Overview
Clickatell is a global communications platform with strong SA roots – SMS, WhatsApp, USSD, voice. The Automize Clickatell connector covers SMS + WhatsApp messaging via the One API, message status, and account balance.
- Regions: Global SMS reach, strongest in SA + Africa. WhatsApp Business via Clickatell's BSP status.
- Plans: Pay-per-message, credit-based. WhatsApp + Voice are separately priced.
Setting up the connection
Auth type: API Key.
- Sign in to portal.clickatell.com → Integrations → API → Add Integration → REST API.
- Copy the integration's API Key.
- In Automize, open Settings → Connectors → Clickatell → Add connection. Paste key. Connector sends as Authorization header.
Find your credentials at https://portal.clickatell.com/integrations.
Rate limits
Per-account daily limits + credit balance. Connector retries 429 with backoff.
Data model
One API (unified channel):
Account ─┬─ Integrations (per channel: SMS, WhatsApp)
├─ Messages (sent)
└─ Inbound Messages (replies, via webhooks)Available operations
4 operations available. Click any row to jump to its detail.
| Operation | Category | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Get Balance | General | Get account credit balance |
| Get Message Status | General | Get delivery status of a message |
| Send Message | General | Send SMS or WhatsApp message via One API |
| Send SMS | General | Send an SMS message |
Operations
Get Balance
Get account credit balance
No input parameters.
Tips
- Returns credit balance. Use for low-balance alerts.
Get Message Status
Get delivery status of a message
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Message Id message_id | Yes | text |
Tips
- message_id from Send response. Returns status: QUEUED, SENT, DELIVERED, FAILED.
Send Message
Send SMS or WhatsApp message via One API
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
To to | Yes | text | |
Content content | Yes | textarea | |
Channel channel | Yes | text |
Tips
- Unified API for SMS OR WhatsApp. channel: 'sms' or 'whatsapp'.
- WhatsApp first messages outside session window require pre-approved Templates.
Send SMS
Send an SMS message
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
To to | Yes | text | |
Content content | Yes | textarea |
Tips
- to: E.164 format (+27821234567) or array.
- content: max 160 chars per segment (GSM-7) or 70 (Unicode).
- Use webhook for delivery reports – polling Get Message Status is rate-limit-heavy.
FAQ
- Clickatell vs Twilio vs BulkSMS – which?
- Twilio: best global coverage + features (WhatsApp, Voice, Verify). Clickatell: strong SA + Africa, WhatsApp BSP. BulkSMS: cheapest SA SMS, simpler API. Choose by region + features needed.
- WhatsApp templates?
- First message outside the 24-hour customer-initiated window needs a pre-approved template. Configure templates in Clickatell portal, reference by name in send.
- Sender ID alphanumeric?
- Some countries (incl. SA) allow up to 11 chars. Configure per-integration in Clickatell portal.