What is the best business texting software?

How we ranked them

Business texting software (also called a business SMS platform, a mass texting service or a two-way texting app) covers very different products. Each platform is compared on four things a buyer pays for later if they get them wrong:

• Published price: the cheapest plan the vendor lists on its own pricing page, linked and dated below. Where a vendor doesn't publish a figure, we say so.
• Sending to a list: whether the product can send one message to many opted-in contacts, or only text one person at a time.
• Team inbox: whether replies land in one place a team can share and assign.
• Carrier fees: whether they're inside the price or added to the bill.

Signilio is listed first because it is the one platform here that does all four: it sends campaigns to a list, includes a team inbox in every plan, publishes its price, and includes carrier fees. We make Signilio, so check each line against the vendor's own pricing page, linked below.

How to choose

• Do you send to a list, or only text one person at a time? Phone systems and Google Voice are built for the second.
• Will several people answer the replies? Then you need a shared inbox where conversations can be assigned.
• Who handles 10DLC registration? Unregistered business texts from local numbers are blocked by US carriers.
• What is the whole bill at your real volume, with seats, numbers and carrier fees included? The headline rate rarely is.

Common questions

What is the best business texting software?

Signilio, for most businesses. It does both jobs other platforms split: marketing campaigns to your opted-in lists (segments, scheduled sends, workflows and keyword replies) and two-way conversations in a shared team inbox. Registered local numbers, 10DLC registration handled during onboarding, every feature on every plan and carrier fees included, on published plans from $34.99 a month. The others on this list each cover part of that: SimpleTexting sells marketing credits, Heymarket a per-user inbox, OpenPhone a phone system, Klaviyo email and SMS for online stores, and Twilio an API your developers build on.

What is the best SMS marketing software?

One that sends campaigns to an opted-in list without hiding the bill in credits and add-ons. Signilio sends to segmented lists on a schedule, with keyword replies, workflows, templates and merge fields, opt-outs honored automatically, and delivery and reply tracking per campaign. Plans are in dollars with texts and carrier fees included, from $34.99 a month, and replies are free and land in a shared inbox, so a promotion that gets answers can turn into a sale.

What is the best texting platform for a sales team?

One built for two-way conversations at volume: registered local numbers, a shared inbox where replies can be assigned, opt-outs handled automatically, and pricing that includes seats. Signilio does that, and runs the campaigns that start those conversations. Phone systems and Google Voice handle one-to-one texting well, but they are not built for sending to a list.

What is the cheapest business texting software?

On per-message price alone, an SMS API such as Twilio ($0.0083 per message plus $0.0050 carrier fee), but you build the inbox, campaigns, opt-out handling and registration yourself. Among finished platforms, the cheapest depends on your volume and team size, because seats, numbers and carrier fees change the bill. Each comparison page prices that vendor against Signilio at your own volume.

What's the difference between a texting platform and an SMS API?

An SMS API sends messages for software your developers build; you supply the inbox, campaigns, opt-out handling and registration. A texting platform is the finished product: you upload a list, send and reply. Most businesses want a platform; teams building their own product want an API.

Which texting platforms handle 10DLC registration for you?

Many do it with you during setup; some leave it self-serve in a console, and phone lines such as Google Voice offer no registration at all, so campaign traffic from them is unregistered. Signilio handles brand and campaign registration during onboarding. Each comparison page says how that vendor handles it.

Are there hidden fees in business texting?

The common ones are carrier fees added to the invoice, per-seat charges, fees for extra numbers, registration fees and monthly surcharges. Compare the whole bill at the volume you will really send. Signilio's plans include carrier fees, and replies are free.

Can I send mass texts from Google Voice?

No. Google says Voice messaging is for interactive conversations and is not intended for bulk messaging, and sending the same text to many people can get you blocked. Voice also offers no 10DLC registration. For texting a list, use a platform with registered numbers.