Why the Right SMS Marketing Software Matters in 2026
Texting customers is simple. Paying for it, and staying legal while you do it, is where small businesses get caught out.
Three things changed the math in 2025 and 2026. First, carriers now expect every business sender to register. A local 10-digit number needs 10DLC registration, and Twilio's compliance blog says US entities need an EIN for toll-free verification from January 2026. Second, carrier fees are a separate line on most bills. Postscript lists an average of $0.0033 per US SMS, SimpleTexting about $0.0025, and Twilio shows $0.0035 to $0.005 per message depending on the carrier. Third, pricing models split. Some tools sell credit bundles, some bill per message, and Klaviyo moved new accounts from credits to per-message dollar rates on July 13, 2026.
Rules on consent and timing have not loosened either. Postscript's compliance overview says you should not send automated marketing texts without a person's prior express written consent, and SimpleTexting's guide says the TCPA limits business texting to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, with some states stricter.
This guide compares seven tools for a small business or online store that wants to send marketing texts without hiring a developer: cost at real volumes, registration and carrier fees, and what each vendor documents about consent and quiet hours.
SimpleTexting review
SimpleTexting is a self-serve texting platform for small businesses. You pick one plan by how many message credits you need each month. Contacts are unlimited, so a 10,000-person list does not cost more to store than a 500-person list.
Pricing. Monthly prices, with the billed-yearly price per month in brackets: 500 credits $29 ($23.20), 1,000 credits $49 ($39.20), 2,000 $79 ($63.20), 3,000 $109 ($87.20), 7,500 $229 ($183.20), 15,000 $399 ($319.20), 25,000 $549 ($439.20) and 50,000 $899 ($719.20). Above 50,000 is custom. Extra credits cost 5.5 cents on the smallest plan, falling to 2 cents on the 50,000 plan. A toll-free number has no extra fee. A local number adds $10/month plus a $4 activation fee. There is a $4 one-time carrier registration fee, and carrier fees are passed through at cost, which SimpleTexting puts at about $0.0025 per US message on average. Extra users are $20/month. Nonprofits get 15% off monthly plans. There is a free trial with no card required and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Key features. Mass texting, two-way messaging with free inbound SMS, auto-replies, drip campaigns, unlimited text-to-join keywords, opt-in forms and pop-ups, segments, an AI Assist writer, API access, and Mailchimp and Zapier integrations. Monthly plan credits roll over until the end of the following month. A standard SMS is 1 credit, an extended 306-character SMS is 2, and an MMS is 3.
Pros. The clearest pricing of any self-serve tool here. Unlimited contacts and keywords remove two common upsells, and rollover credits mean a slow month is not wasted money.
Cons. Ecommerce is not its core. Its ecommerce page names Shopify, BigCommerce and WooCommerce, but does not say whether the Shopify connection is native or runs through Zapier. At high volume, credit bundles cost more per text than Postscript.
Compliance notes. SimpleTexting says it handles most 10DLC registration for you. We did not find a statement that it enforces quiet hours automatically, so plan send times yourself.
Who should use it. Local businesses, service businesses and smaller online stores that want to text promotions, reminders and two-way replies without learning a complex tool.
Who should avoid it. Shopify stores sending tens of thousands of texts a month, which will pay less on a usage-based tool, and anyone who wants SMS and email in one automation.
Postscript review
Postscript is an SMS and MMS platform built only for Shopify stores. It installs as a Shopify app and uses your store data for segments, flows and revenue reports.
Pricing. Billing is usage-based and charged after sending. There are no prepaid credits, no expiring credits and no overages, and no contract is required. Starter has no platform fee but a $49 monthly minimum spend, with SMS at $0.009 and MMS at $0.045. Growth is $100/month with SMS at $0.008 and MMS at $0.03, plus unlimited opt-in keywords and live chat support. Professional is $500/month with SMS at $0.007 and MMS at $0.024, API access and a dedicated customer success manager. Enterprise is custom. A separate Postscript AI plan is listed at $699/month through sales. Carrier fees are added without markup: Postscript lists averages of $0.0033 per US SMS and $0.00799 per MMS. New accounts get $100 of credit to use in the first 30 days. Starter includes a dedicated toll-free number. The pricing page does not explain exactly how the $49 minimum interacts with usage, so ask before you sign up.
Key features. Campaigns and automation flows built on Shopify data, subscriber collection at Shopify checkout, landing pages, embedded forms and keywords, unlimited segments, and revenue reporting. Offer Management for discounts arrived in July 2026. Shopper Automations, which write one-to-one messages for cart, checkout and browse abandonment, are only on the AI plan.
Pros. Low, published per-message rates, checkout sign-up, and billing after sending, which suits seasonal stores.
Cons. Shopify only. The $49 minimum is poor value below a few thousand texts a month. AI features need the $699/month plan, and the announced email product is on a waitlist with no published price.
Compliance notes. Postscript documents consent and quiet hours in more detail than any other tool here (see the consent section below). Messages triggered during quiet hours are held until waking hours in the subscriber's time zone, with stricter windows for several states. Texas quiet hours are off by default; you turn them on in compliance settings.
Who should use it. Shopify stores that see SMS as a revenue channel and want flows tied to carts, checkouts and orders.
Who should avoid it. Any business not on Shopify, and very small stores that will not reach the $49 minimum.
Klaviyo review
Klaviyo is an ecommerce email, SMS and push platform built on unified customer profiles. SMS is not a separate app: it lives in the same flows, segments and reports as your email.
Pricing. The free plan covers up to 250 active profiles and 500 email sends a month, plus $5 of mobile messages each month. Paid email starts at $20/month for 251 to 500 active profiles, then $30 at 1,000, $100 at 5,000 and $150 at 10,000, billed monthly. SMS, MMS, WhatsApp and RCS are a separate usage-based purchase. Since July 13, 2026, new accounts pay per-message dollar rates instead of credits, with carrier fees built into the rate. The exact US rates are shown in the account under billing, not on the public pricing page, so you cannot compare them before you sign up. A toll-free number is complimentary, and Klaviyo recommends a short code above about 95,000 SMS recipients a month.
Key features. Email, SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, RCS and push from one profile. Flows for abandoned cart, browse abandonment, welcome and win-back. Product recommendations in SMS workflows. Predictive analytics. 350+ integrations, including Shopify, WooCommerce through the Klaviyo WordPress plugin, and Wix.
Pros. No second tool or second customer list if you already email in Klaviyo, and carrier fees sit inside the rate.
Cons. You cannot see current US SMS rates before creating an account, and a text-only business pays for an email platform it will not use.
Compliance notes. Klaviyo holds text flow messages during quiet hours until the next allowed sending time, based on the profile's location or area code. You can change quiet hours in settings and per flow message.
Who should use it. Online stores that use or plan to use Klaviyo for email and want SMS in the same customer journeys.
Who should avoid it. Local businesses that only need to text, and anyone who wants to know the per-message price before signing up.
EZ Texting review
EZ Texting is an SMS platform for small and mid-size businesses. It added a Shopify app on March 31, 2026, with contact sync and abandoned cart workflows.
Pricing. The plan ladder is unusual: Launch, Boost and Scale all include 500 credits a month. What changes is the suggested contact range, the number type and the price of extra credits. Launch is $25/month monthly or $20/month billed annually, for up to about 500 contacts, with extra credits at $0.04 and a $5/month telecom fee. Boost is $75/month or $60/month annually, for 500 to 2,000 contacts, with extra credits at $0.035 and a high-volume local number. Scale is $125/month or $100/month annually, for 2,000 to 50,000 contacts, with extra credits at $0.03, a faster number and an onboarding specialist. The telecom fee is waived on Boost and Scale. Enterprise is $3,000/month for 200,000 credits with a dedicated short code. A2P registration is included at no extra cost. SMS is 1 credit, MMS 3 credits, and inbound is free. Launch, Boost and Scale each include 1 user; extra users are $10/month. Monthly credits roll over one cycle; annual credits are issued upfront and expire after 12 months. Bundled credit discounts are offered at checkout. There is a 14-day free trial.
Key features. Mass texting, two-way texting and a team inbox; keywords, sign-up forms, QR codes and a click-to-text button; workflows and drip campaigns, including Shopify abandoned cart; AI Compose and AI Reply; Text-to-Pay through Stripe; RCS messaging; and integrations with Shopify, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Squarespace and Zapier.
Pros. A2P registration included, a native Shopify app, and the lowest annual entry price here.
Cons. With 500 credits on every self-serve plan, most texting beyond that is billed as extra credits. The $5 telecom fee makes Launch $30/month on monthly billing.
Who should use it. Small businesses and small Shopify stores that want one texting tool for promotions, conversations and cart recovery.
Who should avoid it. Stores sending several thousand texts a month, which will pay mostly overage rates, and teams that need several users.
Textedly review
Textedly is a simple bulk texting service for small local businesses. You pick a tier by how many messages you send each month, and contacts are unlimited.
Pricing. Monthly: Basic 500 messages $29, Bronze 1,000 $49, Plus 2,000 $79, Enterprise 3,500 $125, Elite 5,000 $169, Business 10,000 $299, then tiers from $420 for 15,000 up to $5,520 for 300,000. Annual billing gives 20% more texts per month, but the annual price is not shown. Every account pays an $8/month telecom surcharge. 10DLC registration costs $4 to $44 depending on volume; toll-free has no registration fee. MMS uses 4 credits according to the help center, though a Textedly blog post says 2. Extra 500 texts cost $30, extra keywords $10, and teammates $10/month each. Prices went up on July 9, 2025. The free trial lasts 14 days with 50 texts and one keyword.
Key features. Mass texting, two-way SMS with free inbound messages, keywords and text-to-join, scheduled and recurring texts, drip campaigns, auto-replies, SMS surveys, text voting, birthday texts, link tracking, payments and review requests by text, and iOS and Android apps.
Pros. Easy tiers, built-in local-business tools and mobile apps.
Cons. The $8 surcharge applies to every plan, and the only store connection named is Zapier, with the API listed as coming soon.
Who should use it. Gyms, salons, restaurants and other local businesses that send regular promotions and reminders.
Who should avoid it. Online stores that need cart recovery or order-based segments.
Attentive review
Attentive is a cross-channel marketing platform for retail and ecommerce brands, covering SMS, email, RCS for Business and push, with AI tools for sign-ups and journeys.
Pricing. There are no public prices. Plans are SMS, email, RCS and push; Text and email; Text; and Custom. Each is quoted based on list size, messages sent, the number of channels and any premium AI tools, with discounts for bundling. AI Essentials is included with all plans. AI Pro and AI Grow are flat monthly fees, and AI Journeys is pay per click. You can request a free trial through the pricing page, and its Shopify listing says the trial is at least 30 days, followed by month-to-month or long-term agreements. Charges may be billed by Attentive outside your Shopify invoice.
Key features. Two-tap sign-ups and more than 30 sign-up unit types, automations for welcome, abandoned cart, browse abandonment, back in stock and win-back, send-time optimization and A/B testing, Attentive Signal for identifying site visitors, and 100+ integrations including Shopify, Gorgias, Loop Returns and Okendo.
Compliance notes. Attentive says it has in-house TCPA compliance experts and templates. That is useful support, but it does not replace your own consent records.
Pros and cons. Wide list-growth tools and compliance help, but you cannot price it without a sales call.
Who should use it. Mid-size and larger ecommerce brands with a budget for a managed SMS program.
Who should avoid it. Small businesses that want to sign up today and know what they will pay.
Twilio review
Twilio is a developer messaging API, not a marketing app. There is no campaign editor, sign-up form builder or subscriber list for marketers. Many texting products run on APIs like this one. We include it because it is the honest "build it yourself" option, and because its published fees show what registration and carrier costs look like underneath every tool on this list.
Pricing. Pay as you go in the US: SMS is $0.0083 per segment, outbound and inbound, and MMS is $0.022 outbound. The rate is the same on long code, toll-free and short code. Numbers cost $1.15/month for a long code, $2.15/month for toll-free, and $1,000/month for a random short code or $1,500/month for a vanity one, billed quarterly. Carrier fees come on top; for long code SMS, Twilio lists $0.0035 for AT&T, $0.0045 for T-Mobile and $0.005 for Verizon. 10DLC costs include a $4.50 one-time brand registration, $41.50 for standard brand vetting, $15 per campaign vetting, and a monthly campaign fee from $1.50 to $10. Twilio's 10DLC marketing page still shows older brand figures, so check the current numbers. Failed messages cost $0.001 each. The free trial gives 100 free SMS to up to 5 verified numbers, and 10DLC registration needs a paid account.
Key features. A programmable SMS and MMS API, long code, toll-free and short code numbers, up to 225 messages per second per 10DLC campaign, and optional add-ons: Compliance Toolkit and Engagement Suite, each $0.015 per outbound SMS.
Pros and cons. The lowest raw rate and full control, but you build opt-in records, STOP handling and quiet hours yourself.
Who should use it. A business with a developer that wants texting inside its own app or store.
Who should avoid it. Anyone who wants to log in and send a campaign this afternoon.
Head-to-Head: What 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 Texts a Month Cost
This uses each vendor's listed prices for single-segment US SMS on monthly billing. Carrier fees are estimated with the averages each vendor publishes. These totals are our arithmetic, not prices the vendors list.
| Texts per month | SimpleTexting | Postscript (Starter) | EZ Texting | Textedly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $49 plan, plus about $2.50 carrier | $49 minimum ($9 usage plus about $3.30 carrier) | $45 on Launch ($25 plus 500 extra credits at $0.04), plus $5 telecom fee | $49 Bronze plus $8 surcharge |
| 5,000 | $189 (3,000 plan at $109 plus 2,000 credits at $0.04), plus about $12.50 carrier | about $61.50 ($45 usage plus about $16.50 carrier) | about $260 on Scale, the plan suggested for 2,000+ contacts ($125 plus 4,500 extra credits at $0.03) | $169 Elite plus $8 surcharge |
| 10,000 | $316.50 (7,500 plan at $229 plus 2,500 credits at $0.035), plus about $25 carrier | about $123 ($90 usage plus about $33 carrier) | about $410 on Scale ($125 plus 9,500 extra credits at $0.03) | $299 Business plus $8 surcharge |
What this shows:
- At low volume the self-serve tools are close. Around 1,000 texts, everything lands between about $49 and $57 a month.
- At higher volume, usage-based billing wins. Postscript's per-message model costs well under half of the credit plans at 5,000 and 10,000 texts, but only if you are on Shopify.
- EZ Texting gets expensive fast at volume because each self-serve plan includes only 500 credits. Its checkout offers bundled credit discounts that could lower these figures, so price your real volume there.
- Klaviyo and Attentive are missing because neither shows current US per-message rates publicly.
- Twilio would be about $41.50 in Twilio fees for 5,000 texts plus $17.50 to $25 in carrier fees, before numbers and 10DLC fees. Add developer time.
Yearly billing lowers SimpleTexting by 20% and EZ Texting by 20% on the base plan. MMS changes the picture too: SimpleTexting and EZ Texting charge 3 credits per MMS, Textedly 4, while Postscript Starter charges $0.045 per MMS plus about $0.008 carrier.
Head-to-Head: 10DLC, Toll-Free and Carrier Fees
Every US business text now goes through some kind of registration. What each vendor documents:
| Tool | Registration | Number | Carrier fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| SimpleTexting | $4 one-time | Toll-free free; local $10/month + $4 | Passed through, about $0.0025/msg |
| Postscript | Not listed | Dedicated toll-free included | At cost, about $0.0033/SMS |
| Klaviyo | Not listed | Toll-free complimentary | Built into the rate |
| EZ Texting | A2P included | Local number included | $5/month telecom fee on Launch |
| Textedly | 10DLC $4 to $44; toll-free free | Not listed | $8/month surcharge |
| Attentive | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Twilio | $4.50 brand, $41.50 vetting, $15/campaign, $1.50 to $10/month | Long code $1.15/month, toll-free $2.15 | $0.0035 to $0.005/SMS |
The lesson: a "from $29" price is rarely the full bill. Add the surcharge or telecom fee, the registration fee, the number fee if you want a local number, and carrier fees.
Head-to-Head: Consent and Quiet Hours
None of these vendors gives legal advice, and you should check the rules for your states with a lawyer. Here is what each one documents:
- Consent: Postscript says you need prior express written consent before sending automated marketing texts, and lists what the opt-in must say. SimpleTexting says you need consent before texting. Attentive offers in-house TCPA experts and templates.
- Quiet hours: SimpleTexting's guide and Postscript's overview both cite 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. recipient local time as the TCPA window, and both say some states are stricter. Postscript and Klaviyo document automatic holds: messages wait until waking hours in the subscriber's time zone. Postscript leaves Texas quiet hours off by default.
- Do it yourself: with Twilio, consent capture, STOP handling and quiet hours are your code's job, unless you pay for the Compliance Toolkit add-on.
For EZ Texting and Textedly, we did not find documented automatic quiet hours on the pages we checked. Schedule campaigns inside safe hours yourself.
How to Choose: Decision Framework
- Are you on Shopify and sending more than a couple of thousand texts a month? Choose Postscript. The per-message model and checkout sign-ups are built for you.
- Do you already use Klaviyo for email? Add Klaviyo SMS so email and text share one profile. Check the per-message rate in your account first.
- Are you a local or service business, or a store not on Shopify? Choose SimpleTexting for clear pricing and 3 users, or Textedly if you want local extras like surveys and birthday texts.
- Are you a small Shopify store on a tight budget? Try EZ Texting's annual Launch plan and its Shopify app, but price your real volume.
- Are you a larger brand with a marketing team? Get a quote from Attentive and compare it against Postscript Professional.
- Do you have a developer and want full control? Build on Twilio, and budget for compliance work.
Before you commit, check three things: the total monthly bill at your real volume including fees, how the tool handles quiet hours, and how you can export your subscribers and their consent records if you leave.
The Verdict: Final Recommendations
SimpleTexting is our pick for most small businesses. It publishes every price, includes unlimited contacts and keywords and 3 users, charges only a $4 registration fee, and works for any type of business. Its weak point is ecommerce depth.
Postscript is the pick for Shopify stores. At 5,000 texts a month it costs about $61.50 including carrier fees on Starter, far below the credit plans, and it ties messages to checkout and cart events. It is the wrong tool if you are not on Shopify.
Klaviyo makes the most sense when email is already your main channel. EZ Texting is the cheapest way in with a real Shopify app. Textedly suits local businesses that want simple tiers. Attentive is for brands ready for a sales-led contract. Twilio is for builders.
Conclusion
The best SMS marketing tool is the one whose pricing model matches how you text. If you send a few hundred to a couple of thousand texts a month and want something simple, a credit plan like SimpleTexting is easy to budget. If you run a Shopify store and SMS drives real revenue, per-message billing on Postscript costs much less at volume. Whichever you choose, budget for registration and carrier fees, collect clear written consent, and keep promotional texts inside quiet hours.
Marcus Williams