Looking for the best SMS marketing software? I shortlisted the top nine platforms to help you find your business's next SMS marketing tool.
SMS marketing software are service providers that help businesses and organizations send text message marketing campaigns to their customers and contacts. SMS marketing is sometimes referred to as bulk texting, mass texting, and bulk SMS.
Pretty straightforward, right?
In your search, you may also see these SMS marketing software synonyms:
Platform | Starting Price (billed monthly) | Free Trial | Key Features |
SimpleTexting | $29/mo. For 500 credits | 14-day trial with 50 credits and one keyword | – AI Assist (message generator) – URL shortener – Unlimited keywords – SMS polls and surveys – Data collection – MMS |
EZ Texting | $25/mo. + $0.03/message for up to 500 contacts (comes with 500 free credits) | 14 days with 120 credits | – Unlimited keywords (for an additional cost) – QR codes – Shutterstock image tool – MMS |
Textedly | $26/mo. for 500 credits | 14-day trial with 50 credits and one keyword | – Data collection – Voice services – Instagram texting button – MMS |
TextMagic | $0.04 per message | 30-day trial with $0.40 in messaging credits | – Send SMS via email – SMS surveys |
HeyMarket | $24/user/mo, plus $30/month for 1,000 credits. Two user minimum. | 14-day trial | – Multichannel management (iMessage, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp) – Call forwarding – Customer sentiment ratings – Suggested responses |
SlickText | $29/mo. For 500 credits | 14-day trial with 50 credits | – URL shortener – SMS polls and surveys – Website popups – Loyalty rewards – QR codes – MMS |
Postscript | $0.015 per SMS and $0.045 per MMS | 30-day trial with $1,000 worth of messaging credits | – Cart abandonment text messages – Back-in-stock alerts – A/B testing |
Klaviyo | $35/month for 5,000 emails and 1,250 SMS credits | Free plan for 250 contacts or fewer, 500 email credits, and 150 SMS/MMS credits | – Drag and drop automation builder – Personalized benchmarks – A/B testing – Personalized product recommendations – Multichannel attribution |
Podium | $289/mo. for 100 bulk messages, 1,000 contacts, and three team members | 14-day trial | – Built-in payment processor – VOIP system – Website chat |
Because I work in the SMS marketing industry, I have a solid idea of which texting platforms are the top players. I signed up for each tool and tested out some actions that marketers and business owners use these platforms for:
I also spent time poking around the dashboards to see what apps and third-party integrations are available.
Finally, I sifted through customer reviews to see common praise and complaints and made a note of the pricing packages offered by each platform.
Even if you only plan to send a simple promotional text once in a while, you never know when you’ll need to scale your text marketing efforts.
At a minimum, choose a platform that offers these SMS marketing software features:
For most businesses that use text messaging, mass texting is a non-negotiable feature. It allows you to send one message—like promotions, announcements, and alerts—to many contacts at once.
For example, an e-commerce marketer might send a mass text to a list of their VIP customers for an exclusive sale.
Automatic texting features allow you to trigger text messages based on keywords and contact behavior. For example, you can create autoresponders that welcome contacts to your list when they text a keyword to your number, and you can answer frequently asked questions even when you’re out of office.
With scheduled texting, you can send messages at a specific time and date. Your contacts receive the right message at the right time, and you don’t have to manually send each campaign. Win-win.
Build relationships with your contacts through two-way text message conversations. You can answer their questions and help them make the right purchase in real time via text.
Invite contacts to join your text list in a convenient way with SMS keywords. For example, a coffee shop could create the keyword VIPBREWS to encourage sign-ups for their VIP customer list. If this is a feature that interests you, look for SMS marketing apps that offer unlimited keywords for every plan.
Speaking of campaign performance, look for features like analytics dashboards and campaign performance charts. If you can’t see metrics like link clicks and opt-out rates, you could be wasting time and money on the wrong strategies.
Select a platform that is backed by a responsive, knowledgeable customer support team that has coverage every day of the week. That way, you’ll have someone dedicated to helping you resolve issues or walk you through how to use certain features, even if you’re launching a campaign over the weekend.
You can find out what current customers think about a software company’s customer service by reading third-party reviews on sites like G2, TrustRadius, and Capterra.
Which bulk texting platform will work best for you depends on your business needs and goals. Here are a few factors to consider when making your decision:
SimpleTexting offers a user-friendly platform with a comprehensive set of features that are available across all pricing plans:
With built-in tools like web forms and keywords, you can easily acquire more contacts with just a few clicks.
The best part is that you can use SimpleTexting on your computer or on their mobile app, so you’ll never miss a message from your customers.
If you use Zapier, you can connect SimpleTexting to your other favorite business tools and platforms, or you can have SimpleTexting’s team create and maintain custom integrations for you.
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Customer Ratings
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SimpleTexting’s plans start at $29/month, which gives you 500 messaging credits. If you don’t use all of your credits for the month, they’ll roll over to the next month (for one month only). If you need more credits, you can add them at any time using the self-serve billing dashboard.
You can try SimpleTexting free for 14 days. We won’t ask for your credit card information until you’re ready to upgrade. That way, you can see if it’s the right fit for you before you commit.
If you’re new to SMS marketing or aren’t comfortable using most SaaS tools, you’ll love EZ Texting‘s intuitive messaging platform and helpful features. They’re the only SMS marketing service that offers a native integration with Shutterstock for stock photos, which can save you time when looking for the perfect image for your MMS campaigns.
What’s really great is that EZ Texting also provides a beginner’s guide, so you can get up and running quickly without feeling overwhelmed. And if you’re still not sure, you can try the platform for free for 14 days to see if it’s the right fit for you.
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EZ Texting offers four different pricing tiers to choose from: Launch, Boost, Scale, and Enterprise.
Plan name | Monthly cost | Recommended number of contacts | Cost per message |
Launch | $25 | Up to 500 | $0.030 |
Boost | $75 | 500-2,000 | $0.025 |
Scale | $125 | 2,000-50,000 | $0.020 |
Enterprise | $3,000 | 50,000+ | $0.010 |
Each plan comes with 500 free credits, except for the Enterprise plan, which comes with 200,000 free credits.
Textedly is a great option for small businesses with a tight budget. This bulk texting platform is simple yet effective, offering just the right suite of features to help you get your messages out there without breaking the bank.
If you’re looking for more texting power beyond the basic features, Textedly offers advanced apps for an additional one-time fee. These include personalization, auto-replies, an Instagram texting integration, and drip campaigns.
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Textedly offers eight pricing tiers, ranging from $26/mo. for 600 messaging credits and one keyword to the $349/month plan, which includes 18,000 credits and seven keywords.
You can also try this mass SMS platform free for 14 days with 50 credits, and they’ll create a custom plan for businesses with unique needs.
TextMagic is a solid SMS marketing platform that lets you get up and running quickly. It’s unique in that it offers international service, so you can reach customers outside the U.S. and Canada.
Though anyone can use TextMagic, its user experience and pay-as-you-go pricing structure is most useful for small businesses.
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TextMagic has a pay-as-you-go pricing model, meaning you pay by the message instead of through a monthly or annual subscription. Pricing starts at $0.04 per text to numbers in the U.S., and they offer custom pricing on message volumes of 10,000 per month or more.
Like the rest of the providers in this list, HeyMarket offers an SMS marketing program for businesses to communicate with customers and employees. What sets it apart is that you can send and receive messages across platforms like iMessage, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and more.
HeyMarket is also known for its team features like the ability to send private chats to other users on your account. Even cooler, it uses machine learning to incorporate features like sentiment, intent, and keyword analysis.
I could see this being an especially useful platform for large customer support or sales teams that need to have one-on-one conversations with leads.
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Unlike most SMS marketing providers on this list, HeyMarket charges by the user (with a two-user minimum) in addition to charges for SMS and MMS.
The Standard plan starts at $23 per user per month, and the lowest messaging subscription is $30/month for 1,000 message credits. You can also try the platform free for 14 days.
SlickText is a highly-rated SMS marketing platform with core features like two-way messaging, mass texting, MMS, and keywords. It also offers advanced capabilities like automated workflows, personalization tools, and loyalty program software.
The company also offers a solid library of how-to videos as well as one-on-one onboarding sessions for customers on higher pricing plans.
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SlickText’s pricing starts at $29/month for 500 messaging credits and that plan comes with two textwords (but doesn’t include automated workflows).
You can also try it free for 14 days with 50 messaging credits.
If you’re using Shopify to run your online store, Postscript is the tool for you. It’s designed to help Shopify stores grow their contact lists, engage in two-way conversations, and use their store’s historical data for more personalized SMS campaigns.
One of the best things about Postscript is its automation features, which help can help you recover abandoned carts, send shipping notifications, welcome new contacts, and even reward customers with loyalty offers. These features help you save time and create a better shopping experience for your customers.
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Postscript offers four different pricing tiers:
Klaviyo is a marketing platform that combines both email and SMS, and it’s perfect for online stores looking to grow and retain their customers.
It’s especially helpful for creating personalized messages and segments for your customers based on their actions in your store, like when they abandon their cart or make a purchase.
That means you can send targeted messages like order updates and review requests to specific customer groups. Plus, Klaviyo has powerful analytics to help you assess the success of your campaigns and improve on them.
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Klaviyo’s pricing is based on the number of email and SMS contacts you have and how many messages you want to send.
You can get started for just $20 a month, which includes up to 500 contacts, 150 monthly messaging credits, and 5,000 monthly email sends.
Plus, there’s a totally free plan available for those with 250 contacts or fewer. This free plan gives you 500 monthly email sends and 150 monthly messaging credits.
Designed specifically with local businesses in mind, Podium is the perfect solution to help you reach new customers and grow your business.
With its easy-to-use SMS marketing service, you can send mass text messages to your customers, request reviews to boost your reputation, chat with customers in real time, send text blasts to promote your latest offers, and even collect payments through text.
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Podium has three straightforward pricing plans:
The higher the plan, the more features you have access to. You can also try Podium free for 14 days.
Which SMS Marketing Platform Will You Choose?
The perfect SMS marketing software for you depends on your business or organization’s specific use cases. Compare the pricing, features, and reviews for the companies on your short-list, and take advantage of free trials.
To start your search, sign up for a 14-day free trial of SimpleTexting and see what all the hype is about.
This piece was originally published February, 26, 2023. It was refreshed April 7, 2023, and May 30, 2023. Dani Henion authored and refreshed this piece.