Digital Marketing & Ads

12 Best SMS Marketing Platforms for 2026 (Pros, Cons and Pricing)

Compare the 12 best sms marketing platform options for 2026 on price, free plans, and automation, with every price checked November 5, 2026.

Shamim Mia, Founder, SerpAstraLast verified November 5, 202614 min read

We compare pricing pages, documentation and public reviews. We never accept payment for rankings.

Key takeaways

  • SlickText is the best fit for most small businesses at $29/month, with SimpleTexting at $29/month and EZ Texting at $25/month close behind — and Brevo starts at $9/month if you also want email.
  • The single most important buying factor is what the headline price leaves out: carrier fees, number rental, 10DLC registration and per-message credits decide what you actually pay.
  • Free plans rarely cover SMS properly — Klaviyo gives $5 of mobile messages a month, Textedly gives 50 free messages, and Omnisend's SMS needs the $59 Pro plan.
  • A small business should start with a flat monthly plan like SlickText or EZ Texting; pay-as-you-go tools like Twilio and TextMagic suit irregular senders and developers.
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Quick comparison

Starting prices checked November 5, 2026
ToolBest forStarting priceFree plan
SlickTextSmall businesses that want every feature on every plan and a compliance-first setup from $29 a month$29/moNo (14-day trial)
SimpleTextingSmall teams that want flat, predictable campaign pricing with unlimited contacts and keywords$29/moNo (14-day trial)
EZ TextingSmall businesses that want a low entry price and pay by contact-list size rather than message volume$25/moNo (free trial)
TextedlyBudget senders and nonprofits that want the cheapest way to send bulk texts to a large list$29/moYes (50 messages)
KlaviyoEcommerce stores that already use Klaviyo for email and want SMS in the same flows$15/moYes (free plan)
BrevoSmall businesses that want email, SMS, WhatsApp and a light CRM in one cheap account$9/moYes (free plan)
OmnisendShopify stores that want email and SMS together with automation, and will pay for the Pro plan$59/moNo (SMS needs Pro)
PostscriptShopify brands that want SMS as their main revenue channel with pay-after-you-send billing$49/mo min spendNo (30-day trial)
AttentiveLarger ecommerce brands that want SMS, email, RCS and push in one enterprise platformCustom quoteNo (custom quote)
TextMagicOccasional senders and small budgets that refuse a monthly subscription$0.049/SMSNo (pay as you go)
ClickSendBusinesses that send SMS, MMS, voice and email from one dashboard and want no subscription$0.0285/SMSNo (trial credit)
TwilioDevelopers and product teams that build SMS into their own app or workflow$0.0079/SMSNo (trial credit)

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The best sms marketing platform

#1

SlickText

Best for: Small businesses that want every feature on every plan and a compliance-first setup from $29 a month

4.8/5 on G2 (1,942 reviews, checked Nov 2026)
Visit slicktext.com
Starting price$29/month (500 message credits; carrier fees passed through at cost)
Free planNo — 14-day free trial

SlickText is the simplest recommendation in this list because there is no feature ladder to climb: every plan includes automation, segmentation, popups, list-growth tools and the shared inbox, and the only thing that changes with price is how many message credits you get. The entry plan costs $29 a month for 500 credits, and unused credits roll over instead of expiring at month end.

The catch is the carrier fee, which passes through at cost on top of the plan price, so a 500-message month costs a few dollars more than $29. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial, and the service covers the US and Canada only. Choose SlickText when you want the full toolkit from day one without paying to unlock features later.

What we like

  • Every feature ships on every plan — automation, segmentation, popups and the shared inbox included from $29/month
  • Rollover credits mean unused messages carry into the next month instead of expiring
  • Unlimited contacts and users on every plan, with free incoming texts
  • Rated 4.8 out of 5 on G2 across more than 1,900 reviews, the highest score in this list

Watch out for

  • Carrier fees pass through on top of the plan price, so the bill is higher than $29 a month
  • No free plan — only a 14-day trial before you pay
  • US and Canada only, so it cannot serve an international list
#2

SimpleTexting

Best for: Small teams that want flat, predictable campaign pricing with unlimited contacts and keywords

4.7/5 on G2 (644 reviews, checked Nov 2026)
Visit simpletexting.com
Starting price$29/month (toll-free number, 500 credits; $39/month for a local number)
Free planNo — 14-day free trial

SimpleTexting works the same way as SlickText: one plan, every feature included, and the price moves only with message volume. The entry tier is $29 a month for 500 credits on a toll-free number, or $39 a month if you want a local number, and it includes unlimited contacts, unlimited keywords, three user seats and an AI writing assistant.

Watch the number type when you compare prices, because the $10 gap between toll-free and local is easy to miss, and extra users cost $20 a month each. A one-time $4 carrier registration fee applies at activation. Pick SimpleTexting when you want flat pricing, unlimited contacts and an AI assistant without upgrading tiers.

What we like

  • One plan with every feature included — you pay for message volume, not for feature tiers
  • Unlimited contacts and keywords on every plan, with rollover credits
  • AI writing assistant included, which is rare at this price
  • Three user seats included, with mass texting, two-way messaging and drip campaigns

Watch out for

  • The $29 entry price is for a toll-free number — a local number costs $39/month
  • Extra users cost $20/month each after the three included seats
  • No free plan — only a 14-day trial, and a $4 one-time carrier registration fee applies
#3

EZ Texting

Best for: Small businesses that want a low entry price and pay by contact-list size rather than message volume

4.5/5 on G2 (744 reviews, checked Nov 2026)
Visit eztexting.com
Starting price$25/month (Launch, 500 credits; $20/month billed annually; $5/month telecom fee on Launch)
Free planNo — free trial available

EZ Texting is the cheapest subscription entry in this list: Launch costs $25 a month, or $20 a month billed annually, for up to 500 contacts. Unlike the other flat plans, EZ Texting prices by how many contacts you store, so a business with a large list that sends rarely can stay on the cheapest tier for a long time.

The trap is the frozen credit ceiling. Launch, Boost and Scale all include the same 500 credits a month, so upgrading buys contacts and features, not more messages — extra sends cost $0.04 per credit on Launch. Add the $5 monthly telecom fee on Launch and one user seat only. Choose EZ Texting when your list is big and your sending is light.

What we like

  • The cheapest subscription entry here at $25/month, or $20/month billed annually
  • Plans scale by contact-list size, so a big list with light sending stays cheap
  • Unlimited incoming messages and carrier registration included on every plan
  • Long track record — the company has served more than 230,000 businesses since 2004

Watch out for

  • All three self-serve plans include the same 500 credits — upgrading buys features and contacts, not more messages
  • Launch carries a $5/month telecom fee and only one user seat; extra seats cost $10/month each
  • No free plan, and MMS burns three credits per message
#4

Textedly

Best for: Budget senders and nonprofits that want the cheapest way to send bulk texts to a large list

4.6/5 on G2 (1,403 reviews, checked Nov 2026)
Visit textedly.com
Starting price$29/month (Basic, 500 messages; $8/month telecom surcharge)
Free planYes — free plan (50 messages)

Textedly is the budget pick for straightforward bulk texting. There is a free plan with 50 messages, so you can send a real campaign before paying, and the Basic plan costs $29 a month for 500 messages. Thirteen paid tiers scale up to 200,000 messages a month, and annual billing adds about 20% more credits.

The limits are in the details: Basic includes only one keyword, so a second keyword means a higher plan, and the $8 monthly telecom surcharge brings the real entry cost to $37 a month. Automation is basic compared with SlickText or Klaviyo. Pick Textedly when the job is simple bulk texting at the lowest honest price.

What we like

  • A genuinely free 50-message plan to test the platform before paying anything
  • Thirteen paid tiers scale from 500 to 200,000 messages a month
  • Annual billing adds about 20% more message credits at the same price
  • Simple bulk texting with scheduling, recurring campaigns and auto-replies

Watch out for

  • Basic covers only one keyword — more keywords need a higher plan
  • An $8/month telecom surcharge sits on top of the $29 plan price
  • Support is live chat only on the entry plan, and automation is basic
#5

Klaviyo

Best for: Ecommerce stores that already use Klaviyo for email and want SMS in the same flows

4.6/5 on G2 (1,370 reviews, checked Nov 2026)
Visit klaviyo.com
Starting price$15/month (Mobile Messaging, 1,250 SMS credits; free plan includes $5 of mobile messages)
Free planYes — free plan (250 profiles, $5 of mobile messages a month)

Klaviyo is the pick for stores that already run email on Klaviyo, because SMS lives in the same flows, segments and automations instead of a separate tool. The free plan covers 250 profiles and $5 of mobile messages a month, and the Mobile Messaging plan starts at $15 a month for 1,250 SMS credits, with carrier fees bundled into the rate.

The catch is that SMS is a second subscription on top of the email plan, which starts at $20 a month for 251 to 500 profiles, and unused SMS dollars do not roll over. Prices also climb quickly as the list grows. Choose Klaviyo when email and SMS should share one audience, one segment and one automation.

What we like

  • The free plan covers 250 profiles, 500 emails a month and $5 of mobile messages
  • SMS, MMS, WhatsApp and RCS run inside the same flows and segments as email
  • Deep Shopify integration with ecommerce triggers for abandoned carts and post-purchase flows
  • Carrier fees are bundled into the per-message rate, so there is no separate carrier line

Watch out for

  • SMS is a separate Mobile Messaging plan on top of the email plan, so the real bill is two subscriptions
  • Unused SMS dollars do not roll over — the monthly budget resets whether you send or not
  • Prices rise fast as the contact list grows past 500 profiles
#6

Brevo

Best for: Small businesses that want email, SMS, WhatsApp and a light CRM in one cheap account

4.5/5 on G2 (2,775 reviews, checked Nov 2026)
Visit brevo.com
Starting price$9/month (Starter; SMS credits bought separately, from about $0.0109 per message)
Free planYes — free plan (300 emails a day; SMS credits prepaid)

Brevo is the cheapest way into multichannel marketing: Starter costs $9 a month, the free plan stores up to 100,000 contacts with 300 emails a day, and SMS can be added to any plan — including the free one — with prepaid credits that never expire. One account covers email, SMS, WhatsApp, live chat and a basic sales CRM.

Read the price carefully, because $9 buys email only; SMS credits cost about $0.0109 per message on top, and automation does not arrive until Standard at $18 a month. Starter also stores only 500 contacts at the entry email volume. Pick Brevo when you want email and SMS in one cheap account and can live without automation at first.

What we like

  • The cheapest paid entry here at $9/month, with a free plan that stores 100,000 contacts
  • SMS can be added to any plan, including the free plan, with prepaid credits that never expire
  • One account covers email, SMS, WhatsApp, live chat and a sales CRM
  • Yearly billing saves 10% on the Starter plan

Watch out for

  • SMS credits are bought separately — the $9 plan price buys email only
  • Automation is not included on Starter; it starts on Standard at $18/month
  • Starter stores only 500 contacts at the 5,000-email tier, far below the free plan's 100,000
#7

Omnisend

Best for: Shopify stores that want email and SMS together with automation, and will pay for the Pro plan

Visit omnisend.com
Starting price$59/month (Pro; SMS credits bought separately, from $0.007/SMS)
Free planNo — SMS requires the Pro plan ($59/month)

Omnisend is built for Shopify stores, with pre-built abandoned-cart, welcome and post-purchase workflows that work the day you install it, and segmentation based on what customers actually bought. The catch is the plan structure: since May 4, 2026, new accounts can only buy SMS on the Pro plan, which starts at $59 a month, with SMS credits bought separately from $0.007 per message.

That makes Omnisend the most expensive SMS entry for a new store in this list, even though Standard email starts at $16 a month — Standard simply has no SMS for new accounts. Choose Omnisend when you run a Shopify store, want ready-made automations, and will pay Pro for SMS done properly.

What we like

  • Pre-built abandoned-cart, welcome and post-purchase workflows ready the same day
  • Pro includes unlimited email sends and SMS credits equal to the plan cost on legacy setups
  • Deep native Shopify integration with segmentation on purchase behaviour
  • 24/7 live chat and email support on every plan, including the free plan

Watch out for

  • SMS is not available on the Standard plan for new accounts — it requires Pro at $59/month plus separate SMS credits
  • The free plan includes 60 SMS credits, but new free accounts cannot buy SMS credits
  • Contact-based pricing climbs steeply: Standard jumps from $16 at 500 contacts to about $115 at 10,000
#8

Postscript

Best for: Shopify brands that want SMS as their main revenue channel with pay-after-you-send billing

4.8/5 on G2 (161 reviews, checked Nov 2026)
Visit postscript.io
Starting price$49/month minimum spend (Starter, $0 platform fee; $0.009/SMS plus carrier fees)
Free planNo — 30-day free trial ($100 credit)

Postscript is the SMS specialist for Shopify: the Starter plan has a $0 platform fee, messages cost $0.009 each plus carrier fees, and you pay after you send — no prepaid balances, no expiring credits, no overage surprises. A dedicated toll-free number and verification are included free, and compliance is built into the popups, checkout collection and list-growth tools.

The number to remember is the $49 monthly minimum spend, which applies even in a quiet month, so a brand that sends rarely still pays $49. Off-Shopify brands need the SDK, and a dedicated short code costs $750 a month. Choose Postscript when SMS is a main revenue channel for a Shopify store.

What we like

  • No prepaid balances, expiring credits or overages — you pay after you send
  • A dedicated toll-free number and verification are included free on every plan
  • Compliance is built into list-growth tools, popups and checkout collection
  • No contract required — monthly billing with free upgrades and downgrades at any time

Watch out for

  • Shopify-first: brands off Shopify need the SDK to use it
  • The $49 monthly minimum spend applies even in a quiet month
  • Carrier fees pass through on top of the per-message rate, and a short code costs $750/month
#9

Attentive

Best for: Larger ecommerce brands that want SMS, email, RCS and push in one enterprise platform

4.5/5 on G2 (1,483 reviews, checked Nov 2026)
Visit attentive.com
Starting priceCustom quote (no published prices; contracts commonly carry a quarterly minimum)
Free planNo — no free plan or trial published

Attentive is the enterprise end of this list: SMS, email, RCS and push in one platform, with a patented two-tap mobile signup that grows lists faster than a standard form and AI Essentials included free on every plan. It is built for larger ecommerce brands that send at serious volume and want one vendor for every mobile channel.

There is no published price anywhere on the vendor's site — every deal is a custom quote, and contracts commonly carry a $2,000 to $3,000 quarterly minimum spend with no rollover of unused volume. That rules it out for most small businesses. Choose Attentive when the list is large, the budget is enterprise, and one platform should run every channel.

What we like

  • Patented two-tap mobile signup grows subscriber lists faster than standard forms
  • AI Essentials is included free across all plans, with AI Pro and AI Grow as add-ons
  • Unified SMS, email, RCS and push in one platform with ecommerce integrations
  • Rated 4.5 out of 5 on G2 across nearly 1,500 reviews, with support reviewers praise

Watch out for

  • No published prices — every deal is a custom quote after a sales conversation
  • Contracts commonly carry a $2,000–$3,000 quarterly minimum spend with no rollover
  • Long-term agreements are the norm, which small brands find hard to justify
#10

TextMagic

Best for: Occasional senders and small budgets that refuse a monthly subscription

4.4/5 on G2 (128 reviews, checked Nov 2026)
Visit textmagic.com
Starting pricePay as you go ($0.049 per US SMS; $10/month number and $10/month 10DLC after month one)
Free planNo — pay as you go, no subscription

TextMagic is the no-commitment pick: there is no monthly account fee, credits never expire, and US texts cost $0.049 each. Inbound SMS is free, MMS costs $0.08, and WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram conversations plus a shared team inbox come at no extra charge. A bring-your-own-carrier option cuts the TextMagic-side rate to $0.01 per message part.

The honest cost is higher than the headline rate suggests. A dedicated number and 10DLC registration are free only in the first month, then $10 a month each — a $20 monthly floor — and at $0.049 a message, 10,000 texts cost $490. Pick TextMagic when you send irregularly and refuse to pay for months you do not use.

What we like

  • No monthly account fee and credits that never expire — you only pay for what you send
  • Inbound SMS is free, and MMS costs a flat $0.08 per message
  • WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram conversations plus a shared team inbox at no extra charge
  • Bring-your-own-carrier option cuts the TextMagic-side rate to $0.01 per message part

Watch out for

  • At $0.049 per SMS it is the priciest per-message rate here — 10,000 texts cost $490
  • A number and 10DLC registration are free only in month one, then $10/month each
  • Professional and Connect plan prices are not published — you must sign up to see them
#11

ClickSend

Best for: Businesses that send SMS, MMS, voice and email from one dashboard and want no subscription

Visit clicksend.com
Starting pricePay as you go ($0.0285 per US SMS on a $20 top-up; plus $0.0041 carrier fee)
Free planNo — free trial credit (first 25 messages free)

ClickSend is a pay-as-you-go platform with no subscription, monthly minimum or contract: you top up prepaid credit and send. One account covers SMS, MMS, voice, email, fax and physical mail, and the per-message rate falls as your top-up grows — $0.0285 per US SMS on a $20 top-up, down to $0.0093 on a $2,000 top-up. Inbound replies are free.

Two details matter. First, the advertised rate excludes a $0.0041 carrier fee on every SMS, so the real entry cost is about $0.0326 a message. Second, the discount depends on how much credit you buy at once, not how much you send. Choose ClickSend when you want several channels in one prepaid account without a monthly bill.

What we like

  • No subscription, monthly minimum or contract — top up prepaid credit and send
  • One account covers SMS, MMS, voice, email, fax and physical mail
  • Rates fall with top-up size: $0.0285 per SMS on a $20 top-up down to $0.0093 at $2,000
  • Inbound replies are free, and credits never expire

Watch out for

  • The advertised rate excludes a $0.0041 per-message carrier fee on every SMS
  • Volume discounts depend on how much credit you top up at once, not how much you send
  • A dedicated number is required to send in the US, and short codes cost over $1,000 a month
#12

Twilio

Best for: Developers and product teams that build SMS into their own app or workflow

Visit twilio.com
Starting pricePay as you go ($0.0079 per US SMS segment; no monthly platform fee)
Free planNo — trial credit for new accounts

Twilio is the developer pick in this list, and it is here because it is the cheapest way to send a text: $0.0079 per US SMS segment, with no monthly platform fee and no minimum on most products. It reaches more than 200 countries, offers over 400 integrations, and is the default API that other tools in this list build on.

But Twilio is an API, not a marketing platform. There are no campaigns, segments, signup forms or automations — you build all of that yourself, and compliance is your job too, from brand registration to opt-ins. Choose Twilio when a developer is building SMS into a product; choose anything above it when a marketer needs to send campaigns.

What we like

  • The cheapest per-message rate here at $0.0079 per US SMS segment, with no monthly platform fee
  • Global reach across 200-plus countries with sub-second delivery
  • More than 400 integrations and a developer community of over 9 million
  • Pay as you go with no monthly minimum on most products

Watch out for

  • It is an API, not a marketing platform — there are no campaigns, segments or signup forms
  • Compliance is your job: brand and campaign registration, opt-ins and carrier rules
  • Carrier fees and number rentals sit on top of the per-message rate

The best sms marketing platform for a small business is the one whose price covers the whole job — the plan, the messages, the number and the carrier fees — without a surprise tier or surcharge. We ranked the 12 tools below by fit for the most common buyer, a small business sending a few hundred to a few thousand texts a month, and every price was checked on the vendor's own pricing page on November 5, 2026.

How to choose the best sms marketing platform

  • Count messages, not contacts, first. Most plans charge by message credits, and a long message or an MMS costs more than one credit — so check how many credits your real campaigns use before comparing headline prices.
  • Add the hidden fees before you compare. Carrier fees, number rental, 10DLC registration and telecom surcharges add $5 to $20 a month on most plans here, and they are the difference between the advertised price and the real one.
  • Decide whether SMS stands alone or sits with email. Klaviyo, Brevo and Omnisend run SMS beside email in one account; SlickText, SimpleTexting and TextMagic are SMS-first and do email badly or not at all.
  • Check the free plan's real limits. A free plan that covers email but not SMS, like Omnisend's, does not help a texting buyer — read the SMS line, not the headline.
  • Match the tool to your sending pattern. A flat monthly plan wins when you send every week; pay-as-you-go wins when you send in bursts with quiet months in between.
  • For a small business, start simple. Pick the cheapest plan that covers your volume, run one real campaign, and only upgrade when a limit — credits, keywords or seats — actually bites.

A texting platform is only one part of getting found and chosen online. If the business also needs to rank locally, our local SEO service covers the visibility side, and before you send a campaign, tag every link with the free UTM builder tool so you can see in analytics which texts actually brought orders.

Whatever you shortlist, test it with your real list before you pay for a year. The trials and free plans in this list are long enough to run one genuine campaign — your contacts, your offer, your sending number — and that campaign tells you more than any review can. Check two things in the trial: that messages arrive quickly and that opt-outs and replies land in the inbox without manual work.

Bar chart of starting prices billed monthly: Brevo $9, Klaviyo $15, EZ Texting $25, SlickText $29, SimpleTexting $29, Textedly $29, Postscript $49, Omnisend $59
Starting prices, billed monthly. Attentive publishes no starting price, and TextMagic, ClickSend and Twilio are pay as you go with no monthly plan, so they have no bar. Postscript's $49 is its monthly minimum spend.

SMS marketing platform pricing: what you will actually pay

Take a small business with 1,000 contacts sending 2,000 texts a month. At the published rates, the message cost alone is about $16 on Twilio (2,000 × $0.0079), $22 on Brevo ($9 Starter plus 2,000 credits at about $0.0109 each, roughly $31 in total), $25 on Klaviyo (the 2,500-credit pack) plus the $20 email plan, $79 on SlickText (the 2,000-credit tier) and $98 on TextMagic (2,000 × $0.049).

Then the extras arrive. SlickText passes carrier fees through at about $0.0042 a message, adding roughly $8, so the real SlickText month is about $87. Textedly's 2,000-message tier is $79 a month plus the $8 telecom surcharge, about $87. EZ Texting's Boost plan is $75 a month but still includes only 500 credits, so 1,500 extra credits at $0.035 each add $52.50, taking it to about $128 — the most expensive of the flat plans at this volume, because its credit ceiling never grows.

Over a year, that same business pays roughly $264 on Twilio plus number and carrier fees, about $372 on Brevo, $540 on Klaviyo for SMS and email together, about $1,044 on SlickText or Textedly, and about $1,416 on TextMagic once the $20 monthly number and 10DLC fees are added. The gap between the cheapest and the dearest is more than $1,100 a year for the same 2,000 texts — and it comes entirely from the pricing model, not from features.

Two costs sit outside every number above. First, the number itself: a toll-free or local number costs $1 to $10 a month depending on the vendor, and a dedicated short code costs $750 to $1,000 a month — far beyond any small business need. Second, 10DLC brand and campaign registration, which is mandatory in the US and costs $4 to $10 a month or a one-time fee depending on the vendor. Budget both before you compare headline prices, and remember that MMS messages cost two to three times an SMS on most plans here.

Matrix showing what each entry plan includes: daily updates, free plan, AI visibility and white-label
What the entry plan includes, checked November 5, 2026. A dash means the feature is not included on the entry plan.

Know the difference: message credits, messages and segments

The biggest confusion in this category is the word "message." On most platforms here, a message credit is not the same as a message you send. One SMS of up to 160 characters usually costs one credit, but a longer text splits into segments and each segment costs a credit — so a 200-character promotion costs two credits, not one. An MMS with a picture costs three credits on SlickText, SimpleTexting and EZ Texting, and $0.08 instead of $0.049 on TextMagic.

There is a second confusion: plan price versus message price. A $29 plan that includes 500 credits is not $29 a month if you send 2,000 texts — you either buy a bigger tier or pay overage rates of $0.03 to $0.04 a credit. And a pay-as-you-go rate of $0.0079 a message is not $0.0079 all-in either, because carrier fees and number rental sit on top. Always convert a plan to a cost per message at your real volume before comparing.

A third distinction worth knowing is SMS marketing versus business texting. A marketing platform sends campaigns, grows lists and automates flows; a business texting tool handles two-way conversations with customers; an API like Twilio sends messages from your own software. They overlap, but a business that buys an API expecting campaigns will spend weeks building what SlickText ships on day one — and a business that buys a campaign tool expecting a shared support inbox may find it is an add-on.

Quick comparison: tool type by need

BuyerBest pickWhy
Most small businessesSlickTextEvery feature on every plan, from $29/month, with rollover credits
Cheapest monthly planEZ TextingLaunch is $25/month, or $20/month billed annually
Ecommerce store on ShopifyKlaviyoSMS inside the same flows as email, from $15/month for 1,250 credits
Email plus SMS in one accountBrevoStarter is $9/month and SMS credits never expire
Occasional sender, no subscriptionTextMagicPay as you go at $0.049 per SMS, credits never expire
Developer building SMS into an appTwilio$0.0079 per SMS segment, no monthly platform fee

Mistakes to avoid

  • Budgeting on the headline price. Carrier fees, number rental, 10DLC registration and telecom surcharges add $5 to $20 a month on most plans. The advertised price is rarely the invoice price.
  • Buying a plan by its credit count without counting segments. A 200-character message costs two credits and an MMS costs three, so a 500-credit plan can run out after 200 real messages.
  • Picking a free plan that does not cover SMS. Omnisend's free plan is email only for new accounts, and Klaviyo's free plan gives only $5 of mobile messages a month. Read the SMS line before you sign up.
  • Ignoring the upgrade that buys nothing. EZ Texting's Boost and Scale plans cost more but still include only 500 credits — upgrading buys contacts and features, not more messages.
  • Sending before 10DLC registration is done. Unregistered traffic gets blocked or filtered by US carriers, and registration can take days. Register the brand and campaign before the first campaign goes out.

How we chose

We checked each vendor's own pricing page on November 5, 2026 and recorded the starting price exactly as shown, including the annual-billing figure where the page lists one, and we ranked the tools by fit for the most common buyer — a small business sending a few hundred to a few thousand texts a month — not by brand size. Two prices come from third-party sources rather than the vendor's own page: ClickSend's $0.0285 per-message rate, read from its own US pricing page in October 2026 vendor-page reads, and Textedly's $29 entry price, which the vendor's own comparison pages state while older directories still list $26. Postscript's pricing changed since older guides were written — its current page shows a $0 platform fee with a $49 monthly minimum spend, not the $25 plan those guides quote. Ratings come from fresh G2 pages; Omnisend, ClickSend and Twilio carry no rating here because we did not verify a G2 figure for them, and we would rather show no rating than a stale one. No vendor paid for a place in this list, and none of the links here are affiliate links.

What to do next

Start with the free plan or trial of your top pick and send one real campaign to your own list. Check that messages arrive quickly, that replies and opt-outs are handled cleanly, and that the invoice matches the price you expected — including the carrier fees and surcharges. If the trial goes well, commit to monthly billing first and only pay annually once a full quarter of sending proves the volume is stable. If the texts are sorted but new customers are not finding you, compare providers in our guide to marketing platforms for small business SEO. Once your tools are in place, find out what's holding your rankings back.

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Sources we checked (21)
Shamim

Shamim

Founder of SerpAstra

A full-stack SEO and digital marketer who spends most days on Local SEO for dental practices, AI search visibility and lead generation.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best sms marketing platform for small business?

SlickText is the best fit for most small businesses: every feature on every plan from $29/month, rollover credits, and a 4.8 out of 5 G2 rating. EZ Texting is cheaper at $25/month if your list is large and sending is light, and Brevo at $9/month suits businesses that also want email.

How much does SMS marketing cost per month?

Entry plans run from $9 to $59 a month, plus per-message costs. A business sending 2,000 texts a month pays roughly $31 on Brevo, $45 on Klaviyo, $87 on SlickText or Textedly, and about $118 on TextMagic. Carrier fees, number rental and 10DLC registration add $5 to $20 a month on most plans.

Is there a free sms marketing platform?

No platform here is free for real SMS sending. Klaviyo's free plan includes $5 of mobile messages a month and Textedly gives 50 free messages, which is enough to test the channel. Omnisend's free plan covers email only — SMS needs the $59 Pro plan. Budget at least $25 a month for a real program.

What is 10DLC and why does it cost extra?

10DLC is the US carrier system that registers your brand and campaigns before you can text customers from a local number. Registration is mandatory, and vendors charge for it — EZ Texting folds it into the plan, while TextMagic charges $10 a month after the first free month. Unregistered traffic gets blocked or filtered.

Can I send SMS without a monthly subscription?

Yes. TextMagic charges $0.049 per SMS with no monthly account fee, ClickSend charges from $0.0285 per SMS on prepaid credit, and Twilio charges $0.0079 per SMS segment. All three still need a paid number and 10DLC registration in the US, which adds roughly $10 to $20 a month after any free first month.

Should a small business start with SMS or email marketing?

Start with email if the list is new, because it is cheaper per message and easier to test. Add SMS once email earns reliably, because texts get opened faster but cost far more per send — about $0.01 to $0.05 each against a fraction of a cent for email. Tools like Brevo and Klaviyo run both channels in one account.

Can I switch SMS marketing platforms later?

Yes, but plan the move carefully. Export your subscriber list with opt-in records and timestamps, because consent does not transfer automatically in every tool. You will also need to re-register your brand and campaigns under the new platform's 10DLC setup, and your sending number may change unless you port it.

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