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The 14 best apps to text from your computer
Find out why I chose these fourteen apps to text customers from your computer and which are best for SMS marketing.
Find out why I chose these fourteen 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.
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.
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.
Google Messages 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.
Google Messages 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 break up 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.
Try OpenPhone free for seven days. Paid plans start at $19/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).
Pulse SMS is free to use (with ads) on mobile. A subscription for multi-device usage is $99.99 for lifetime usage, $12.99 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/year. 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.
If you use Windows 10 or 11, you might already have a text app on your computer. Microsoft Phone Link comes with these Windows versions by default and syncs with Android and iPhone devices.
After you connect your phone with Microsoft Phone Link, you can read texts and respond to them on your PC. On top of its SMS features, it offers phone calls and contact management. As a virtual go-between for your phone and PC, Microsoft Phone Link also features notification and camera roll sync.
If you use an iPhone, keep in mind that only the Windows 11 version of Microsoft Phone Link connects to that brand.
Microsoft Phone Link is free to use for Windows 10 and 11 users.
If you own Windows 10 or 11, you will automatically have Microsoft Phone Link on your computer.
Apple Messages for Mac computers wraps your favorite iOS communication apps into a computer texting software. Like Microsoft Phone Link, this app comes standard with MacOS Sonoma computers.
Messages gives you two options for messaging on your computer: Messaging other Apple users and texting through a synced iPhone. If your recipient uses an Apple device (even an iPod), you can send as many messages as you’d like from your computer. To text anyone with a phone number, you’ll need to sync your iPhone.
On top of its text messaging features, Apple Messages also lets you make FaceTime calls from a message, collaborate on documents, and share your screen.
Note that unlike Microsoft Phone Link, Apple Messages only syncs with iPhones, not Androids.
Apple Messages is free for Mac users.
Apple Messages on Mac and text message forwarding on your iPhone both come default on their respective devices.
If you’re looking for software to send bulk text messages from your computer, SlickText is a highly-rated option. According to G2 reviewers, it has great customer service. It also includes built-in automation workflows, including drip sequences.
While SlickText helps you get granular with your text marketing through its automation, you’ll have to invest in a higher pricing tier ($139+ a month) to take advantage of it. Some G2 users also highlighted the plans’ limited integration options and keywords.
If you’re willing to invest more in your text marketing and want to manage your integrations all in your text app, SlickText could be a good fit for you.
SlickText’s plans range from $29/month to $1,250/month depending on the text credits, keywords, and features you want. Text credits rollover from month to month.
You can try SlickText free for 14 days and send up to 50 text messages.
Bulk texting can also lend itself to recruiting and sales functions, which TextUs thrives on. This text app for the computer is geared toward all sorts of businesspeople, including recruiters, salespeople, HR professionals, and marketers.
Since it’s more focused on business functions outside of marketing, TextUs includes features like inbox organization, shared phone numbers, and shared inboxes to help you switch from mass texting to one-on-one conversation. It also directly integrates with CRMs such as Salesforce and HubSpot.
TextUs pricing starts at $300/month, with higher plans adding enriched campaign and automation features. While you can’t get a free trial for this app, you can request a free demo to talk about pricing with a salesperson.
There are no public download links for TextUs.
Those of you who want to manage all of your messages, whether over SMS or online, might enjoy Textedly. It has an omnichannel inbox that manages these types of messages:
Outside of the inbox, you can perform all of your favorite text marketing activities, including mass and two-way texting. Notably, it also offers extended messages with up to 455 characters for SMS messages.
Higher plan tiers also include payment and review management features.
Textedly pricing starts at $26/month for 600 monthly credits and tops out at $2,999/month for 240,000 monthly credits. You can try it for 14 days for free and send up to 50 text messages.
The fourteen 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.
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.
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