The best text messaging service for business lets users send bulk short messaging service (SMS) and multimedia messaging service (MMS), supports two-way texting, and automates message delivery. It offers a dedicated virtual phone number and allows texting customers overseas. It integrates with customer relationship management (CRM) and productivity tools, making it easy for users to adopt the platform in their workflow.
Based on our research, these are the best platforms to use for SMS communications:
- Podium: Best for end-to-end customer engagement
- Textedly: Most affordable option for teams with a tight SMS marketing budget
- Twilio: Top pick for adding SMS features to existing business apps
- Text Request: Solid choice for implementing large-scale SMS marketing campaigns
- Salesmsg: Great for adding call-based customer service to SMS
- TextMagic: Best for connecting to an international audience
Best Text Messaging Services for Business at a Glance
Best Business Texting Providers | Starting Price | Key Features | Free Trial Period | FSB Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | $289 for 100 bulk messages per month |
| 14 days | 4.61 out of 5 |
 | $26 for 500 texts per month |
| 14 days | 4.55 out of 5 |
 | $0.0079 per text |
| Not available (N/A) | 4 out of 5 |
 | $59 for 1,000 texts per month |
| N/A | 3.99 out of 5 |
 | $49 for 1,000 texts per month |
| 14 days | 3.96 out of 5 |
 | 4 cents per text |
| 30 days | 3.78 out of 5 |
Take our quiz to find out which business texting provider is best for you.
Which business texting provider is right for you?
Podium: Best for End-to-end Customer Engagement
What We Liked
- Text-based review requests make it easy for customers to leave feedback
- Provides access to REST API, allowing users to add the platform’s capabilities to existing business apps
- Robust integrations with third-party apps
Where It Falls Behind
- Expensive monthly subscription
- Maximum of 100 bulk messages only in the entry-level package
- Requires the highest-tier subscription for round-robin and topic-based message routing
Podium Monthly Pricing*
- Essentials: $289 for up to three team members, 1,000 contacts, a maximum of 100 bulk messages, and custom message templates
- Standard: $449 for unlimited team members, unlimited contacts, a maximum of 250 bulk messages, and scheduled messages
- Professional: $649 for a maximum of 500 bulk messages, auto-response to frequently asked questions (FAQs), round-robin routing, and topic-based routing
- Free trial: 14 days
Starting Price for Payment Solutions:
- Text-to-pay processing: 2.7% of the transaction and 30 cents
- In-person processing: 2.2% of the transaction and 15 cents
- Manual entry processing: 2.9% of the transaction and 30 cents
- Card on file processing: 2.7% of the transaction and 30 cents
- Buy-now-pay-later processing: 6% of the transaction and 30 cents
- Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfers: $5
- Premium fraud protection: 0.65% of the transaction
- International transaction fee: 1%
*The entry-level plan’s fee is reduced from $289 to $249 when you choose annual billing.
Podium is the overall best text messaging service for businesses—offering end-to-end SMS solutions for customer engagement, like text marketing, text-to-pay, and text-based review invites. Text marketing tools include campaign templates and audience segmentation, making the execution of brand awareness strategies more efficient.
After building relationships with contacts, turn leads into customers by facilitating text-to-pay. Once the transaction is done, encourage customers to become advocates by texting review requests. Our overall best text messaging service for business works seamlessly with various third-party business tools, including Freshdesk, HubSpot, Zendesk, Mailchimp, and Shopify.
One drawback of choosing Podium, though, is its expensive monthly subscription. Its entry-level package already costs $289 but only allows up to 100 bulk texts. If you’re looking for a more affordable text messaging service for business, Textedly is a better choice. Its entry-level plan, which includes 500 texts, only costs $26 per month.
Podium Features
See previous interactions with a customer on Podium’s contact profiles (Source: Podium)
- Phones: Place and accept calls using Podium’s voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) system. During a live call, agents are able to check the customer profile and understand their inquiries better. If you’re interested in adopting a full-fledged VoIP system, check out our guide on the best business phone system.
- Contact profiles: Get an overview of all customer interactions in Podium’s built-in customer relationship management (CRM) tool. You’ll see when a client last messaged you and whether or not they left a review or paid an outstanding balance.
- Inbox: The inbox contains all customer messages, from Facebook inquiries to Yelp reviews. With everything in one place, you won’t miss any client feedback.
Textedly: Most Affordable Text Messaging Service for Business
What We Liked
- Provides one free toll-free number across all subscription packages
- Offers a maximum of 200,000 SMS credits
- Wide range of plans for different business texting needs
Where It Falls Behind
- Doesn't lower fees for annual plans, only offering an increase in text credits
- Lacks API support
- Poor customer service, according to some users
Textedly Monthly Pricing*
- Basic: $26 for 500 texts, one custom keyword, unlimited contacts, and picture messaging
- Bronze: $38 for 1,000 texts
- Plus: $69 for 2,000 texts, text-to-pay, and Google Business reviews
- Enterprise: $99 for 3,500 texts and three custom keywords
- Elite: $139 for 5,000 texts and four custom keywords
- Business: $249 for 10,000 texts and six custom keywords
- Silver: $349 for 15,000 texts and seven custom keywords
- Premium: $499 for 25,000 texts and 10 custom keywords
- Pro: $599 for 35,000 texts and 13 custom keywords
- Gold: $849 for 50,000 texts and 15 custom keywords
- Platinum: $1599 for 100,000 texts and 20 custom keywords
- Diamond: $2299 for 150,000 texts and 20 custom keywords
- Champion: $2999 for 200,000 texts and 50 custom keywords
- Free trial: 14 days
*The provider offers an annual billing option with the same fees as the monthly arrangement, only with additional SMS credits.
Textedly is the best text messaging service for businesses with strict budget requirements for marketing efforts since its subscription plans have affordable rates and generous inclusions. The base-level subscription is priced at $26, offering 500 text messages and almost all the features the provider offers: custom keywords, unlimited contacts, and picture messaging. It also includes one toll-free phone number and one 10-digit long code (10DLC) phone number.
As you grow operations, you’re able to easily upgrade text credits in steady increments. Textedly supports a maximum of 200,000 messages.
While the business text service provider offers affordable subscription rates, it doesn’t provide discounts for annual billing arrangements (only additional SMS credits). Moreover, it lacks support for application programming interfaces (APIs), which Podium and Twilio provide.
Textedly Features
See the total number of subscribers and messages sent in Textedly’s analytics dashboard (Source: Textedly)
- Text message data collection: The platform automatically gathers key information about your subscribers, including state, city, and ZIP code. Complete your customer profile by supplying the first and last names and email addresses.
- Instagram texting: Since Textedly has a built-in integration with Instagram (IG), you’ll conveniently receive messages sent to your IG profile. Simply add the “Text Us” button to your social media page.
- Analytics: Evaluate the performance of text marketing initiatives by looking at the subscriber time stamps, activity feed, and total user history. Insights from the analytics dashboard will help recalibrate your efforts.
Twilio: Best for Adding SMS Features to Existing Apps
What We Liked
- Affordable pay-per-use rates
- Customizable opt-ins and opt-outs to comply with local regulations
- Offers access to other communication APIs, like voice and email
Where It Falls Behind
- Requires coding know-how to use the SMS API
- Lacks robust reporting and analytics tools
- Complicated documentation, according to some users
Twilio Pricing
- SMS for long codes, toll-free, and short codes: $0.0079 for inbound and outbound messages
- MMS for long codes and short codes: 2 cents for outbound messages and 1 cent for inbound messages
- MMS for toll-free numbers: 2 cents for outbound and inbound messages
Twilio is the ideal text service for businesses wanting to include SMS tools in their existing business platforms. It offers an SMS API and supports different programming languages, C#, Java, Node.js, PHP, Python, Ruby, and Go. Suppose you want your company’s mobile app to send appointment reminders to customers. Twilio’s programmable messaging feature helps you build that feature without starting from scratch and with only a few lines of code.
However, do note that since you’re dealing with a customizable solution, you must at least have coding knowledge to understand the API documentation well. If you don’t have an in-house developer team, it’s best to go for an off-the-shelf business text message service, like the others mentioned in this article. Or, if you want both options, consider Podium, a plug-and-play solution that also offers access to REST API for custom integration.
Twilio Features
Deliver messages at a specific time and date using Twilio’s message scheduling feature (Source: Twilio)
- Message redaction: Conceal the last four digits of your phone number or the message body to keep confidential information safe. When activated, the platform will only store the full number during the delivery of the message. After that, Twilio only has access to redacted phone numbers.
- Message scheduling: Set a specific time for the delivery of SMS or MMS messages. This is especially beneficial for time-sensitive messages, such as appointment reminders.
- Link shortening: Shorten URLs in texts to make messages more readable and monitor clicks. To enable this, you must register the domain you want to use in links on the platform.
Our Twilio review will help you become more familiar with the provider’s features. Read the guide before subscribing to the business texting software.
Text Request: Best for Implementing Large-scale Text Marketing Efforts
What We Liked
- Offers programmable SMS, allowing businesses to customize their existing apps
- Complies with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) standards
- Secures data through end-to-end encryption
Where It Falls Behind
- Doesn’t provide annual billing discounts
- Limited native third-party integrations
- Doesn’t offer a free trial like other providers
Text Request Monthly Pricing
Standard Plans:
- Basic: $59 for 1,000 texts, one dashboard, two-way and mass texting, and payments
- Starter: $139 for 2,500 texts, two dashboards, scheduled messages, and unlimited keywords
- Corporate: $279 for 6,500 texts, five dashboards, and custom merge
- Enterprise: $549 for 20,000 texts, 10 dashboards, and API access
High Volume Plans:
- High Volume Tier 1: $850 for 50,000 texts and 10 dashboards
- High Volume Tier 2: $1,400 for 100,000 texts
- High Volume Tier 3: $2,750 for 250,000 texts
Text Request is the best business text messaging service when you frequently promote products and services to a large number of customers through SMS. It has dedicated plans for high-volume texts, supporting a maximum of 250,000 messages a month. Aside from generous monthly SMS credits, Text Request features mass texting, which makes reaching a large audience easier.
It has robust contact management tools, which will help you further streamline the delivery of bulk texts to a large database. One of these tools includes unlimited custom lists, where you get to add multiple contacts to specific groups. The platform also allows importing and exporting contacts from an existing database or CRM.
Unlike other business text messaging services, though, Text Request doesn’t have a free trial and annual billing discounts. Moreover, it has limited native integrations with third-party apps. Choose Podium if you plan to connect the SMS platform to your existing tech stack.
Text Request Features
Send payment requests to customers via Text Request (Source: Text Request)
- Signatures: Reflect your brand identity in promotional messages by adding custom signatures. You have the option to use your company or team member’s name.
- Message templates: Create templates for messages frequently sent to customers. This applies to schedule confirmations or referral promotions.
- Text-to-pay: Send payment requests to customers through SMS. Text Request works with over 200 payment processors thanks to its payments partner Authvia. The solution complies with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).
Salesmsg: Best for Adding Call-based Customer Service to SMS
What We Liked
- Supports up to 50,000 text messages
- Double opt-in feature helps businesses increase audience engagement
- Allows users to include PDF, Doc, and Excel files in texts
Where It Falls Behind
- Lacks text-to-pay capabilities
- Doesn’t have review management features
- Only available in the U.S.
Salesmsg Monthly Pricing*
- Pro: $49 for 1,000 texts, unlimited numbers, unlimited contacts, and unlimited app integrations
- Custom: Customized quote for a customized number of texts
- Free trial: 14 days
*Get two months free when you choose annual billing
Salesmsg is an excellent messaging service for businesses that want to supplement their SMS customer service with voice calls. This is because, besides texting capabilities, it offers VoIP phone features, supporting inbound and outbound calls. It has call forwarding capabilities, which keep you from missing important customer inquiries. Its on-demand and automatic call recording helps you document conversations and evaluate team members’ performance.
Salesmsg also has a call history, where you’ll be able to see the list of calls you placed, answered, and missed. To further improve call management, the automated voice message system delivers prerecorded voicemail messages.
While the SMS service provider has add-on VoIP capabilities, it lacks review management features. If this is an essential tool for maintaining your customer service and marketing efforts, consider Podium instead.
Salesmsg Features
Set up business hours to trigger auto-replies for messages received beyond your company schedule (Source: Salesmsg)
- Landline texting: Enable your existing landline or toll-free number to send texts. This way, you won’t have to replace or add a phone number, ensuring that your contact information remains recognizable to customers.
- Auto-reply business hours: Send an automated text to customers reaching out to you beyond business hours. Configure the days and hours in the Settings under the Timezone option.
- Private conversations: Let each employee use a unique personal number when communicating with customers. Aside from maintaining the privacy of messages, a dedicated phone number helps employees focus on assigned customer concerns.
TextMagic: Best for Connecting to an International Audience
What We Liked
- Longer free trial period than other business texting providers
- Flexible pricing with the pay-as-you-go option
- Provides local and toll-free numbers plus shortcodes
Where It Falls Behind
- Lacks text-to-pay features
- Phone support is only available on weekdays
- Doesn't offer postpaid or unlimited texting
TextMagic Pricing
- Pay as you go: 4 cents per text sent to the U.S.
- Monthly Plan:
- Lite: $99 for 2,500 texts (with a 2.5% discount)
- Standard: $199 for 5,300+ texts (with a 7.5% discount)
- Premium: $499 for 14,200+ texts (with a 12.5% discount)
- Pro: $999 for 30,200+ texts (with a 17.5% discount)
- Enterprise: $1,999 for 66,600+ texts (with a 25% discount)
- Free trial: 30 days
TextMagic’s SMS messaging for business suits companies needing to touch base with clients overseas regularly. It allows sending of texts internationally, covering 190-plus countries and over 1,000 networks. The platform delivers the messages via Tier-1 SMS gateway routes.
Aside from international SMS, TextMagic offers local phone numbers in 25 countries, including Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The monthly rate for the virtual numbers ranges from $4 to $35, depending on the country you choose. With local phone numbers, overseas customers will only pay for the local costs when they respond to your texts.
Although TextMagic’s international text messaging services for businesses are great, it doesn’t have text-to-pay capabilities. Choose Twilio if you want both of these features in your platform. The provider supports international SMS and facilitates text-based payments through its integration with the online payment processing platform Stripe.
TextMagic Features
With TextMagic’s universal language support, you’re able to use the language your customers understand. (Source: TextMagic)
- Long SMS: Send messages with a maximum length of 918 characters. The platform displays a real-time character counter so you know how much more text you’re allowed to enter.
- SMS distribution list: Rather than texting customers one by one, send the message to several contacts simultaneously to save time. TextMagic doesn’t have a limit on the number of distribution lists, so have as many as you need.
- Language support: Aside from English, the languages supported in TextMagic include Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian. You’ll be able to use special symbols as well.
How We Evaluated the Best Business Texting Providers
To assess the top texting services for businesses, we considered pricing, general and advanced features, ease of use, and customer support. We added our expert opinion on its value for money and popularity in the evaluation.
Learn more about the specific criteria we used in evaluating the providers by clicking on the tabs below:
15% of Overall Score
To determine the affordability of a texting service for business, we checked if it offers a monthly subscription and discounts for annual billing and bulk purchases. Providers with free trials earned more points.
25% of Overall Score
The general features we looked at were inbound and outbound SMS, MMS support, and customer database. Since businesses need a reliable communications platform for on-the-go employees, we included mobile apps in our assessment.
25% of Overall Score
The specialized features we checked were text marketing, text-to-pay, and scheduled messages. Higher points were given to providers with robust integrations.
10% of Overall Score
We evaluated ease of use by determining the expertise required to set up and operate the phone system. We also assessed if the providers have an intuitive interface.
10% of Overall Score
The variety of customer communication channels was part of our evaluation. We gave more points to providers with email, phone, and live chat support. We considered the hours these channels are active and operational.
15% of Overall Score
This includes our evaluation of the provider’s standout features, value for money, and ease of use. We checked user ratings in third-party review sites to gauge the platform’s popularity.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A business texting service platform allows you to easily connect to customers through a channel they already use. People use their cell phones every day—checking new messages and sending texts. By communicating through a popular medium, you gain more visibility for your brand messages.
Aside from increased exposure and instant communication, SMS allows you to solicit quick responses from customers simply because texting is convenient. As you build consistent engagement with customers, you become the top-of-mind choice for buying decisions. Use business texting apps to manage customer responses more efficiently.
To find the best text messaging service for small businesses, consider these factors:
- Features: Some basic features to look for are bulk and two-way messaging, shared inbox, text-to-pay, and scheduled messages. Unlimited contacts and users are essential, especially when you foresee scaling customer service operations.
- Integrations: To make customer communications more efficient, go for a platform that integrates seamlessly with CRM tools. With this, it’s easy to see customer profiles and make sense of their concerns. Also, choose business texting services that come with industry-related integrations.
- Ease of use: Check reviews from credible sites to see how easy it is for other businesses to navigate the platform. Watch demos to get an idea of the tool’s interface.
- Customer service: Find a provider that has multiple customer support channels. Aside from phone and email, look for self-service platforms, like a knowledge base or community forum.
In inbound SMS, customers send a message to the company’s phone number or shortcode. The phone system stores these incoming messages in a shared inbox, where users have an overview of all the texts. In outbound SMS, customer service representatives send messages to customers who expressed consent to receive texts from the company. The texts vary widely in function: appointment reminders, promotion of products, and updates on customer requests.
Bottom Line
Business SMS boosts marketing and customer service efforts, facilitating easy, instant communication with clients on their preferred channel. After evaluating different providers, Podium stood out as the best text message service for businesses because it supports customer engagement through and through.
It offers robust integrations and features, namely text marketing, text-to-pay, and review management, while also having VoIP capabilities. Sign up for Podium’s 14-day free trial today.
