# 5SIM alternative

5SIM is popular with developers for its operator selection and documented API. SMS Nitro shares the developer focus and adds an SMS-Activate-compatible endpoint for tools that do not speak 5SIM's own protocol.

## What does SMS Nitro offer that 5SIM does not?

An SMS-Activate-compatible API alongside the REST API, success rates per country shown before purchase, and a price that is only charged when the SMS is delivered. 5SIM's strength is choosing a specific carrier; SMS Nitro ranks countries by what has actually worked recently.

## What 5SIM is

A marketplace with activations and rentals, carrier-level selection, crypto payments and a documented API with Python and PHP examples, plus community-maintained client libraries.

## What SMS Nitro does differently

- Private numbers only, never shared inboxes.
- Price frozen at purchase, charged only when the SMS arrives; the number is reserved for 20 minutes.
- Live price and recent success rate per app and country before you confirm.
- Card and crypto top-ups from $5, balance that never expires, no subscription.
- REST API plus an SMS-Activate-compatible endpoint, so existing tools migrate by changing the key.
- Catalog written in each language from scratch, with a legal entity, refund policy and support behind it.

## Moving from 5SIM to SMS Nitro

Create an account, top up from $5 and compare the prices of the apps you use most. If you used 5SIM through its API, the SMS-Activate-compatible endpoint lets most scripts run unchanged after you swap the base URL and the key. Numbers that receive no SMS are never charged, so testing a new provider costs nothing when it fails.

## FAQ

**Can I choose the carrier on SMS Nitro?** Where the pool exposes it, yes; otherwise you choose the country and the physical-SIM or virtual pool.

Source: https://smsnitro.com/compare/5sim