Send free SMS in Canada to Bell, Fido, Rogers, Virgin, Solo, and TELUS cell phones through the Internet

I used to go to canadiancontent.net for this information, but that site never gets updated anymore and seems to have turned into a Google AdSense cash grab. So here’s a list of links where you can send free SMSs to cell phones from the different Canadian wireless providers:

(Note: the recipient might get charged, of course, depending on their specific plan)

E-mail to text

There are some e-mail to text services, but the recipient usually has to have signed up and paid for this service, unlike the web forms above that are free:

[10digitnumber]@txt.bell.ca
[10digitnumber]@pcs.rogers.com
[10digitnumber]@fido.ca
[10digitnumber]@msg.telus.com
[10digitnumber]@vmobile.ca (Virgin Mobile)
[10digitnumber]@mobiletxt.ca (PC Mobile)
[10digitnumber]@msg.koodomobile.com
[10digitnumber]@sms.sasktel.com

Note that, as reported in the comments, some providers (such as Fido) are forcing the recipient to pay an extra monthly fee in order to receive e-mail to text messages.

—————————

Know of any other providers’ text message links? Leave a comment to let me know!

There is no official form to send text messages through the Internet to other providers such as 7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless or Petro Canada.

This entry was originally posted on Tuesday, July 10th, 2007 at 9:21 pm and is filed under Telephony, Vancouver / BC / Canada. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

79 Responses to “Send free SMS in Canada to Bell, Fido, Rogers, Virgin, Solo, and TELUS cell phones through the Internet”

July 15th, 2007 at 6:49 pm

Julia says:

Thanks! This is very useful!!
September 17th, 2007 at 8:08 am

Kent says:

According to customer service at PC Mobile, the e-mail to use is [insert10digitnumber]@mobiletxt.ca
September 22nd, 2007 at 11:31 am

Peter says:

Thanks for the tip, Kent. Hopefully someone else can confirm this?
September 30th, 2007 at 7:34 pm

Kim says:

Hi, it may just be a typing error but the correct address for Bell Mobility is @txt.bellmobility.ca not the one you have here….
Cheers
September 30th, 2007 at 7:36 pm

Peter says:

Oops, thanks for pointing that out! I’ve fixed it now
December 10th, 2007 at 3:25 pm

Frank says:

I cannot get the Rogers one to work as it always bounces back and I have tried multiple numbers.
December 14th, 2007 at 8:23 am

Alex says:

The recipient has to actually sign up for such a service (email to text), and that costs a few dollars per month. So, many numbers will simply not work.
The web gateways are free. I am working on posting a form like on this page:
http://www.rogers.com/web/content/wireless-text/send_sms
December 18th, 2007 at 12:27 pm

AndaleMono says:

If all your friends have facebook sms activated. you can just do it from there to any provider
January 24th, 2008 at 7:28 pm

Gacho says:

Try using http://www.flingit.net, I use all the time, works well with Telus and all other Canadian providers although Fido is abit slow. There are some google ads but they are not obtrusive. It’s free and easy to use.
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:05 pm

Chris says:

You can also send an email to [insert10digitnumber]@teleflip.com. This will deliver the SMS to the phone regardless of mobile provider. Works for most networks in North America. I did however just switch from Bell Mobility to Virgin Mobile Canada, and messages sent to my phone number @teleflip.com are no longer being delivered… even though Teleflip's website claims to support Virgin Canada. Still, I've used Teleflip a lot in the past, and it works pretty well.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:57 am

jsmith says:

the bell e-mail domain has changed to [10digitnum]@txt.bell.ca
They changed it halfway through 2007, although I think you can still send texts to the old one as well
April 9th, 2008 at 10:00 am

Peter says:

Thanks, I have updated the Bell info now
June 16th, 2008 at 10:45 am

Alphonse says:

Anybody know for the Solo and/or Koodo?
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:41 am

Puraz says:

The Rogers link is a outdated.. it keeps redirecting to their main splash page.
July 1st, 2008 at 8:25 am

ttrop says:

@Puraz: it still works, just select your province and it will forward you to the correct page.
July 21st, 2008 at 10:10 pm

Zing says:

When I recieved an e-mail (I'm on rogers) it said I needed to subscribe. Is that gunna cost me anything?
July 21st, 2008 at 10:12 pm

Peter says:

@Zing: Yes, the e-mail service will probably cost you.
July 25th, 2008 at 2:16 am

Dlight says:

Is there a way to find out which service provider holds which number?
That way I will know which email address to use to contact friends.

Thanks!
July 25th, 2008 at 9:05 am

Peter says:

Hi Dlight, unfortunately, with wireless number portability I don't think it's possible to know which number is attached to which provider anymore (although I also don't know how you would have known before).
July 31st, 2008 at 10:24 am

Zoe says:

To know a cell phone provider:
http://411ca.whitepages.com/reverse_searches/
July 31st, 2008 at 10:34 am

Zoe says:

Virgin Mobile seems to show up as Bell for some reason when you use the 411 reverse look up… Virgin is so not text msg friendly. are they the only provider that doesn't have their own web-phone text form??? haha.

I like that on Rogers you can make an account and store all the Rogers/Fido numbers (yea fido works with the rogers form).

Telus is good cause you can hit BACK and the number and message you just sent are still there, its quick to send another msg. unfortunately they got rid of the 'sent from' number so ppl dont know who the msg is from anymore…

Bell is anal with their anti-spam picture codes :@ those drive me crazy. if you type it in wrong you have to start the msg over… COPY/PASTE so you don't have to type the whole thing over if you fail! haha

I'm pretty sure [10digits]@vmobile.ca works for virgin and the recipient doesn't have to pay to receive it. it shoes up as from 'someone@something.com' but theres a limit on characters so dont go nuts with the email lol.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:02 am

Kelly says:

Very handy links. I have used the Rogers link and I have tried the Virgin Mobile phone#@vmobile.ca. Both work like a charm. This is really useful.
August 10th, 2008 at 2:49 pm

Tammy says:

I am having the worst time trying to send pics to a Rogers cell number… I keep getting a notice from the post master that it didn't go thru….. what am I doing wrong??? Help please!!
August 18th, 2008 at 9:07 pm

Ken says:

Thanks so much for the links!
August 29th, 2008 at 2:23 pm

Jeremfg says:

Bell website doewn't works!!! I can't acces it… Even by following links from their website!
August 29th, 2008 at 2:28 pm

Peter says:

It might just have been a temporary problem. The Bell site works for me…
September 13th, 2008 at 11:08 am

Anna says:

Anyone know how to send free SMS to an o2 phone in Ireland, FROM canada?
October 5th, 2008 at 10:25 am

Marybeth says:

Hi! Couple things – Rogers has implemented a….spam filter that's supposed to be beneficial to clients but is more annoying than anything. When you type in (phone number)@pcs.rogers.com, the person will first get a message that says they must have mail and must subscribe to the service. They can do that from their phone and are not charged anything (Yet!). So then they will get another message saying that they have mail from whatever email address it came from and that in order to read it they have to reply to the current message with the word "Read". Once you have replied to that message, you will get another message that will be the actual message that was sent. After you have done that initial subcribing, you won't have to do that part again but you will still have to do the whole reply thing. The only way to bypass it would be to pay $5 to Rogers to get the Email-to-Text feature which converts the message into text and bypasses the filter – so you will just get your messages without having to replay at all…. At least that's how its going on in my city!

Secondly – Fido has teamed up with Rogers and put up a spam filter (so customer service tells me). So, if I email a fido phone from my email – or at my work we use a software messaging program, (roger phone)@fido.ca they won't get it because of the filter. So the only way to message a fido phone is from any cell phone or the rogers & fido website…? Does anyone know any other way? I have a customer of mine (we answer her business line & text her messages to her via software program via her#@fido.ca) so its pretty important I figure something out! Thanks : )
October 6th, 2008 at 2:37 pm

Arcangel says:

10digitphonenumber@msg.koodomobile.com

According to the Koodo website, this is how to send email as text to one of their cell phones
October 6th, 2008 at 10:35 pm

Peter says:

Thanks, Arcangel, I have added this to the list.
October 11th, 2008 at 1:10 pm

U ROCK says:

thank you very much
U ROCK!!!
October 18th, 2008 at 10:16 pm

Liam says:

I use two other sites that can send free SMS messages to pretty much any cellphone that has the feature enabled:
1. http://www.freesms.net/freesms.aspx
2. http://www.gizmosms.com/
I find the first takes a while for the message to get through (tested on my own Virgin Mobile cell), and the second takes only a few minutes, but both are free to use.
October 25th, 2008 at 8:44 am

Mark says:

Is any idea how to send free sms to Cuba to Cubacell? any sugestions?
November 5th, 2008 at 7:39 am

Mike says:

Some Sasktel info for you
(although they are technically included under the Bell umbrella)
Website is http://www.sms.sasktel.com/
OR
from email program [10digitnumber]@sms.sasktel.com
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:30 pm

Bob says:

Anyone know how to get a txt msg to mexico? Phone provider there is TelCel. The email to txt msg link would be great
December 14th, 2008 at 3:37 pm

Enana says:

just to make sure, if i text someone from one of these will i get charged at all ? or is it completely free if i send a msg from here ?

Reply from Peter: you won’t get charged, although the recipient might.
January 6th, 2009 at 9:05 pm

christine says:

Is there a way to get free directory assistance thru sms? anyone?
January 6th, 2009 at 10:19 pm

Peter says:

You should also check out 1-800-GOOG-411 — not fully a text message service, but it’s a free call.

http://www.google.com/goog411/
January 11th, 2009 at 8:52 pm

Leia says:

Oh man, thank you SO much for this! I just spent the past hour trying to figure out how to get important, time-sensitive E-mails to forward to my phone as an SMS. I use Fido, but I am not signed up for any kind of internet or extra services aside from service and caller-id, and entering my number@fido.ca in tandem with a filtering/forwarding system through gmail totally worked. As far as I can tell, it's free, too!

I love you for this. Really.
January 31st, 2009 at 12:00 pm

katy says:

hi dear i need your help i would like to know if you know any way to send free text messages to cell phones in cuba
January 31st, 2009 at 12:04 pm

Peter says:

Sorry katy, I don't have any experience with free text services outside of Canada.
February 6th, 2009 at 10:11 am

hatt says:

Thanks a bunch, bro.
March 2nd, 2009 at 10:50 am

ken says:

we need your service please give a number to make a request

Reply from Peter: Sorry, I don’t actually provide the service from here. I’m just linking to the other services.
March 16th, 2009 at 7:42 pm

Yume says:

I need to figure out how to send txt to Virgin mobile cells in Canada. I tried Number@vmoblile.ca but it doesn't work for my friends. I need an email gateway that works for virgin mobile in Canada! Plzz help!
March 17th, 2009 at 5:47 am

Anders says:

Hi Peter,
A different type of SMS (Voice SMS) can be sent for free to both fixed and mobile phones (Canada only) from this site: http://www.freevoicesms.com

Cheers!
March 24th, 2009 at 6:00 pm

Ray says:

Can we send pics to a solo mobile from the internet?

Reply from Peter: I don’t think so.
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:07 pm

Chris - Msg PHD says:

Hi Katy,

I am not familar with Cuban carriers but as a lead tech for a message notification software company, here is something I use to help my clients.

** Send a message to your personal email address or any of the free emails you can signup for from your phone. ex: To: bob@yahoo.com. **
Note: This normally charges a message to your plan unless you are on an unlimited plan.

When it arrives in your email inbox you have your cell's unqiue address. Now this does not always work if your carrier does not support email to phones or reversed.

Hope this helps
April 15th, 2009 at 10:20 pm

SMSwiki says:

An excellent resource for worldwide SMS gateways is available on Wikipedia (sortable too).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_gateway
April 21st, 2009 at 9:04 am

Manpreet says:

thamks, this is very use full.
May 2nd, 2009 at 11:30 am

mike t. says:

Will I be able to sms back to my Canadian contacts and receive their reply on my Blackberry while traveling in Argentina? If so, can I do this without charge if I'm at a WiFi location? FYI I'm using gmail.
May 9th, 2009 at 2:23 am

dLight says:

Anyone know of a way to send a message to Videotron cell phones in Quebec?

Thanks

Oh, if you have gmail, you can tell it to send a message to someone as if it was coming from your cell phone email address. So when they reply, it will show up on your cell. Except that it will not work with Bell because the verification email sent by gmail is cut off by Bell and the code is missing.
May 9th, 2009 at 11:57 am

neoSonix says:

After chipping away at trying to get the Roger's email to work, ( I sent my friend and email to the rogers link and it asked him to get a subscription ) I attempted, on a lark, to try his roger's number at (hisnumber)@fido.ca. It worked like a charm, no subscription, no anything. As far as some of the earlier posts, I actually find Virgin Canada to be the easiest to deal with for web to sms features. You can get any email, forward it to 250XXXXXX@vmobile.ca, and it will come out on that phone as a free text message…including those friends with pay as you go and no time left. The best grouping of features I have found, is using Gmail to forward to a txt email number with filters…in my Gmail, I use the filters so that if the subject is Message Cell, Gmail forwards the message to (mynumber)@vmobile.ca..so all friends need to know is my normal email with a specific subject line to get ahold of me on the go. Cheers all, and I hope this little blurb equals the help I have gotten from your blog so far.
June 16th, 2009 at 8:54 am

chris says:

Thanks for this resource,

Does anyone know if there is a domain for Solo or if the Bell mobility one works for Solo??

Also it looks like teleflip is no longer working.

Reply from Peter: According to this page, the Bell address(es) should work for Solo as well.
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:31 am

CandieBrown says:

Ive had solo mobile for about a year now and its the worst customer service ever .I want to try bell or rogers…can i keep my solo phone and just change it over ??

Reply from Peter: Unfortunately a Solo phone is only good on a Solo plan. Therefore, you will have to buy a new phone from either Bell or Rogers. I prefer GSM phones and thus Rogers because it separates the swappable “brain” of your plan (the SIM card) from the phone. Check this SIM card guide for more information on that.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:54 am

adam f says:

btw, the telus doesnt work anymore. i love sending the text a song on Rogers!

Reply from Peter: Thanks for pointing that out. I’ve now updated the Telus link.
July 4th, 2009 at 1:28 am

Rosalie Heddy Savard says:

so, how to send a free text in the mobile

Reply from Peter: I don’t think that’s possible without a plan from your phone provider (and then that’s not free anymore).
July 6th, 2009 at 8:27 am

Barb says:

I have clicked on the 'Solo Mobile' site
http://www.txt.mysolo.ca/
and it does not always come through….I usually get and 'IE CANNOT DISPLAY THIS PAGE' message.

I have tried lowering the Security and even put the addy in the Trusted Sites, but the site is not reliable.

I have also tried the links presented here by other people. The sites work but The problem is that the person is not receiving the messages. I live in Canada
Thanks for all your help!

Reply from Peter: That’s the supposed official site for Solo, but I have also had problems loading it sometimes. Have you tried the Bell site, since Solo is simply a subsidiary of Bell?
July 19th, 2009 at 2:05 pm

Xayoz says:

[10digitnumber]@sms.sasktel.com

Reply from Peter: Posted. Thanks!
July 30th, 2009 at 2:23 pm

Alex says:

Please can anyone help me with free sms sites to all networks in USA
August 27th, 2009 at 4:58 pm

joe says:

how can i send free text messages to friends gsm networks in africa
August 27th, 2009 at 9:24 pm

Jim says:

I just tried this August 2009 and it worked with pc mobile (President's Choice)

[10 digit phone]@mobiletxt.ca
September 2nd, 2009 at 8:31 am

Pong says:

Fido [10digitnumber]@fido.ca does not work anymore they make you pay for it now. It's 5$ if this service used to work for you please call in and make a complaint to the manager. Tell them this is bullshit!

Reply from Peter: Thanks for pointing that out. I have added that info to the post to make others aware of this.
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:08 am

Tulipman says:

Make no mistake about it Peter … your crap is very useful, thx.
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:43 am

LUIS says:

Hi guys,to send SMS to CUBA: go here: http://sms2cuba.com register and then buy :

Good luck guys….

5 USD – 022 SMS
0 10 USD – 050 SMS
0 20 USD – 105 SMS
0 45 USD – 250 SMS
and soon / y pronto:

160 USD – 1,000 SMS
280 USD – 2,000 SMS
500 USD – 5,000 SMS
810 USD – 9,000 SMS

or go here as well: http://smsfree4all.com/free-sms-cuba.php

see ya! enjoy!!!
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:53 am

LUIS says:

guys and for MEXICO or any other country in the world check this out:

http://gizmosms.com

Saludos/see ya later

KUBANGUY./US
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:00 am

LUIS says:

and for Verizon users:

your # xxxxxxxxxx@vtext.com or @vzwpix.com just like it regular e-mail and done!…

Kuban.
any other help e-mail me
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:12 am

LUIS says:

check this out:

Gizmo5 now supports 2-way text messaging. Send SMS messages directly from
your Gizmo5 account. Your friends can reply directly to your messages and you'll
receive their reply right in Gizmo5.

Sending SMS messages from Gizmo5 mobile is easy, follow these steps:

Step1: Select a contact and click Call/SMS.

Step2: In the Select Number screen choose the option to 'Send SMS'

Step3: Start typing in your message and hit send.

You can also enter in any mobile number by going to the main Menu and selecting 'SMS'.

http://gizmo5.com/pc/products/features/two-way-sms

Kuban/US
September 8th, 2009 at 10:31 am

Luc says:

For Videotron Cellular, they use the same address as Rogers , so "Videotron cell number"@pcs.rogers.com

Reply from Peter: Thanks! I’ve now added a note about this in the post.
September 16th, 2009 at 5:21 pm

Cynthia says:

How can I communicate with a cuban, I have a koodo mobile, I know that I cannot send SMS by ma phone. Which site is the more secure to send SMS free by Internet and how can my friend reply to me?
September 21st, 2009 at 7:05 am

Marybeth says:

Rogers and Fido are torturous. Rogers you can send a message to number@pcs.rogers.com The person has to subscribe once but no fee is paid. The $5/monthly fee comes later if you choose to add the spam filter.

Fido is evil and doesn't accept anything it seems. The #@fido.ca doesn't work, I don't think it works even with the $5/monthly fee. Everytime I send a message to it, it comes back as failed. Any helpful pointers!!!???!!! Please!
September 29th, 2009 at 8:53 pm

kai shi says:

is there any for virgin?
October 10th, 2009 at 9:32 am

djDeathx says:

For Virgin mobile use number@vmobile.ca

cheers!
December 8th, 2009 at 2:55 pm

Max says:

A couple of people have recommended gizmosms.com.

I sent a test message to myself 2 hours ago via http://www.gizmosms.com/ (now owned by Google, but most of the Gizmo services are on hiatus). It didn't give an error message, nor has it come through, so I would not recommend it.

My phone gets messages at (mynumber)@vmobile.ca and it works great; too bad the other phone companies aren't so simple.
January 19th, 2010 at 8:42 pm

Nacia14 says:

I use Sasktel, and the email works fine (from PC to my cell), but whenever i try to attach a sound file or picture (even if it is modified for a cellphone screen) It only comes up as a blank text message. any tips?
February 6th, 2010 at 5:44 pm

justine says:

the guy at the top of this comment page is wrong about Bell. You have it right here, xxxxxxxxxx@txt.bell.ca is correct!!
February 8th, 2010 at 3:14 pm

Cubes says:

Thanks Peter! This is very useful CRAP!!
February 16th, 2010 at 9:37 am

codeKnow says:

Anyone have a updated international list ?
thanks…great idea.
February 16th, 2010 at 12:23 pm

sweetie09 says:

hi,
i was just wondering if when sending a message to cellphone(telus)..is it just plain text or can i send a picture??…and does it cost the person i am sending it to anything??…please someone please let me know….thanks
March 4th, 2010 at 4:35 pm

dragos says:

DUDE THIS IS INTENSE THANKSS!