The Best Bulk Texting Software Of 2023
- ClickSend: Best for Value
- Trumpia: Best for Marketing Campaigns
- Textedly: Best for Small Businesses
- Clickatell: Best for Automated Customer Service
- SendPulse: Best for Businesses With International Customers
- TextMarks: Best for Advanced Support
- BulkSMS: Best for Contract-Free Texting
FEATURED PARTNER OFFER
Best for Value
ClickSend
4.8
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
Pricing from
$0.0238 per message
(under 2,000 messages)
Free trial available
Yes
Mobile app
Yes
Pricing from
$0.0238 per message
(under 2,000 messages)
Free trial available
Yes
Mobile app
Yes
Why We Picked It
ClickSend is a global leader in business communication solutions. The high-performing SMS software can send out 4,800 messages per minute. Users can customize their sender ID, access real-time message status monitoring and upload from a CSV or Microsoft Excel file for bulk SMS campaigns. ClickSend automatically handles opt-outs for marketing campaigns.
ClickSend does not charge startup or monthly fees. Instead, it relies on a pay-as-you-go style of billing. Inbound messages are always free, while the pricing for outbound messages varies depending on how many messages a company sends per month. If sharing less than 2,000 messages per month, ClickSend charges $0.0238 per online SMS text message. The rates get cheaper as the number of messages per month increases. Another great feature of ClickSend is that the company will price match its competitors, so you know you are always getting the best deal.
Who should use it:
Medium to large companies that want to better communicate with customers, but do not want to be locked into a monthly contract, should use ClickSend. Top industries that benefit from ClickSend include hospitality, retail, sporting associations and e-commerce.
Pros & Cons
- Unlimited users/contacts
- Global coverage
- Free 24/7 support
- Tight character limit
- Hefty setup fee and monthly price for dedicated short code
FEATURED PARTNER OFFER
Best for Marketing Campaigns
Trumpia
4.8
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
Pricing from
$94
per month
Free trial available
Yes
Mobile app
No
Pricing from
$94
per month
Free trial available
Yes
Mobile app
No
Why We Picked It
Trumpia is a well-known marketing automation company with A-list clients such as Jamba Juice, Chick-fil-A and Omni Hotels & Resorts. We picked it as the best service for marketing campaigns because its standard plan offers robust automation and targeting features such as drip campaigns, dynamic targeting, link tracking and data capture. Its advanced plans include more intricate marketing features such as auto campaigns, conditioned drip campaigns, real-time targeting and behavior tracking.
The basic plan at $94 per month includes 3,000 SMS messages, 15,000 email messages, unlimited contacts and 365 days of customer service with an average support response time of nine minutes. Trumpia’s advanced plan at $195 per month includes 5,000 SMS messages, 50,000 email messages, one automated workflow, a dedicated account manager, campaign counseling and compliance training.
Who should use it:
Small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that want to scale quickly by using sophisticated SMS marketing features such as customer data capture, smart targeting and automated workflows.
Pros & Cons
- Robust marketing features
- Nine-minute response time
- Dynamic targeting features
- Does not offer price matching
- No free version
- Not affordable for all businesses
FEATURED PARTNER OFFER
Best for Small Businesses
Textedly
4.8
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
Pricing from
$24
per month
Free trial available
Yes
Mobile app
No
Pricing from
$24
per month
Free trial available
Yes
Mobile app
No
Why We Picked It
Textedly is a simple, easy-to-use text message marketing platform that offers users a number of various plans to select the perfect one for their business. The no-frills platform allows small businesses without a huge marketing budget to start text message marketing campaigns at a low cost. The clean web-based interface makes it easy for users to get up and running in no time.
Textedly offers 12 plans. The most affordable plan is the Bronze plan. For $24 a month, users can send 1,000 messages to an unlimited number of contacts, schedule massages and supersize message length. The plan also comes with free incoming messages and one custom keyword that represents how users can confirm consent from those receiving texts. The number of messages available to send per month and the number of custom keywords increase as the plan pricing increases. The most expensive plan, the Champion, charges $2,800 per month for 240,000 monthly messages and 50 custom keywords (if billed annually). While most SMS companies cap their messages at 160 words, Textedly allows users the ability to send text messages with 300 words.
Who should use it:
Small businesses that are looking for a simple, no-frills messaging system to send out a few thousand messages per month. After the Elite plan, at $70 per month for 6,000 messages (if billed annually), the plans begin to get cost-prohibitive.
Pros & Cons
- Simple to use
- Multiple plans
- Affordable
- More expensive plans are cost-prohibitive
- No mobile app
- Does not offer smart targeting
FEATURED PARTNER OFFER
Best for Automated Customer Service
Clickatell
4.7
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
Pricing from
$11
per month
Free trial available
Yes
Mobile app
No
Pricing from
$11
per month
Free trial available
Yes
Mobile app
No
Why We Picked It
We picked Clickatell for the best in providing automotive customer service because the platform facilitates international two-way messaging. Instead of just offering one-way messaging, Clickatell provides advanced messaging features that allow for personalized conversations, interactive communication and the ability to create deeply customizable workflows.
Clickatell also allows users to automate customer service and support chat flows. This includes customer service inquiries such as a customer wanting information on how to return a product, sharing loyalty promotions such as a discount on the customer’s birthday and in-chat transactions such as purchasing a gift certificate. Businesses can add SMS to their website to open a personalized, responsive communication channel.
Who should use it:
Businesses of any size that value customer engagement, an enhanced customer experience and customer loyalty. The shopping, healthcare, travel and real estate industries would especially benefit from the easy customer communication.
Pros & Cons
- Allows for inbound SMS
- 24/7 phone support
- Advanced messaging
- Setup fee
- Does not price match
- No money-back guarantee
FEATURED PARTNER OFFER
Best for Businesses With International Customers
SendPulse
4.7
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
Pricing from
$0.032
per message
Free trial available
Ten SMS
Mobile app
Yes
Pricing from
$0.032
per message
Free trial available
Ten SMS
Mobile app
Yes
Why We Picked It
SendPulse is a marketing automation platform that allows businesses to create and send newsletters, personalized emails and customized text messages. It allows users to send SMS campaigns to more than 1,000 mobile network operators in 200 countries. The software supports Unicode characters, which enable users to deliver messages in every language in the world.
SendPulse does not offer pricing plans. Instead, users pay a fixed rate for bulk text messaging. The rate varies by country, but it costs $0.032 per message from the United States. SMS features include analytics to track the effectiveness of campaigns, API for developers and unsubscribe links.
Who should use it:
SendPulse is a great option for businesses that want an affordable way to send out personalized bulk text messages to groups of customers and potential customers, but do not need advanced targeting, marketing or analytics tools. It is also perfect for companies that need to communicate in several languages with customers around the world.
Pros & Cons
- Mobile app available
- Intuitive interface
- First ten SMS free
- Does not offer drip campaigns
- Does not offer robust analytics
- No phone support
FEATURED PARTNER OFFER
Best for Advanced Support
TextMarks
4.6
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
Pricing from
$219
per month
Free trial available
No
Mobile app
No
Pricing from
$219
per month
Free trial available
No
Mobile app
No
Why We Picked It
Since 2006, TextMarks has been providing millions of users with a robust text message marketing platform. Small- to medium-sized companies have been able to build their businesses, increase engagement and deliver timely information to more than ten million users with the help of TextMarks.
TextMarks is a platform built for businesses with serious marketing goals. Its basic plan at $219 per month comes with 10,000 messages, 15 custom keywords, lead capture, dynamic SMS auto-response, priority email support, advanced list segmentation and access to developer API. As the plans increase in price, they include more messages, keywords, advanced marketing tools such as lead-to-Salesforce CRM, custom opt-in flows and extended data retention, as well as advanced support such as campaign consulting, compliance consultation, advanced API integration support and hands-on, extensive onboarding.
Who should use it:
TextMarks is a perfect solution for businesses that are intent on creating an advanced marketing plan, and want extra support.
Pros & Cons
- Advanced one-on-one support
- Custom plans available
- Easy to use
- Setup fee
- No free trial
- Does not offer drip campaigns feature
FEATURED PARTNER OFFER
Best for Contract-Free Texting
BulkSMS
4.6
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
Pricing from
Custom pricing
Free trial available
No
Mobile app
Yes
Pricing from
Custom pricing
Free trial available
No
Mobile app
Yes
Why We Picked It
BulkSMS is a global SMS gateway provider that offers a cloud-based SMS platform with a range of SMS marketing services that enable businesses to send and receive two-way text messaging. The company works on a pay-as-you-go basis. Users buy bundles of messaging credits that they can use all at once or space out over any given amount of time. Credits never expire and there are no monthly fees. The cost of the credits depends on the number of SMS messages in the bundle and the country to where messages are being sent.
For example, users who purchase 10,000 credits to send roughly 10,000 messages within the United States will pay $335 for the bundle or $0.0335 per message. BulkSMS allows users to purchase bundles of between 200 and 50,000 messages at a time.
BulkSMS offers all the basic services of a standard bulk texting platform such as real-time two-way messaging, status and delivery reports with push notifications, the ability to send long text messages, SMS automation and customizable sender ID. The software does not provide advanced marketing and analytic services, however, users can integrate BulkSMS with a number of applications that provide those services.
Who should use it:
Companies that do not want long-term contracts or monthly subscriptions.
Pros & Cons
- No monthly fee
- Credits never expire
- Money-back guarantee
- Does not price match
- No free trial
- User pays for failed messages
Forbes Advisor Ratings
Company | Company - Logo | Forbes Advisor Rating | Forbes Advisor Rating | Pricing from | Free trial available | Mobile app | Learn More CTA text | Learn more CTA below text | LEARN MORE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ClickSend | ![]() | 4.8 | ![]() | $0.0238 per message (under 2,000 messages) | Yes | Yes | View More | ||
Trumpia | ![]() | 4.8 | ![]() | $94 per month | Yes | No | View More | ||
Textedly | ![]() | 4.8 | ![]() | $24 per month | Yes | No | View More | ||
Clickatell | ![]() | 4.7 | ![]() | $11 per month | Yes | No | View More | ||
SendPulse | ![]() | 4.7 | ![]() | $0.032 per message | Ten SMS | Yes | View More | ||
TextMarks | ![]() | 4.6 | ![]() | $219 per month | No | No | View More | ||
BulkSMS | ![]() | 4.6 | ![]() | Custom pricing | No | Yes | View More |
Methodology
We examined bulk texting software based on factors important to businesses such as ease of use, cost and fees, customer support and features and functionality. We also looked at any extras that might be attractive to potential customers.
- Ease of use: We prefer bulk texting platforms that are easy to set up and easy to use.
- Pricing: We wanted to ensure business owners were paying a fair price, however, pricing is a confusing area when comparing bulk texting software. Many platforms offer different types of pricing. Some charge per text while others charge a monthly subscription fee.
- Customer support: It is important to business owners to be able to immediately receive help when facing any hiccups with their business tools. As with any business platform, we prefer companies that offer the most available and reliable customer service.
- Features and functionality: The primary goal of bulk text software is to be able to communicate with customers or would-be customers quickly and easily. To help facilitate that, we took into account features such as global texting capabilities, WebSMS, email-to-SMS and inbound SMS.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is SMS?
SMS stands for short messaging service. It is commonly known as texting and used as a way to send text messages with up to 160 characters between phones. Bulk SMS allows companies, governments and media organizations to send a large number of SMS messages at once.
How can I use SMS to promote my business?
SMS allows businesses to effectively build relationships with their customers. Common examples of this include customer service communication, order and delivery confirmations, appointment reminders, loyalty program updates and promotion announcements.
What is the difference between SMS and MMS?
Both SMS and MMS are texting services that allow users to send messages between two or more devices. MMS supports multimedia content such as images and videos, where SMS only supports text.
What are the limitations to text messages?
The limits to text messages are 160 total characters. This includes letters and numbers as well as spaces, punctuation and symbols.
Is bulk texting software secure?
Like most types of software, the best bulk texting software programs offer many levels of security. When choosing this type of software, you want to look for security features like two-factor authentication (2FA) or multifactor authentication (MFA), documentation that shows frequent security updates and patches, intrusion detection, the monitoring of user activities, data encryption and privacy protection.
What is a drip campaign?
Sending a series of emails to a targeted audience on a regularly scheduled basis is known as a drip campaign or drip marketing. These allow you to keep in contact with your customers with email information, such as sales, that may be of interest to them. These are usually sent to customers who have ordered from you―either recently or in the recent past―abandoned items in a shopping cart on your site, registered with your site, attended an event at your brick-and-mortar location or had dealings with your customer service department.
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FAQs
What is the best app to send mass texts? ›
...
Let's take a look at some of the best bulk SMS apps that let you send messages to a bigger audience with your Android device.
- Multi SMS Sender. 2 Images. ...
- Bulk SMS Plans. 3 Images. ...
- Group Messaging. ...
- Hit Em Up. ...
- Multi SMS & Group SMS.
Mobile app
SendPulse is a marketing automation platform that allows businesses to create and send newsletters, personalized emails and customized text messages. It allows users to send SMS campaigns to more than 1,000 mobile network operators in 200 countries.
Does a Free Mass Texting App Exist? The short answer is no. Sending mass text messages has an associated cost that comes from telecommunication companies. Mass texting apps, like TextSpot, pass on those costs to their users.
What is the easiest way to send a mass text? ›Sending a mass text message is as simple as logging in to a platform like EZ Texting, choosing a group of contacts you'd like to send to, composing your message, and scheduling it to be sent. One of the distinguishing factors of text messaging compared to other marketing channels is the extraordinary open rates.
How to send 1,000 text messages at once online? ›The way is to use a website called GetItSMS . This allows you to send multiple messages at once. Another way is to use a website called GetItSMS sms. This will also allow you to send 1000 SMS at a time free online.
Does Google have a mass texting service? ›Google-owned SMS, RCS and instant messaging service allows users to send mass text messages. Users can even access the Google Messages app to send a text message to multiple recipients at once.
How much does mass texting cost? ›How Much Do Bulk Text Message Services Cost? Bulk text message services typically offer monthly pricing based on the number of messages the business can send out each month. Pricing generally starts around $25 for 500 messages to between about $39 to $79 for 2,000 messages.
Is Textnow unlimited texting? ›Our activation kit comes with a SIM card that gives unlocked Android or iPhone devices access to our unlimited nationwide talk and text service for $0/month. Our ad-supported free phone service helps you keep the conversation going wherever you are.
How can I send bulk SMS in USA? ›BulkSMS.com in United States of America
Get your messages across with BulkSMS.com. Use any or all of our SMS Messaging Solutions whenever you need to. Using our platform, you can quickly send any short and important SMS messages worldwide, or locally to United States of America.
- Open your Messaging app.
- From there, navigate to Settings by tapping the three vertical dots in the corner of the screen.
- Go to Multimedia (MMS) Messages.
- There, you can either check or uncheck the option for Group Messaging.
How to send 5000 messages at once? ›
- Open the WhatsApp Business App.
- Go to the Chat screen> Menu button> New List.
- Type the names of the contacts you want to send the message to or press the + button to select them directly from your contact list.
- Press OK.
- Press Create.
- Tap Android Messages.
- Tap Menu (3 dots in the top right corner)
- Tap Settings.
- Tap Advanced.
- Tap Group Messaging.
- Tap "Send an SMS reply to all recipients and get individual replies (mass text)"
When you open an EZ Texting account it is set to the Pay & Go plan. Once you use up the free credits in your account, you can purchase credits to pay for the texts you wish to send. In addition to our Pay & Go plan, we offer monthly plans, which include discounted messages and Keywords.
Can WhatsApp business send bulk messages? ›A bulk message is a message that is sent from a single WhatsApp Business user to multiple phone numbers at the same time. All receivers of the message will see it coming in as a private message. WhatsApp bulk messaging first was a consumer-only feature, but it's now also available for businesses.
How many messages can be sent through WhatsApp in a day? ›Tier 1. Messages can be sent to 1000 unique contacts within 24 hours. Tier 2. Messages can be sent to 10, 000 unique contacts within 24 hours.
How do you send bulk messages on Iphone? ›- Open Messages and tap the Compose button .
- Enter the names or tap the Add button. to add people from your contacts.
- Type your message, then tap the Send button .
Yes! When you combine our app with a TextNow SIM Card, you can take TextNow with you on the go, anywhere in the US, on the nation's largest 5G/4G network. Unlimited calling and texting is always free, and we cover the cost of service through the ads in our app, so you never have a monthly bill.
Do police use TextNow? ›Can Texting Apps Be Traced By Police? Yes, police can trace phone numbers from anonymous texting apps like TextFree, and TextNow, back to an individual through a court order. Through a valid court order, they are compelled to hand over user information, which helps police to trace a number back to an individual.
What is better than Google Messages? ›There are more than 25 alternatives to Google Messages for a variety of platforms, including Android, iPhone, Windows, Linux and Mac. The best alternative is QKSMS, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Google Messages are FluffyChat, Molly, Status and Simple SMS Messenger.
How many people can I mass text at once? ›If you are using a group text message service, then there are usually no limitations on the number of people that can be added to a group text. Mass text: The usual limitation on mass text from iOS is 25, from android is 20 and from Whatsapp is 256.
How much does TextNow cost per month? ›
From 1G to 5G—you pick what you need. Starting at $8.99/mo.
Which carrier does TextNow use? ›Overall performance: TextNow uses T-Mobile's network to offer decent coverage and data speeds. Customer reviews show that most customers are happy with TextNow's app.
Can TextNow get jail calls? ›Can TextNow receive collect calls, or calls from a correctional facility? No, I'm afraid the TextNow system cannot accept collect calls, as we have no way to bill you for individual calls. All calls to and from your TextNow phone from the US and Canada are free.
Is there a group text app that sends individually? ›If you are looking for an app to send group texts individually, use TextSpot. TextSpot makes it easy to send one way group messages. You can even: schedule messages.
What is the difference between mass text and group MMS? ›Group conversations: Send an MMS reply to all recipients. Mass text: Send an SMS reply to all recipients and get individual replies.
How do you text more than 20 people on iPhone? ›- Open Messages and tap the Compose button .
- Enter the names or tap the Add button. to add people from your contacts.
- Type your message, then tap the Send button .
...
I can only speak for Android (probably jus for Samsung Galaxy S8+).
- Message - Go to your messages and write the message.
- + (plus) - At the bottom left corner, you see a big + button. ...
- Schedule message - Press on it.
- Date & Time - Enter date and time wanted for text submission.
- Press on Done.
- Tap Android Messages.
- Tap Menu (3 dots in the top right corner)
- Tap Settings.
- Tap Advanced.
- Tap Group Messaging.
- Tap "Send an SMS reply to all recipients and get individual replies (mass text)"