Why Tambua. Africa's Talking is a developer platform with SMS, voice, USSD, airtime and WhatsApp across a number of African countries. Tambua is a dedicated OTP layer: it focuses on sending and verifying one-time codes with automatic fallback between channels.
Why teams choose Tambua over Africa's Talking
- No Sender ID, shortcode or phone number to buy: you share Tambua's, so you can send on day one
- You want the OTP flow handled for you: generate, deliver, verify, expire and lock
- You want an ordered fallback such as SMS, then WhatsApp, then voice, with one code across attempts
- You want failed attempts to be free and every attempt logged
Pricing: Tambua vs Africa's Talking
| Topic | Tambua | Africa's Talking |
|---|---|---|
| How you are charged | KES 0.50 per SMS OTP in Kenya, with no separate verification fee | Per-message SMS pricing by country. Your own Sender ID or shortcode is typically an extra cost and setup step. |
| Failed attempts | Free | See Africa's Talking's pricing page |
| Sender ID and numbers | Shared Tambua sender included, nothing to buy | Africa's Talking typically asks you to register and pay for your own Sender ID or shortcode before you can send branded SMS in Kenya and other markets. |
| Fallback to another channel | A setting, not an add-on fee | See Africa's Talking's pricing page |
See Tambua's full per-country rates, or check Africa's Talking's own pricing for your destination before you compare.
Tambua at a glance
| Topic | Tambua |
|---|---|
| Focus | OTP generation, delivery and verification API for Africa |
| Channels | SMS, WhatsApp, voice, email, M-PESA, Reverse OTP (Telegram, USSD and shortcode are coming soon) |
| Sender ID and numbers | Shared Tambua sender ID and numbers included. Nothing to buy, lease or register |
| Channel fallback | Ordered journey of up to three channels per app, on failure or after a timer; one code across attempts |
| Failed attempts | Not billed; only carrier-accepted attempts are charged |
| Pricing | Public per-country rates on the pricing page |
| Free testing | Test keys return the code in the API response, no messages sent |
| Webhooks | Signed webhooks for sent, delivered, verified and fallback events |
What Africa's Talking publishes
| Topic | Africa's Talking |
|---|---|
| Markets | Its help centre lists live products in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana and South Africa, with different products in each. source |
| Channels | SMS, USSD, voice, WhatsApp and airtime (availability varies by country) source |
| Developer libraries | Official libraries are published for Node.js and Python source |
| Sender ID | Africa's Talking typically asks you to register and pay for your own Sender ID or shortcode before you can send branded SMS in Kenya and other markets. |
Frequently asked questions
Why choose Tambua over Africa's Talking for OTP?
You want the OTP flow handled for you: generate, deliver, verify, expire and lock. You want an ordered fallback such as SMS, then WhatsApp, then voice, with one code across attempts. You want failed attempts to be free and every attempt logged. Tambua is built only for sending and verifying one-time codes across Africa, so you integrate in two calls and start free with test keys.
Do I need to buy a Sender ID or phone number with Tambua?
No. Tambua sends from its own shared sender ID and numbers, so there is nothing to buy, lease or register. Africa's Talking typically asks you to register and pay for your own Sender ID or shortcode before you can send branded SMS in Kenya and other markets, which adds cost and waiting time before your first message.
How do I switch from Africa's Talking to Tambua?
Create a free test key, call send to deliver a code and verify to check it. Most teams replace their existing send and check logic in an afternoon, then swap to a live key.