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The 9 Best Apps to Text From Your Computer
Find out why I chose these nine apps to text customers from your computer and which are best for SMS marketing.
Find out why I chose these nine apps to text customers from your computer and which are best for SMS marketing.
Texting lets you connect with customers on the go, and it’s often less obtrusive than calling or emailing.
But texts become less convenient when you’re juggling dozens of conversations and mass text campaigns from a small screen.
How can you enjoy the benefits of SMS marketing without sacrificing convenience?
You need a computer texting app that’s affordable, has business-friendly features, and provides an intuitive user experience.
Take a look below at the nine most popular small business texting platforms for computers to see which is right for your business.
SimpleTexting’s business texting software lets you send texts from a computer in seconds. It syncs your messages to the SimpleTexting iOS or Android app so you can send MMS messages, manage text campaigns, and chat with customers on the go.
We’ll help you text-enable your existing number, if you have one, or set up as many new business text numbers as you need. Each plan comes with three user seats, and you can purchase additional seats if your whole team wants to text customers and sales leads.
Want to automate tasks and sync customer data? Integrate SimpleTexting with the tools your business relies on, like appointment reminder software, customer relationship management platforms, invoicing apps, email marketing apps, and more.
Though I’m a tad biased and see SimpleTexting as the best text app for computers, I’m not alone:
SimpleTexting has flexible pricing options for businesses of every size, with the lowest plan starting at $29/month for 500 messaging credits.
If you don’t use all your credits in one month, they’ll roll over to the next month. If you need more credits, you can easily add them anytime using the self-serve billing dashboard.
Try SimpleTexting free for 14 days to see how user-friendly it is for sending texts from your computer.
Have an Android phone number? MightyText’s messaging app allows you to send and receive messages from your Android device, Mac, or PC. The company’s mission is to make it easier to send SMS and MMS messages from multiple devices.
Customers have reported that the application is slow or glitchy at times, but others say it’s sufficient for sending messages to clients from their desktop.
On the free version, you can:
Paid users get access to the features on the free plan, plus:
MightyText has a free version with limited functionality, and the MightyText Pro plan is $11.99/month.
Messages by Google is a sleek, simple app that allows you to send texts from your computer. It’s intended to help you manage conversations with friends and family, but you could use it for business if you only have a handful of customers that you need to connect with.
Like MightyText, you need an Android device and a text-enabled number to use Messages.
Messages by Google is free for all users.
Google Voice for business is another communication app from syncs your calls, text messages, and voicemail across multiple devices.
I don’t recommend this computer texting service if you plan to send text campaigns. There’s a contact limit for group text messages, and your account can be flagged for spam if you send too many bulk messages.
If you just need to send one-on-one messages to clients, though, Google Voice is a cost-effective option. Just keep your messages under 160 characters, since the application will larger messages into multiple texts.
Google Voice for business plans start at $10/month per user, and you’ll need to sign up for Google Workspace for $6/month.
OpenPhone’s messaging system brings your calls, texts, and contacts together in one multi-device platform.
One key advantage it has over most other texting platforms is that you can send texts outside of North America. Plus, it integrates with third-party apps so you can connect with other tools your team uses.
For group messaging, you’re limited to nine contacts per group, and the feature isn’t available on toll-free numbers.
Key OpenPhone features:
Try OpenPhone free for seven days. Paid plans start at $17/month per user.
With Pulse SMS, you can sync your text conversations on all Android devices, including Android TV, Apple devices, and popular web browsers. I like how clean the platform’s user interface is and the fact that there’s no limit to the number of contacts you can add to a group text.
The drawback is that, from what I can tell, you can’t organize contacts into lists or send one text to many people at once (without them seeing other contacts’ replies).
Key Pulse SMS features:
Pulse SMS is free to use (with ads) on mobile. A subscription for multi-device usage is $99 for lifetime usage, $10.99 per year, or $1.99 per month.
With its synchronization feature, mysms allows you to access your entire message history across all devices—like your computer, tablet, and phone. The platform also supports multimedia messaging, including pictures and videos.
Its user-friendly design, reliable delivery, and message encryption make mysms a top choice for multi-device texting. Like Pulse SMS, though, you can’t send mass text messages where contacts can’t see each other’s responses.
Mysms is free for multi-device usage and basic messaging features. For scheduled texts, full message history, and other premium features, you’ll pay $9.99/month. You can try the platform’s premium plan free for 14 days.
Like the other apps on this list, Pushbullet’s platform gives you access to your text messages on your computer and mobile devices. It also lets you send and receive files, share links, and sync your clipboard across devices.
Pushbullet is easy to use, but it lacks advanced features like contact lists, personalization, and message scheduling. This app is better suited for businesses that only need one-on-one messaging features and don’t plan to use it for SMS marketing.
Pushbullet is free with limited features and a sending limit of 100 messages per month. For full access to its features and unlimited messages, subscribe to the Pro plan, which is $4.99/month or $3.33/month paid annually.
AirDroid, an Android device management company, offers tools to connect your calls, texts, and app notifications to your computer. On its Premium plan, you can import contact lists and sync messages across 10 devices (even iOS devices).
Unfortunately, you can’t send MMS or group text messages with AirDroid’s app, but you can message customers one-on-one.
AirDroid Personal is free for basic features and starts at $2.50/month for its Premium plan.
The nine apps on this list are the most popular service providers that you’ll come across when you look for an SMS app. I spent hours testing and researching these apps so you can compare their features, pricing, and device support.
This piece was published June 15, 2023, and was written by Dani Henion.
Dani Henion is the content team lead at SimpleTexting and is continuously looking for ways to make text messaging strategies and tips more accessible to SMBs. When she's not writing or planning new SMS content, you'll find her decorating elaborate sugar cookies or thrifting in Atlanta.
More Posts from Dani HenionTake a peek at Postino’s text-to-vote campaign to increase sales and customer loyalty, and learn how you can adapt it to your own business.
ReadYou probably don’t want to text from your personal phone number for business purposes. So, learn how to use SimpleTexting to text from a different number using the same phone.
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