SMS marketing software pricing and cost guide
The five things that make up your SMS bill, entry pricing across the leading tools, and which pricing model fits your sending, so you can forecast a true monthly cost.
SMS looks cheap until the invoice arrives. The headline plan is only one line of the bill; the real cost is the platform fee, the per message rate, the higher MMS rate, the number rental, and the carrier and registration fees that ride along with every send in the United States. Two tools with similar sticker prices can cost very different amounts once your real volume is plugged in.
This guide breaks the SMS bill into its parts, puts entry pricing side by side, and shows which pricing model fits which kind of sender, so you can forecast a true monthly figure before you commit. For the full ranking, start with our best SMS marketing software hub, and pair this with the buying guide and the how to choose guide.
The tool reviews linked below carry affiliate links marked rel="sponsored"; we may earn a commission. Our rankings are editorial and are never for sale. See our disclosure.
The five things that make up your SMS bill
The monthly or annual subscription that buys you the software. It can be free (Klaviyo SMS and Postscript Starter), a flat plan (SimpleTexting, EZ Texting, SlickText), or a custom enterprise commitment (Attentive). On pay as you go APIs like Twilio there is no platform fee at all, only usage.
What each send costs. As of June 2026, US rates run from about $0.0079 per segment on Twilio and about $0.009 on Klaviyo SMS to about $0.015 on Postscript Starter and roughly $0.01 on Attentive. Flat credit plans bundle usage into the plan instead, with one credit per 160 character SMS.
Picture and longer messages cost more, usually about three times an SMS. On credit plans an MMS spends 3 credits; on usage tools an MMS runs about $0.045 on Postscript or $0.02 to $0.03 on Attentive. If you send a lot of images, model MMS separately.
You rent the number you send from, a toll free number, a short code, or a 10 digit long code, and you register a 10DLC brand and campaign before US carriers will deliver. Registration is a one time fee, often a few dollars to tens of dollars, plus small monthly campaign fees.
US carriers add a per message surcharge on top of the platform rate, generally a fraction of a cent each. Klaviyo SMS folds these into its credit price; Postscript and Twilio pass them through as a separate line. These small fees add up at volume, so include them.
Entry pricing across the leading tools
Pricing as of June 2026; check each vendor for current pricing. Scores are editorial assessments against our SMS marketing rubric, not vendor claims.
Which pricing model matches your sending
Pricing as of June 2026; check each vendor for current pricing. Scores are editorial assessments against our SMS marketing rubric, not vendor claims.
Three quick cost scenarios
Numbers below are illustrative, to show how the model changes the bill. Use your own subscriber count and volume, and confirm current rates with each vendor.
Low volume, steady sender
A local business texting a few thousand messages a month usually pays least on a flat credit plan or a free tier with cheap usage. SimpleTexting at $39 a month for 500 credits, SlickText from $29, or Klaviyo SMS on its free tier with usage all fit, because you avoid a high minimum you would never use.
Growing ecommerce store
A Shopify brand running cart, browse and post purchase automations wants store data depth, so the value sits with Klaviyo SMS or Postscript. Cost scales with volume on usage based pricing, and the automations should earn more than they cost; watch the MMS rate if your campaigns lean on images.
High volume or enterprise program
A large program sending hundreds of thousands of messages can negotiate a lower per message rate in exchange for a commitment. Attentive sits here with custom quotes and quarterly minimums of about $2,000 to $3,000; the lower rate only pays off if your volume clears the minimum every quarter.
Signs your plan fits, and signs you are overpaying
Go deeper
As of June 2026 entry pricing ranges widely: Klaviyo SMS and Postscript have free starting tiers with usage based sending, SimpleTexting starts at $39 a month, EZ Texting at $25, SlickText at $29, Twilio is pay as you go from about $0.0079 per US segment, and Attentive is premium and custom quoted with quarterly minimums around $2,000 to $3,000. Carrier and 10DLC registration fees apply on top. Check each vendor for current pricing.
Beyond the platform fee, expect per message usage, a higher MMS rate of roughly three times an SMS, number rental for a toll free number or short code, one time 10DLC brand and campaign registration, small monthly campaign fees, and US carrier passthrough surcharges of a fraction of a cent per message. Model these at your real volume to get a true monthly figure.
It depends on your sending pattern. Flat credit plans suit steady senders who use most of their allowance, pay as you go suits seasonal or low volume programs, and usage based pricing suits stores that scale fast. The wrong model quietly overcharges you, so match the model to how you actually send, not to the lowest headline number.
Estimate your subscriber count and monthly message volume, split out SMS and MMS, then for each shortlisted tool add the platform fee, per message usage, MMS, number rental, registration, and carrier fees at that volume. Compare the all in monthly figure rather than the sticker price. Figures verified June 2026; check the vendor for current pricing.
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