended recipients this field must be formatted correctly based on how your subscribers are stored. E.164 formatted strings are recommended. See Phone Number Format Guide to learn more.

  • allSubscribers: boolean - Flag to indicate send message to all subscribers if true. When allSubscribers is set to true, no other recipient fields should be specified. Default value is false.

  • groups: number[] - List of group IDs of recipients. Messages can be sent to specific groups, with each group assigned a unique groupId.

  • threadId: number - Messages can be sent in reply to a thread, with each thread assigned a unique threadId.

• Content: (Must include at least one of the following)

  • message: string - The content of the message being sent.

  • image: string - The URL of an attachment for a message. This URL needs to be publicly accessible; this ensures Mobile Text Alerts can access it when sending.

  • images:string[] - Use this field when you want multiple attachments, this field is an array of public image attachment URLs. Overrides image when present.

  • templateId: number - Messages can be saved as pre-set message templates for reuse with saved controlled templates on your account assigned a templateId. Visit Message Templates tutorial to learn more.

  • contactCard: boolean - When true, the system generates a contact card and appends it as an attachment. See Attach a Contact Card below to learn more.

  • contactCardLogo: string - A URL for the logo to embed in the generated contact card. Overrides your account's pre-configured contact card logo. (Only used when contactCard is true.)

• Other fields:

  • rehost: boolean - If the rehost flag is included and is set to true, the attachment will be rehosted by Mobile Text Alerts before being sent to the recipients.

How to send an MMS with the API

1

Indicate the recipient(s)

You can send a message to a phone number as a test. Set the subscribers field to the recipient phone number.

"subscribers": [1112223333]

2

Create the message content and attachment

The text content of the message should be assigned to the message field and the URL of the attachment to the image field.

"message": "Use promo code TESTMESSAGE for 5% off when you sign up. STOP to end"
"image": "https://imgur.com/gallery/example"

3

Form API request

Create the API request to the /send endpoint. Remember to include Authorization header.

curl --location 'https://api.mobile-text-alerts.com/v3/send' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <APIKey>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{"subscribers": [1112223333],
        "message": "Use promo code TESTMESSAGE for 5% off when you sign up. STOP to end",
        "image": "https://imgur.com/gallery/example"
        }'

4

Receive response

The API will return a message about the status of your request.

{
  "data": {
    "messageId": "uuid",
    "totalSent": 1,
    "totalFailedInternationalRecipients": 0
  },
  "message": "Message Sent to 1 Recipient."
}

Send Message endpoint POST /send

Attach a Contact Card

You can send messages with a contact card attachment to the message. Messages with attachments always send as an MMS message type and costs 3 credits per recipient (regardless of the number of attachments).

Overview

To include a contact card in a message, set the optional field contactCard: true in /send message request This will generate a contact card from your account's pre-configured settings and append it as an attachment.

Note: If you'd prefer to use your own contact card image, you can pass it directly via image or images instead — no other special fields are needed.

Request fields for attachments

The following are optional fields that can be included in the /send request to include attachments for your MMS messages:

Field	Type	Description
image	string	A single image attachment public URL. Ignored if images is also provided.
images	string[]	An array of image attachment public URLs. Overrides image when present.
contactCard	boolean	When true, the system generates a contact card and appends it as an attachment.
contactCardLogo	string	A URL for the logo to embed in the generated contact card. Overrides your account's pre-configured contact card logo. Only used when contactCard is true.

How to send the contact card attachment

In your send message request set contactCard: true to attach a generated Contact Card. To use a specific logo on the card, provide contactCardLogo — this overrides the logo set in your account's pre-configured contact card settings.

Example:

{
  "message": "Save our contact info!",
  "subscribers": ["3175551234"],
  "contactCard": true,
  "contactCardLogo": "https://example.com/logo.png"
}

You can also attach other images alongside the contact card, using the images field. The contact card is always appended after the image attachments.

Example:

In the below example, the recipient receives three attachments: two offer images followed by a contact card.

{
  "message": "Here's our info and latest offers.",
  "subscribers": ["3175551234"],
  "images": [
    "https://example.com/offer-1.jpg",
    "https://example.com/offer-2.jpg"
  ],
  "contactCard": true,
  "contactCardLogo": "https://example.com/logo.png"
}

Learn More

Mobile Text Alerts - MMS Messaging

SMS and MMS: What They Are and When to Use Them