An SMS marketing platform is software that lets a small business send text-message campaigns, automate appointment reminders, and handle two-way customer replies from a shared inbox. The right one fits your contact list size and send volume without forcing you to commit to a 10,000-subscriber minimum.
U.S. consumers read 98% of the text messages they receive and respond within 90 seconds, per a 2024 CTIA mobile messaging report (accessed September 2026). For a salon with 500 clients, that open rate is the difference between an empty Tuesday and a fully booked one – and the wrong platform can double your effective message cost without lifting your response rate.
SimpleTexting is the right pick for a small business with under 2,000 contacts that wants credits-based flexibility and three user seats. EZ Texting is the cheapest entry for a single-operator business sending weekly promos. TextMagic fits low-volume or international senders who want pure pay-as-you-go. Twilio is the right choice if you are building SMS into a product. Postscript is the default answer for Shopify ecommerce brands.
Key facts: SimpleTexting is $39 per month for 500 credits. EZ Texting Launch is $25 per month annual for 500 credits. TextMagic is $0.049 per SMS outbound with no monthly minimum. Twilio SMS is $0.0083 per outbound plus carrier fees. Postscript Starter is $0 with a $49 minimum monthly spend.
At 1,000 messages per month, TextMagic runs $49 plus $10 for a local number ($59 total). SimpleTexting runs $39 base plus $5.50 overage per message past 500 ($549 total). EZ Texting runs $20 to $25 base plus carrier fees, typically $25 to $40 total. The credit model matters more than the headline monthly price.
The honest traps: what they do not put on the pricing page
“Free” platforms charge minimum monthly spend on top of per-message rates. Postscript Starter is $0 base but requires a $49 minimum monthly spend, plus $0.015 per SMS plus ~$0.00384 in carrier fees. A Shopify brand sending 1,000 messages pays roughly $19 per month for messages plus the $49 floor – about $68 per month all in, per Postscript’s pricing page (accessed September 2026).
Credit-based plans expire unused credits. SimpleTexting rolls monthly plan credits into the following month, then downgrades wipe the rollover. EZ Texting bundles credits per month by contact tier. TextMagic is fully prepaid – credits never expire as long as the account is active. If your send volume is lumpy, prepaid is safer than subscription credits.
Carrier fees are billed separately and rarely disclosed upfront. U.S. carrier fees average $0.0025 per message for Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, per SimpleTexting’s published fee schedule (accessed September 2026). On a 10,000-message monthly send, carrier fees alone run $25.
Postscript adds an additional $0.00384 SMS carrier fee that stacks on top of message rate. A 100K-message-per-month brand pays $384 monthly in carrier fees before the platform fee.
MMS rates are 3 to 4x SMS rates. SimpleTexting MMS costs 3 credits per message. Postscript Starter charges $0.045 per MMS versus $0.015 per SMS, per Postscript’s pricing page (accessed September 2026). A campaign with an image costs more than 3x the same campaign without one – budget MMS carefully.
SMS marketing platforms for small businesses compared
The five tools in this comparison all send SMS campaigns, but they diverge on credit model, ecommerce integration, and per-message pricing. The table below compares entry price, pricing model, ecommerce fit, and the best-fit user for each tool.
| Tool | Best For | Entry Paid Price | Pricing Model | Ecommerce Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SimpleTexting | SMB under 2,000 contacts wanting 3 user seats | $39/mo (500 credits) | Credit-based subscription | Limited |
| EZ Texting | Single-operator businesses sending weekly promos | $20 to $25/mo annual (500 credits) | Contact-tier with credits | Limited |
| TextMagic | Low-volume or international prepaid senders | $0.049/SMS outbound ($10 number/mo) | Prepaid per-message | None |
| Twilio | Developers building SMS into a product | $0.0083/SMS outbound + $1.15 number/mo | Pay-as-you-go API | Via integration |
| Postscript | Shopify ecommerce brands with Shopify-native flows | $0/mo ($49 min spend) + $0.015/SMS | Tier plus per-message | Category-leading |
SimpleTexting: best for SMB under 2,000 contacts wanting team seats
SimpleTexting is the right pick if you run a small business with under 2,000 contacts and want credits-based flexibility plus three user seats. The Standard plan is $39 per month for 500 credits, billed yearly at $398.40, per SimpleTexting’s pricing page (accessed September 2026).
Three user seats are included on every paid plan, plus mass texting, two-way messaging, free incoming replies, auto-replies, drip campaigns, MMS at 3 credits per message, API access, and rollover credits.
The three user seats are the biggest reason to pick SimpleTexting. A salon with a front desk, a manager, and a marketing contractor can all log in without paying per-seat fees. The rollover credit policy is also reasonable: monthly plan credits roll into the following month before being consumed.
The honest weakness is the per-message cost at scale. SimpleTexting’s overage rate is $0.055 per message past 500 credits, which adds up fast. A business sending 5,000 messages monthly pays $39 base plus 4,500 overages at $0.055, or roughly $286 per month total.
Choose SimpleTexting if you want credits-based flexibility and need three user seats out of the box. Skip SimpleTexting if your monthly send volume exceeds 5,000 messages – TextMagic or Twilio are cheaper at high volume.
EZ Texting: best for single-operator businesses on a budget
EZ Texting is the right pick if you run a single-operator business and want the cheapest published entry plan. Launch is $25 per month monthly billing or $20 per month annual for 500 credits, Boost is $60 per month annual for 2,000 contacts, per EZ Texting’s pricing page (accessed September 2026).
The plan includes mass texting, two-way messaging, drip campaigns, MMS, and a free 10DLC registration.
The entry price is the biggest reason to pick EZ Texting. At $20 per month annual, EZ Texting Launch undercuts SimpleTexting’s $39 entry tier by $19 per month, a $228 yearly gap. For a real-estate agent, a personal trainer, or a non-profit coordinator, that $228 is the deciding factor.
The honest weakness is feature depth. EZ Texting ships fewer automation templates and a thinner integration list than SimpleTexting at the same price point. The user seat count is also one, not three – a multi-operator team pays for the next tier.
Choose EZ Texting if you are a single-operator business on a budget. Skip EZ Texting if you need three user seats or richer automation – SimpleTexting wins on capability at $19 more per month.
TextMagic: best for low-volume or international prepaid senders
TextMagic is the right pick if you want pure pay-as-you-go with no monthly commitment. Outbound SMS is $0.049 per message (160 plain-text characters), with prepaid credit bundles from 500 to 200,000 SMS, per TextMagic’s pricing page (accessed September 2026). A local or toll-free number is $10 per month (first month free), and a 10DLC campaign registration is $10 per month (initial registration free).
The no-commitment model is the biggest reason to pick TextMagic. A consultant who sends 100 SMS reminders per quarter pays $5 in messages plus $10 for the number – no monthly subscription, no rollover credits to track, no tier jumps. TextMagic is also the best option in this comparison for multi-country campaigns, with per-country rate transparency that US-focused platforms lack.
The honest weakness is the lack of subscription perks. TextMagic does not bundle the AI Assist message generator, three user seats, or the deeper automation library that SimpleTexting ships. At higher volumes, the per-message rate ($0.049) also beats EZ Texting overage but trails Twilio’s $0.0083 plus carrier fees for the same message.
Choose TextMagic if you send fewer than 1,000 messages monthly or need international coverage. Skip TextMagic if your monthly volume is in the thousands and you want AI-assisted copy – SimpleTexting fits better.
Twilio: best for developers building SMS into a product
Twilio is the right pick if you are a developer building SMS into a product, not a marketer sending campaigns. SMS outbound is $0.0083 per message to U.S. long codes plus carrier fees, MMS outbound is $0.022, and a long-code phone number is $1.15 per month, per Twilio’s SMS pricing page (accessed September 2026). Volume discounts apply as monthly volume grows.
The price-per-message is the biggest reason to pick Twilio. At $0.0083 per SMS, Twilio is roughly 6x cheaper than TextMagic and 60x cheaper than SimpleTexting’s overage rate. A product sending 100,000 SMS per month pays roughly $830 plus phone-number and carrier fees – about $1,000 total, versus $5,500 on SimpleTexting’s overage rate.
The honest weakness is the developer-only surface. Twilio ships an API and a Programmable Messaging console, not a campaign dashboard for non-technical marketers. Sending a broadcast SMS requires writing code or wiring up a third-party UI on top of Twilio. A small business without a developer should pick a campaign platform.
Choose Twilio if you are building SMS into a software product and need API access. Skip Twilio if you are a marketer who wants a dashboard – SimpleTexting, EZ Texting, or TextMagic all fit better.
Postscript: best for Shopify ecommerce brands
Postscript is the right pick if you run a Shopify store and want Shopify-native SMS automations. Starter is $0 base with a $49 minimum monthly spend plus $0.015 per SMS plus carrier fees, Growth is $100 per month, and Professional is $500 per month, per Postscript’s pricing page (accessed September 2026).
The Shopify integration includes cart abandonment, browse abandonment, welcome, and upsell flows built on Shopify triggers.
The Shopify-native automation is the biggest reason to pick Postscript. The Visual Flow Builder, conversational SMS with AI Shop, and Shopify-event triggers are category-leading for DTC ecommerce. A brand with 50K subscribers sending 3 campaigns per month can run the entire SMS program on Postscript Growth at $100 per month plus per-message costs.
The honest weakness is non-Shopify irrelevance. Postscript’s deepest integrations assume Shopify or Shopify Plus as the source of truth. A WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or Squarespace store does not get the same depth.
Choose Postscript if you are a Shopify ecommerce brand that wants Shopify-native automations. Skip Postscript if your store runs on WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or another platform – SimpleTexting or TextMagic fit non-Shopify brands.
How to pick an SMS marketing platform in 4 steps
- Match the credit model to your send volume. Credit-based subscriptions (SimpleTexting, EZ Texting) work if you send a predictable monthly volume. Prepaid per-message (TextMagic) works if your volume is lumpy or low. Pay-as-you-go API (Twilio) works if you are building SMS into a product. Per-message rates (Postscript) work if you are on Shopify and the volume is in the tens of thousands monthly.
- Add the phone number and carrier fees to the headline price. Every platform here charges for the number separately – $1.15 to $10 per month. Carrier fees add another $0.0025 to $0.00384 per message. A 5,000-message-per-month sender on SimpleTexting at $39 base pays $25 in carrier fees plus $10 for the number, or $74 total monthly.
- Check whether 10DLC registration is included. U.S. business SMS now requires A2P 10DLC registration. EZ Texting, Postscript, and Attentive include it free. TextMagic charges $10 per campaign per month after the first free registration. Unregistered brands face message throttling and filtering, so this fee is unavoidable for U.S. senders.
- Audit MMS before you budget image campaigns. SimpleTexting MMS costs 3 credits per message, Postscript Starter charges $0.045 per MMS versus $0.015 per SMS. A campaign with an image costs 3x the text-only campaign – budget image-driven SMS as a separate line, not as a substitute for text sends.
The final decision path
If you run a small business with under 2,000 contacts and want three user seats with credits-based flexibility, start with SimpleTexting at $39 per month for 500 credits. The rollover credits and team seats are the strongest combination in this comparison at this size.
If you are a single-operator business on a budget, EZ Texting Launch at $20 per month annual for 500 credits. The $228 yearly savings versus SimpleTexting is real.
If you send fewer than 1,000 messages monthly or need international coverage, TextMagic at $0.049 per SMS outbound with no monthly commitment. The prepaid model is safer for lumpy volume.
If you are a developer building SMS into a product, Twilio at $0.0083 per SMS outbound plus carrier fees. The price-per-message is roughly 6x cheaper than TextMagic and the API is the deepest in the industry.
If you run a Shopify ecommerce brand, Postscript Starter at $0 base with $49 minimum monthly spend plus $0.015 per SMS. The Shopify-native automations are category-leading for DTC.
None of these platforms is the wrong choice for sending SMS in 2026. The wrong choice is picking the lowest headline monthly price without auditing the credit model, the carrier fees, and the registration costs that stack on top.
For a broader look at marketing tools beyond SMS, see our essential marketing tools for service businesses. For comparing SMS to email as a channel, Mailchimp vs ConvertKit for newsletter creators covers the email side. For scheduling reminders that pair with SMS, best free scheduling tools for solo consultants covers the workflow trigger.
Basis: pricing and plan details pulled from SimpleTexting, EZ Texting, TextMagic, Twilio, and Postscript pricing pages accessed September 2026. Open-rate and response-time data sourced from a 2024 CTIA mobile messaging report. Carrier fees and 10DLC registration costs reflect industry-published schedules and may vary by destination. No hands-on testing; figures are public list prices. Verify on each vendor’s pricing page before purchase. Last updated: October 2026.
