5 Best Mass Texting Services

If you run a business that has been collecting phone numbers as part of your customer data for a while, you're sitting on an untapped resource for growing your company. It's time you put those numbers to work by employing mass texting services. These services allow businesses to send bulk SMS or MMS messages to a large audience quickly and efficiently, helping them disseminate information, promote products or services and engage with their customers in a personal and direct way.

But before you plunk down a chunk of your precious marketing budget, make sure you're putting your cache of phone numbers in good hands. Choosing the right mass text messaginging service is crucial for your business as it can significantly influence your customer engagement, marketing efforts and, ultimately, your bottom line.

Our Top Picks for Best Mass Texting Services

• Textedly - Best for small businesses
• SlickText - Best for marketing campaigns
• ExpertTexting - Best for contract-free
• TrueDialog - Best for quick setup
• Red Oxygen - Best for automation

Best Mass Texting Services Reviews

Why we chose it: Textedly offers a variety of features tailored for small businesses and has no setup fees. It's also powerful enough that small businesses can scale and not have to find a new texting service.

Textedly's intuitive platform enables businesses to collect subscribers, create campaigns, schedule messages, view analytics and more. Businesses can also personalize messages, run polls and use it as a customer support channel. Messages aren't limited to 160 characters, so you can send longer messages and URL links. MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) allows you to send images, videos, product coupons and more.

The platform also has over 3,000 integrations, including most of the software you'll likely use. While the customizability is great for small businesses, it also means you’re unlikely to hit a ceiling in terms of functionality.

All plans include custom keywords, automation, free incoming messages and picture messaging. Text-to-pay and Google business reviews are available starting with the Plus plan. The number of customized keywords and the volume of text messages vary with each plan. Each account has a telecom surcharge of $7 a month, which is a blanket fee imposed by mobile carriers on top of the regular pricing for sending text messages. If you need additional users, they'll cost you $10 a month each.

Textedly has a whopping 13 separate plans that provide scalability to accommodate your business as it expands. These options range from the Basic plan ($26/month for 500 text messages and one custom keyword) to the Champion plan ($2,999/month for 200,000 messages and 50 custom keywords). Annual and month-to-month plans are available at the same price.

For support, customers can contact Textedly through a form on its website, email at help@textedly.com or call 855-600-6001. They can also text for support at 855-944-0211. Textedly's support is available for all plans from Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m. CST and Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. CST.

Why we chose it: SlickText tailors its advanced features for automating and evaluating the success of marketing campaigns.

With SlickText's sleek interface, even new users can get marketing campaigns up and running. Many users may want to focus on MMS because it allows you to send rich media, such as images, videos and audio clips to your customers. This visual stimulus captures more attention compared to traditional SMS.

Plus, the platform's extensive feature set allows you to fine-tune and automate your strategies for messaging customers. You can plan delayed messages with drip campaigns, send birthday messages and segment your lists to drive engagement. Additionally, the provided analytics can help you measure the success of your campaigns and make adjustments.

SlickText offers direct integration with platforms like Shopify and HubSpot, along with real-time data syncing with email marketing services like MailChimp, Constant Contact and ActiveCampaign. Additionally, SlickText can be connected with thousands of other services via Zapier, an automation tool.

All plans include free incoming texts, MMS and live customer support. The more expensive the plan, the more "textwords" (words people use to subscribe to your lists) you get.

SlickText offers a range of plans to accommodate businesses of various sizes, although the Canada plans are generally the equivalent price or more expensive and come with fewer messages. If you need more than what a plan provides, you'll have to contact the company for its Enterprise pricing.

• Free trial - 14 days/50 messages

• The Basic - $29 per month/500 messages/two textwords

• The Step Up - $49 per month/1,000 messages/four textwords

• The Lil Bro - $79 per month/2,000 messages/six textwords

• The Big Bro - $139 per month/3,600 messages/eight textwords/automated workflows/one-on-one onboarding

• The Boss - $189 per month/5,000 messages/14 textwords/automated workflows/one-on-one onboarding

• The Albatross - $350 per month/10,000 messages/16 textwords/automated workflows/one-on-one onboarding

• The Whale - $750 per month/25,000 messages/20 textwords/automated workflows/one-on-one onboarding

• The Monstro - $1,250 per month/50,000 messages/30 textwords/automated workflows/one-on-one onboarding

SlickText provides extensive customer support via phone, chat, email and a contact form on its website. Phone and chat support are available from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST from Monday to Friday. SlickText also provides an extensive help center with answers to common questions.

Why we chose it: ExpertTexting uses a pay-as-you-go model, offering flexibility for businesses that do not want to commit to long-term contracts.

If you're willing to forego advanced features and a modern interface, ExpertTexting allows you to stretch your mass texting budget. It's a bare-bones kind of service that spares you from bearing the expense for features you may not need. Plus, you can send your SMS to almost any country in the world.

If you need to plug the service into existing CRM or marketing software, you'll have to do it with API integration. It's not quite as seamless as other platforms, as you'll have to have some technical know-how in setting up the APIs.

Pricing at ExpertTexting is based on a pay-as-you-go model, which is generally much cheaper than contract platforms. One perk of this structure is that there is no cap on the maximum number of messages you can send. This makes ExpertTexting a great choice for a business that has irregular or seasonal texting needs. However, it can be a little confusing to estimate what your total cost per month will be due to fees and the pricing structures for different kinds of messages, as explained below.

ExpertTexting gives you $1 free to test its services, which you can use for up to 100 SMS messages. The website doesn't explain how fees might factor into this trial run.

ExpertTexting offers various pricing options based on the type of usage:

• 10DLC (10-Digit Long Code) for US networks, associated with A2P (application to person): $0.012 for both outbound and inbound messages, with recurring fees varying based on the volume of messages per day.

• Toll-Free Number (0800 number): $0.012 for both outbound and inbound messages to any number in the USA, with a recurring fee of $5 per month for a dedicated toll-free number. Messages are capped at 25,000 per 24 hours.

• Dedicated Shortcodes (5-6 digits): $0.012 for outbound messages and free for inbound. The setup fee is a $1,500 one-time payment, with recurring fees of $3,000 (standard) or $4,500 (vanity) quarterly.

• MMS: $0.036 for outbound messages to any number in the USA and free for inbound SMS, with a recurring fee of $1 per month.

ExpertTexting provides customer support via a contact form, promising to respond within a few hours during normal business hours (Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST). They also offer live chat 24/7 and phone support, although the hours of operation for this service are not specified.

Why we chose it: TrueDialog stands out due to its simple three-step setup process, making it an optimal choice for businesses that need to kickstart their SMS marketing campaigns without delay.

Designed to get small or large businesses up and messaging quickly, TrueDialog offers an intuitive interface as well as mobile apps for working on the go. The platform handles typical tasks like opt-in/out, click-to-call and scheduling.

TrueDialog integrates with many popular CRM platforms. However, this feature is only available with the Business Pro plan and up. TrueDialog also offers cheaper API plans if you have developers who are in need of greater control.

All plans come equipped with TrueDialog's suite of features and unlimited contacts. On the Small Business plan, exceeding your message allotment incurs overage rates starting at $0.02 per message. That rate gradually decreases to $0.01 per message for the Custom Enterprise plan.

For businesses requiring API usage, TrueDialog offers competitive API pricing with a structure based on the volume of SMS and MMS messages. It also provides affordable pricing options for cell phone numbers and shortcodes, making it a comprehensive solution for businesses looking to leverage SMS marketing.

TrueDialog operates under a flexible pricing structure, accommodating various business sizes and needs. Additional 10DLC registration fees and carrier fees apply and are not included in the pricing tiers. The tiers include:

• Small Business: $99 per month for 5,000 messages/minutes, which includes no setup fee and email support

• Business Pro: $375 per month for 25,000 messages/minutes, with a dedicated account representative and no setup fee

• Enterprise: $899 per month for 75,000 messages/minutes, with a dedicated account representative, onsite consultation and no setup fee

• Custom Enterprise: $2,499 per month for 250,000 messages/minutes, with a dedicated account representative, on-site consultation and no setup fee

For support, prospective customers can reach out to TrueDialog via phone (512-501-5940), email (info@TrueDialog.com), live chat, website form or by texting “EASY” to 370370. The company’s website doesn't list available hours.

Why We Chose It: Red Oxygen integrates smoothly with applications like Microsoft Office and Google, enabling automated SMS directly from your working software.

Red Oxygen's suite of features is designed to enhance automation and streamline communication. The company’s personalization technology allows for the customization of messages with recipients’ names or other relevant data. You can also personalize these messages using templates and merge fields to send mass communications more efficiently. This feature saves time and reduces effort, making it an excellent choice for businesses seeking to optimize and streamline their communication processes.

Every Red Oxygen account comes with a host of standard features, including unlimited customer support via phone, chat or email, full access to all of its products with the same login credentials. Red Oxygen offers a free trial but doesn't list specifics. It operates under a flexible pricing structure with various pricing tiers designed to cater to different needs. The pricing tiers include the following:

• Extra Small Plan: For $30 per month, businesses get 600 messages, one dedicated number, unlimited users and overage costs of $0.05 per SMS. It also requires a one-time activation fee of $39.

• Small Plan: For $90 per month, businesses get 2,000 messages, five dedicated numbers, unlimited users and overage costs of $0.045 per SMS. It also requires a one-time activation fee of $49.

• Medium Plan: For $252 per month, businesses get 6,000 messages, seven dedicated numbers, unlimited users and overage costs of $0.042 per SMS. It also requires a one-time activation fee of $59.

• Large Plan: For $550 per month, businesses get 15,000 messages, 10 dedicated numbers, unlimited users and overage costs of $0.036 per SMS. It also requires a one-time activation fee of $99.

• Extra Large Plan: For $1,900 per month, businesses get 80,000 messages, 50 dedicated numbers, unlimited users and overage costs of $0.023 per SMS. It also requires a one-time activation fee of $199.

These plans come with optional add-ons like additional dedicated numbers and call-forwarding. Prices don't include certain U.S. carrier mandated fees such as the surcharge of $0.004 per SMS.

In addition to 24/7 email and live chat support, Red Oxygen has a form available on its website for technical support. The company also offers support over the phone with offices in the U.S., Australia, Canada, U.K. and New Zealand, although the operating hours are not specified.

Other Companies We Considered

While our top picks represent some of the best mass texting services in the market, there are other worthwhile providers to consider. These companies also offer quality services but did not make our top list for a variety of reasons.

TextMagic

While TextMagic offers a good range of features and a user-friendly interface, it has limited integration capabilities. This could potentially restrict the platform's functionality for businesses that require integrations with other software. Additionally, not all features are available in all countries, limiting its global usability.

SendPulse

Despite offering a broad range of communication channels and good customer service, SendPulse lacks the depth of SMS-focused features that other platforms provide. This makes it less suitable for businesses looking for a dedicated SMS marketing solution.

Mobiniti

While Mobiniti offers a wide variety of unique features, some users have reported having difficulty navigating the platform. This may result in a steeper learning curve for businesses new to SMS marketing. Additionally, Mobiniti has limited international reach compared to other platforms, making it less suitable for businesses with a global customer base.

Mass Texting Services Guide

When it comes to reaching your audience directly and efficiently, few methods can rival mass texting services. Mass texting, also known as bulk text messaging, is simultaneously sending one message to a large group of people. Even though many people prefer texting over phone calls, you may still need the best call center software to cater to those who aren't as savvy with mobile devices.

Main things to know before choosing mass texting services

When selecting software, it's crucial to consider your business needs. Think about the size of your contact list and the anticipated monthly message volume. Equally important are the pricing model and contract terms the software offers.

Mass texting comes with many government restrictions put in place to protect consumers. So make sure you comply with regulations regarding how you get your phone numbers.

What is the average cost of mass texting services?

The cost of mass texting services can vary widely depending on the provider, the number of texts you plan to send and additional features you might need. Prices can range from free trials for a few messages to thousands of dollars for larger volumes of texts and advanced features.

Remember, these companies based their pricing on a per-text model, which means you pay a certain amount for each text sent up to a maximum. Some providers also offer volume discounts, so the more texts you send, the lower your per-text cost.

How do mass texting services work?

Mass texting services work by allowing you to send one message to a large group of recipients simultaneously. You typically upload your list of contacts to the service's platform, craft your message and then send it to everyone on your list with just a few clicks. Some services also integrate with cloud platforms, so if you want to store your contact list in the cloud, check out the best cloud storage solutions for small businesses. Many platforms can also message individuals, which is handy for things like wishing customers a happy birthday and sending them a discount code on their special day.

Many services also offer automation features, which allow you to schedule messages in advance and set up auto-responses based on certain triggers. For instance, you could set up an auto-response that sends a specific message whenever someone texts a particular keyword to your number. This can be particularly useful for things like customer service and marketing campaigns.

What are the benefits of mass texting services?

Mass texting services offer numerous benefits for businesses, particularly in efficiency and reach. Given that most people have their mobile phones within reach at all times, they are likely to see and read text messages much faster than emails or other types of communication. This makes mass texting a highly effective way to disseminate information quickly.

In addition, many mass texting services offer features that can improve and streamline your communication strategy. For example, automation can reduce manual work and ensure timely communication with your audience. Integration with other software can sync your communication with your broader marketing or customer service strategy. Mass texting is a highly scalable solution supporting communication with a growing audience as your business expands.

If mass texting has created a surge in your business, consider the best inventory management software to keep up with demand.

How We Found the Best Mass Texting Services

• Price per month: We examined each provider's pricing plans, considering both the cost of the fundamental service and any additional charges for supplemental features.

• Max messages per month: This can limit your ability to communicate with your audience, especially if you have an extensive contact list or send messages frequently. A good service should accommodate your growing business's need for sending lots of messages.

• Features: We looked closely at features including automation capability, analytics, customization possibilities and multi-media message handling. These features may significantly improve your message approach by giving you additional opportunities to interact with your audience and gauge the success of your communications.

• Integrations: A successful integration can simplify your processes and increase the effectiveness of your communication plan.

• Customer support: We evaluated the support options provided by each service, such as live chat, email support and phone support.

Summary of the Best Mass Texting Services of 2023

• Textedly - Best for small businesses
• SlickText - Best for marketing campaigns
• ExpertTexting - Best for contract-free
• TrueDialog - Best for quick setup
• Red Oxygen - Best for automation