← Back to Product Feed

Hacker News Show HN: Let agents send/receive SMS using your old Android phone

A cost-effective, self-hosted alternative to commercial SMS APIs (e.g., Twilio) for agent-based systems, leveraging existing hardware for OTP access and SMS communication.

4
Traction Score
0
Discussions
Jun 20, 2026
Launch Date
View Origin Link

Product Positioning & Context

AI Executive Synthesis
A cost-effective, self-hosted alternative to commercial SMS APIs (e.g., Twilio) for agent-based systems, leveraging existing hardware for OTP access and SMS communication.
This solution directly addresses the cost and complexity associated with commercial SMS APIs for agent-based systems. By repurposing an old Android phone and a simple relay server, it provides a highly cost-effective mechanism for agents to access OTP codes and send SMS messages. This is particularly relevant for internal tools, testing environments, or niche applications where Twilio's pricing or setup overhead is prohibitive. The ability to self-host on a low-cost VPS offers significant operational flexibility and cost control. While not a scalable enterprise solution in its current form, it highlights a market demand for pragmatic, low-cost communication channels for automated systems, especially for two-factor authentication bypass or internal notification systems. This could evolve into a more robust, open-source alternative for specific use cases.
While playing with agents I realised it might be quite handy if they could get access to OTP codes. And while at it, why not give them ability to send the SMS as well. Twillio is expensive and annoying to set up for my taste.I vibe coded simple Android app that can read/send SMS and simple relay server that acts as MCP for agents. Works surprisingly well and my old android phone from a drawer is doing something useful again.Feel free to use it if you find it useful. I put it just to a $5 vps. If it's crashed, you should be able to spin up your own instance on your own VPS just in a few minutes.
agents OTP codes send/receive SMS Android app relay server MCP VPS

Related Ecosystem & Alternatives

Discover adjacent products, open-source repositories, and developer tools sharing similar technical architecture.

Deep-Dive FAQs

What is Let agents send/receive SMS using your old Android phone?
Let agents send/receive SMS using your old Android phone is analyzed by our AI as: A cost-effective, self-hosted alternative to commercial SMS APIs (e.g., Twilio) for agent-based systems, leveraging existing hardware for OTP access and SMS communication.. It focuses on This solution directly addresses the cost and complexity associated with commercial SMS APIs for agent-based systems. By repurposing an old Android...
Where did Let agents send/receive SMS using your old Android phone originate?
Data for Let agents send/receive SMS using your old Android phone was aggregated directly from the Hacker News community ecosystem, representing raw developer and early-adopter sentiment.
When was Let agents send/receive SMS using your old Android phone publicly launched?
The initial public indexing or launch date for Let agents send/receive SMS using your old Android phone within our tracked developer communities was recorded on June 20, 2026.
How popular is Let agents send/receive SMS using your old Android phone?
Let agents send/receive SMS using your old Android phone has achieved measurable traction, logging over 4 traction score and facilitating 0 recorded discussions or engagements.
Which technical categories define Let agents send/receive SMS using your old Android phone?
Based on metadata extraction, Let agents send/receive SMS using your old Android phone is categorized under topics such as: agents, OTP codes, send/receive SMS, Android app.
What are some commercial alternatives to Let agents send/receive SMS using your old Android phone?
Our semantic intelligence engine identifies potential commercial alternatives in the SaaS space, such as Heard, which offers overlapping value propositions.
How does the creator describe Let agents send/receive SMS using your old Android phone?
The original author or development team describes the product as follows: "While playing with agents I realised it might be quite handy if they could get access to OTP codes. And while at it, why not give them ability to send the SMS as well. Twillio is expensive and anno..."

Community Voice & Feedback

No active discussions extracted yet.

Discovery Source

Hacker News Hacker News

Aggregated via automated community intelligence tracking.

Tech Stack Dependencies

No direct open-source NPM package mentions detected in the product documentation.

Media Tractions & Mentions

No mainstream media stories specifically mentioning this product name have been intercepted yet.

Deep Research & Science

No direct peer-reviewed scientific literature matched with this product's architecture.