The best SMS marketing software for ecommerce stores
The sticker price on SMS is a lie. What you actually pay is per-segment send cost plus carrier pass-through fees, and the platforms that hide those fees are the expensive ones. We reweighted around all-in cost per message, then ranked the five stores can run profitably at volume.
For ecommerce we weight the true cost of a sent message — platform rate plus carrier fees — over feature gloss, because at scale a fraction of a cent per segment is the whole P&L. Tools that bury carrier fees or lock you into quarterly minimums rank lower no matter how slick the dashboard. See the full rubric →
Postscript prices include all carrier fees — $0.015/SMS, $0.045/MMS on the free Starter, dropping as you move to Growth ($25/mo) and Professional ($500/mo). Inbound is free, you can downgrade any month, and a $100 trial credit covers the first 30 days. The clearest cost story in the category.
One platform for email and SMS against the same store data — unbeatable for unified flows. But SMS runs on credits (~$0.009/credit in the US above 5,000), credits don't roll over, and carrier fees stack on top. Email+SMS starts at $35/mo. Powerful, but model the unused-credit waste.
Built for large DTC, with managed deliverability and aggressive list growth. The 'free' is the opposite problem: quarterly minimums of $2,000–$3,000, 6–12 month contracts, and TCO running 30–50% over quote once carrier fees and add-ons land. Only worth it past hundreds of thousands of sends a month.
Not an ecommerce specialist, but the only one here where unused credits roll over: 500 credits $39/mo up to 50,000 at $909, 20% off annual. Store-data depth is shallow, so it suits a smaller store running broadcasts more than triggered revenue flows.
A general business-texting tool, not a store platform: $0.049/SMS pay-as-you-go, $0.08/MMS, plus $10/mo per dedicated number. No flows, no store data. Fine for transactional blasts; the wrong tool if you want cart-recovery revenue.
Two numbers, not one: the platform's per-segment rate and the carrier pass-through fee. US carrier fees run about $0.004/SMS on top of the rate unless, like Postscript, the platform includes them. A '$0.01' message can really cost $0.014–$0.02 once fees and MMS upgrades land.
Why is Postscript our pick over Klaviyo?
Cost transparency. Postscript bakes carrier fees into one published rate and lets you downgrade monthly. Klaviyo is the better unified email+SMS platform, but its credits expire monthly and carrier fees stack on top, so the true cost is harder to predict and easier to waste.
Is Attentive ever worth the minimum?
Only at scale. With $2,000–$3,000 quarterly floors and annual contracts, Attentive needs hundreds of thousands of monthly sends to beat usage-priced rivals on cost per acquired dollar. Below that, you're paying enterprise overhead for volume you don't have.
Do rollover credits actually matter?
For seasonal stores, yes. Klaviyo credits vanish at month-end, so a quiet January is money burned. SimpleTexting rolls credits forward, which smooths variable volume — a real saving if your sends spike around launches and holidays.