Choosing a mass texting app can be difficult. This guide will help you pick the best platform to send text messages to everyone you need.
You already know that you want to message all of your customers at once, and a mass texting app is the way to do it.
So you open Google and search for “best mass text app.” On the first page alone, you’ll see dozens of service providers claiming to be the best.
Who’s got time to go through all of them?
Below, we’ll break down the pros and cons of the top players in the mass texting industry (yes, even alternatives to our platform) and tell you everything to look for in the best mass texting service for your business.
Even if you decide not to go with ours, we hope this guide saves you some time and helps you make an informed decision.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
To shortlist the best mass texting apps, I spent hours sending texts, creating templates, adding contacts, and testing out advanced features for 10 SMS platforms.
I was specially looking at how easy it is to:
Why should you listen to my take on mass texting apps? I’m not telling you how to live your life, but I am telling you about my experience using each of these platforms. In addition to working in the SMS marketing industry for more than a year and a half, I have experience owning and marketing a small business.
Not sure where to start with your search for the best mass texting service? I’ve got you. Here’s a quick rundown of the top five mass texting apps in the industry.
Best Mass Text Apps:
Admittedly, I’m a little biased about how amazing SimpleTexting is, but I have the data and testimonials to back it up.
More than 16,000 small- and medium-sized businesses choose our platform because of its flexible pricing, user-friendly platform, and advanced features.
In an in-depth review of SimpleTexting on Business.com, contributing writer Mark Farlie said that “Having the type of connected system SimpleTexting’s developers created could give your company a competitive edge. That’s why we’ve selected SimpleTexting as the ideal text message marketing supplier for small businesses.”
If you want your SMS marketing strategy to work seamlessly with other tools your business relies on, our team can create custom integrations for your unique needs. We’ve worked with restaurants, healthcare practices, nonprofits, schools, and other organizations to automate text message campaigns and sync their contact lists.
Pros
Cons
Pricing
SimpleTexting offers flexible pricing plans, with the lowest plan starting at $29/month for 500 messaging credits. Any unused credits in a given month roll over to the next month (but only for one month). You can add more credits at any time through the self-serve billing dashboard.
Free Trial
To give users a chance to experience the platform’s features, SimpleTexting provides a 14-day free trial without requiring credit card information until you’re ready to upgrade.
Top Features
SimpleTexting is best known for its:
Device Availability
You can use SimpleTexting on desktop, smartphones, tablets, or any other wifi-enabled device. Our mobile app is available for iOS and Android.
With its flexible pricing model and international capabilities, TextMagic is great for small businesses and those with customers outside the U.S. and Canada.
TextMagic can identify invalid numbers to improve message deliverability, and it has email-to-SMS capabilities for another convenient way to send texts. You can even send audio files via text and use text-to-speech to make phone calls. This means you can communicate beyond just words on a screen.
While most SMS platforms have pricing tiers, TextMagic charges $0.04 per text, making it a flexible option for businesses with variable sending volume.
Pros
Cons
Pricing
TextMagic’s pricing is pay-as-you-go. So, you only pay for the number of messages you send, rather than paying a fixed amount every month or year.
The cost begins at $0.04 per text to U.S. numbers. If you send more than 10,000 messages every month, you can request custom pricing.
Free Trial
Try TextMagic free for 30 days with $0.40 in messaging credits.
Top Features
TextMagic is best known for its:
Device Availability
TextMagic offers a mobile app for iOS and Android that performs many of the same functions as its desktop app.
Textedly is a simple, yet effective, mass texting platform for businesses on a budget that are looking for a simple suite of features. If you’re looking for a straightforward SMS platform with a low price, add this one to your list.
When I was testing Textedly out, I noticed that some of its features are add-ons. While most platforms include things like automated texts and personalization in their monthly subscriptions, Textedly offers them a la carte for a one-time fee.
Because its pricing tiers are so inexpensive, these add-on fees may not be a problem for businesses that just need basic SMS functionality.
Pros
Cons
Pricing
Textedly’s eight pricing tiers range from a $24/month plan with 1,200 messaging credits and one custom keyword to the $350/month plan, which includes 30,000 credits and 10 keywords.
Free Trial
Textedly’s 14-day free trial comes with 50 credits.
Top Features
Popular Textedly features include:
Device Availability
Textedly has a standard desktop app, but they don’t have a mobile app as of April 2023.
With its free onboarding session, SlickText is an excellent choice for business owners who want a personalized onboarding experience.
In addition to standard features like two-way messaging, mass texting, MMS, and keywords, SlickText provides advanced capabilities like automated workflows, personalization, and loyalty program software.
This last feature in particular is a helpful tool for retail companies, restaurants, and service-based businesses that want to keep customers coming back on a regular basis.
Pros
Cons
Pricing
Like SimpleTexting, SlickText’s plans start as low as $29/month for 500 messaging credits. This plan comes with two keywords but doesn’t include automated workflows. It’s top-level plan — the Mammoth — includes 100,000 messages for $1,999/month.
Free Trial
Try SlickText out free for 14 days with 50 messaging credits.
Top Features
SlickText offers its users:
Device Availability
You can use SlickText on iOS or Android, in addition to desktop.
EZ Texting is best for business owners with limited marketing experience who are looking for a robust, easy-to-use platform.
Customers rave about EZ Texting beginner’s guide, which helps you get up and running quickly without feeling overwhelmed. It’s not the cheapest platform on the market, but it’s built with busy marketers and business owners in mind. The ease of use could save you time and, ultimately, money.
Pros
Cons
Pricing
EZ Texting’s pricing plans range from $25/month for 500 credits and 500 contacts to $3,000/month for 200,000 credits and 50,000 contacts.
Free Trial
You can try EZ Texting free for 14 days with 120 messaging credits.
Top Features
Popular EZ Texting features include:
Device Availability
In addition to its desktop app, EZ Texting has an iOS app that lets you review campaign performance and delivery, send and receive texts, and manage your contacts.
Everyone promises their group messaging service or text message marketing platform is the best in the industry. And there are certainly several great ones out there.
But how can you be sure you’re signing up for the best mass text app that’s going to give you a positive ROI?
Mass texting apps that actually make your job easier all have these seven things in common.
Many users just need an app for personal group texting. However, business text messaging is for more than just sending and receiving SMS texts. Here’s how texting brings value to several industries.
Leaders in the food industry use mass text message apps to take reservations, send coupons, and inform customers about weekly specials.
Top-performing real estate agents use SMS messages for lead generation. All they have to do is create a keyword and place it on their riders. Interested buyers can text in this keyword to request more information!
Retailers who need to drive more sales rely on texts to engage customers and move product. They do this by creating customer loyalty programs and offering exclusive discounts by SMS.
Text messages facilitate communication between schools, parents, and students. The best mass texting services make it easy to send important school alerts or host fundraisers.
Successful churches find inspiring ways to connect with their congregations. Texts allow ministries to send inspiration devotional texts as well as send information about upcoming events.
These are just a few of the industries that use text messaging. Read our in-depth industry guides and handbooks to find out how you can use a mass text app to make your message heard.
Every mass text app can send SMS messages to large groups of people at once. If you’re using text messaging for your business or organization, you probably want to seek out an app that can do more than just mass texting.
Before you sign up for a texting service, make sure it can deliver to multiple recipients and has the following features:
Sometimes you don’t want to send a text right away. Scheduled texts let you specify a future date and time for your SMS. And with autoresponders, you can set up group texts that go out a set period of time after someone joins your list.
Before sending a bulk text message, you need contacts to send them to. Keywords help with that. Just set up a word or phrase that customers can text to your number to subscribe to your SMS texts.
Send the right messages to the right people. Lists and dynamic segments let you organize your contacts.
A good mass text messaging app lets you send more than just SMS texts. MMS allows you to include photos, videos and other files in your messages.
You shouldn’t have to guess whether or not your SMS campaigns are working. Link tracking and easy-to-understand analytics let you know if your mass text messaging app is bringing value to your business.
Texting should feel personal. The best mass texting service gives users the ability to include Custom Fields such as first name and last name when sending messages.
Depending on how you plan to use SMS, for mass or one-on-one messaging, you’ll want the option to select a phone number to fit your needs. For example, a standard 10-digit number or a memorable dedicated short code unique to your business.
Use the features above as a rule of thumb for whether or not the mass texting app you’re researching should make the cut. In some instances, you may need fewer features, and in others, you may need more. Check out everything you can do with our mass text messaging app here.
We’ve covered the how, the why, and the who. Now let’s review some real-life examples of companies who have seen success with a mass text message app.
All of the customers below used SimpleTexting (yes, that’s us.) You can download our app for free on the App Store or Google Play.
Delta Sonic is one of the largest car wash and convenience store chain in the U.S.
They use a mass text message app to communicate with thousands of customers every week. During slow seasons, they send out text blasts about promotions and services. Their text club was so well received by customers that they grew their list from zero to tens of thousands of subscribers in just a few years.
Get all the details about how Delta Sonic uses SMS.
Honey + Thyme is changing the way people think about food delivery services.
Their menu highlights local, in-season ingredients and changes every week. Text messages help them keep customers up-to-date on the latest items that are available to order. Read more about how they drive orders with text messages.
As we explained in this article, a mass text message app should do more than just send messages to lists of people.
South Arkansas Community College uses the 2-way messaging feature of SimpleTexting connect with current and prospective students. Check out their success story to see how they use texts for recruitment and organizing campus tours.
After working together with thousands of customers, including Fortune 500 companies and small businesses, we’ve learned exactly what makes a text message app the best.
We’re confident in our app, which is why we let anyone try it completely free for 14 days. No credit card need.
Alfredo leads the marketing team at SimpleTexting. In addition to writing about SMS, he also talks about it—literally. He narrates our how-to videos.
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