--- title: "SMS send time planner (quiet hours by country)" description: "Plan SMS campaigns across time zones: see each country's local time, promotional window and quiet hours, weekend and Ramadan notes, and the earliest legal send." canonical: "https://omnichannels.ai/tools/send-time-planner/" language: "en" updated: "2026-10-10" publisher: "BroadNet Technologies" brand: "OmniChannels.ai" --- # SMS send time planner (quiet hours by country) Canonical: https://omnichannels.ai/tools/send-time-planner/ Language: en Publisher: OmniChannels.ai by BroadNet Technologies The best time to send promotional SMS is inside the recipient's legal window, in their local time: 07:00–21:00 in the UAE, 09:00–22:00 in Saudi Arabia (12:00–01:00 during Ramadan), 09:00–21:00 in Qatar, 10:00–21:00 in India and 08:00–21:00 in the US. Where no window is published, send during local daytime, roughly 09:00–20:00. OTP and transactional SMS can go out 24/7. ## How to plan an SMS send time 1. **Set your time zone and send time:** The planner detects your time zone. Enter the date and time you plan to launch the campaign, or press Now. 2. **Add destination countries:** Add up to 12 countries. For the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia, the send is checked across all main time zones, or pick one. 3. **Read each country's result:** Green means inside the promotional window. Red means quiet hours, and the 24-hour bar shows when the window opens. 4. **Schedule at the earliest compliant time:** Use the suggested time per country, shown in both local time and yours, or split the campaign by time zone. ## Legal sending hours for promotional SMS Several regulators set fixed hours for marketing messages, always in the recipient's local time. Transactional traffic, such as OTPs, alerts and delivery updates, isn't restricted. These are the windows in our research: - UAE: TDRA bars marketing texts from 21:00 to 07:00 GST. - Saudi Arabia: CST bans promotional messages from 22:00 to 09:00, and from 01:00 to 12:00 during Ramadan. - Qatar: CRA's Spam Regulation bars direct marketing from 21:00 to 09:00. - India: promotional SMS only between 10:00 and 21:00 IST under TCCCPR 2018. - United States: marketing texts within the recipient's local 08:00–21:00 under the TCPA. - Colombia: Monday–Friday 07:00–19:00 and Saturday 08:00–15:00, never on Sundays or public holidays (Law 2300 of 2023). - South Africa (WASPA): weekdays 08:00–20:00, Saturdays 09:00–13:00, never on Sundays or public holidays. - Kenya 07:00–19:00, Nigeria 08:00–20:00, Sri Lanka 08:00–20:00, Cambodia 08:00–21:00, Vietnam 07:00–22:00. ## Time zones: send at the recipient's local time A campaign launched at 18:00 in Dubai lands at 17:00 in Riyadh, 15:00 in London and 07:00 in Los Angeles. One batch for several countries almost always hits someone's quiet hours. Large countries are harder still: the US spans six main zones, so 09:00 in New York is 03:00 in Honolulu. The planner checks every main zone of a country. If no single moment fits all of them, split the send by time zone, or schedule it per recipient so each message goes out at the same local hour. ## Weekends in the Gulf and elsewhere Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq rest on Friday and Saturday. The UAE moved to a Saturday–Sunday weekend in 2022, with a short Friday for the public sector. Most other markets rest Saturday–Sunday. Outside Colombia and South Africa, weekends aren't legally restricted, but engagement patterns change: Thursday evening in the Gulf behaves like Friday evening in Europe. Test your own audience before you lock in a weekly slot. ## Ramadan send times During Ramadan, daily routines move later: people are active after iftar and late into the night, and business hours shrink. Saudi Arabia is the only market in our data with a published Ramadan window, 12:00 to 01:00. Elsewhere the normal window still applies, so a late-evening campaign may be legal in Riyadh but blocked in Dubai after 21:00. Avoid the minutes around iftar, keep offers short, and switch on Ramadan hours in the planner to see the Saudi window applied. ## So when is the best time to send? Legal hours are the outer limit. Within them, most B2C senders get their best response mid-morning and early evening on working days, and B2B senders mid-morning from Monday to Thursday. Avoid the last hour before a cut-off, because delivery queues can push messages past it. The data was reviewed between 29 September and 1 October 2026, and we confirm current rules with operators during onboarding. ## Send time questions ### What is the best time to send marketing SMS? Inside the recipient's legal window, in their local time, and usually mid-morning or early evening on working days. Avoid the hour before a quiet-hours cut-off so queued messages don't arrive late. ### What are the legal SMS sending hours in the UAE? TDRA bars marketing text messages between 21:00 and 07:00 UAE time (GST), so promotional SMS must go out between 07:00 and 21:00. OTP and transactional alerts run 24/7. ### What time can I send promotional SMS in Saudi Arabia? Between 09:00 and 22:00 Saudi time. CST bans promotional messages from 22:00 to 09:00 daily, and during Ramadan from 01:00 to 12:00, which makes the Ramadan window 12:00 to 01:00. ### Do quiet hours apply to OTP and transactional SMS? No. Quiet hours cover promotional (marketing) messages. One-time passwords, alerts, appointment reminders and delivery updates can be sent 24/7, as long as they contain no marketing content. ### How should Ramadan change my SMS send times? Shift campaigns later in the day, avoid the time around iftar, and respect local rules: Saudi Arabia publishes a 12:00–01:00 Ramadan window, while the UAE's 07:00–21:00 window still applies. ### How do I send SMS at each recipient's local time? Split the campaign by country and time zone, then schedule each part for the same local hour. OmniChannels.ai campaigns can do this automatically from each contact's country or time zone. ### Which days are the weekend in the Gulf? Friday and Saturday in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. The UAE moved to Saturday and Sunday in 2022. Weekends aren't a legal block for SMS there, but response patterns differ. ### Does WhatsApp have quiet hours like SMS? Meta sets no clock-time window for WhatsApp, but marketing templates need opt-in and are subject to frequency limits, and local anti-spam rules on marketing communications can still apply. Using the SMS windows for WhatsApp promotions is a safe default.