This idea first came to me when Telstra introduced their SMS API a few years back. I kicked off a mini project around it, but couldn’t fully bring it to life due to time constraints.
Since then, Telstra has upgraded the API to version 3 and removed the generous free tier that used to offer 1,000 SMS per month. However, they still allow free receiving numbers—1 for accounts without payment setup, and up to 5 for those with.
Since sending SMS now incurs a cost, I had to scale back my original plan to include outbound messaging. Still, I managed to stick to the core idea: enabling OTP verification for users who want to avoid spam calls from places like insurance or energy companies.
🔗 Check it out here: https://sms.han.life
💻 Source code on GitHub: https://github.com/logan-han/sms-otp-burner