Best SMS Marketing Software 2023 – Features and Pricing Comparison

Let’s dive into this article where we have ranked the Best SMS Marketing Software in 2023. We judged these softwares based on their overall ability to send SMS and pricing. For example, an ideal SMS marketing platform should be able to send and receive messages, send automated texts or Drip SMS, and Bulk SMS. But first, let’s learn why is it the high-time to invest in the SMS marketing strategy.

Is SMS Marketing Effective in 2023?

• Response Rate: According to a study, it has been found that people usually take approximately 90 seconds to respond to an SMS (Short Message Service) or text. Compared to emails respondents take nearly 90 minutes to respond, SMSs are a far better option.
• Open Rate: When your customers are on vacation or away from work, the one thing they still keep close to themselves is their phone. And SMSs are one of the few marketing channels that can get delivered even if there is no internet connection. You don’t even have to install any additional apps to check text messages. Due to these factors, the text message has the one of highest delivery rates and the best open rate i.e. 97%.
• Increased Engagement: COVID-19 has increased consumer screen time drastically in the past couple of years. On average, screen time is increased by 49% of consumers in the USA. Not just this, 67% of consumers said their texting time has also increased during the pandemic.
• Opt-in Rate: SimpleTexting conducted a survey in which 1300 consumers and marketers participated. As per this research, 62% of consumers have opted-in for the text from one business, and 48% of consumers have opted-in for the text from one to three businesses. Brands have also seen an increment of 52% in the opt-in rates from customers, on the other hand, only 10% faced decreased opt-in.
• CTR Click-through Rate: The businesses that currently have incorporated SMS marketing have been witnessing a click-through rate of 20% – 35%.

Best SMS Marketing Software in 2023

1. SuiteCRM SMS Campaign

SuiteCRM SMS Campaign is a package of three products-

• Live Chat (Click to SMS)
• Drip SMS
• Bulk SMS

The capability to send SMS is powered by Twilio SMS API which is one of the most reliable SMS and cloud communication platforms in the market. These aspects alone make it the best SMS Marketing software.

All these tools work on SuiteCRM (The most used Open-source CRM in the world) and because of that, you also get the features of a full-fledged CRM as well. It means you can create target lists, workflows, and separately manage contacts, leads, accounts, and whatnot.

Features and Benefits–

• Live Chat: This is the 2-way conversation that can be initiated by either agent or the customer. Here, you can send emojis in addition to text messages. You can use pre-built SMS templates in ongoing conversations and also engage in conversation with multiple customers at one time.
• Drip SMS: You can also send SMS messages to the right customer at the right time using the Drip SMS functionality. Here, you can create a series of SMS messages with pre-built templates and ready to go at a pre-defined time. Then just add a customer to the Drip sequence manually or based on status.
• Bulk SMS: Bulk SMS is sending the same message to a large group of customers. We did this by keeping all compliant guidelines under consideration.
• SMS Template: Here, you can use the drag-and-drop builder to create SMS templates. There is no limit to the number of templates that can be created.
• Audience Segmentation: In SuiteCRM, you get the target list audience that allows you to segment your target audience based on any criteria. Apart from that, you will get all other CRM features.
• Easy Opt-out: If a customer wants to Opt-out then they can simply send the STOP in the message and that phone number will get opted out.
• Send Unlimited Messages: There is no limit to the number of messages you can send. The cost of sending messages will fall under the Twilio SMS Pricing.
• Set up Multiple Sender Accounts: In this, you can set up as many agents account as you want. Each agent can have their own phone number and have separate user accounts in SuiteCRM.
• One-time Payment: This tool comes at a one-time cost and lifetime support. It means you don’t need to pay a hefty monthly subscription and per-user fee.

Pricing–

• Click to SMS (Live Chat): A one-time payment of $499
• Drip SMS (SMS Automation): A one-time payment of $599
• Bulk SMS: A one-time payment of $599

2. EZ Texting

EZ Texting is one of the most popular text and SMS marketing software. As per their website, the current user base of EZ Texting is more than 210,000. It is a cloud-based SMS marketing platform that any business can start using instantly. The most basic EZ Texting pricing plan is $20.

In addition to the ability to send various types of text messages, you also get other features like Reporting, Link shortening and tracking, SMS templates and media library, contact management, audience segmentation, etc.

This application is suitable for those businesses who are just looking for a simple application to send out SMS and MMS to their customers. You get the basic functionality, but it lacks the power of a full-fledged marketing automation platform. However, you get the integration capabilities with over 4,000 applications like Hubspot, Shopify, Magento, etc. Most of these integrations happen via Zapier for which you need to pay an additional amount.

Features–

• Contact Management: You can easily import a large number of contacts and then easily segment them based on different criteria. You can upload contact via CSV and xls files. 
• Group Texting: These groups or segments allow you to target a similar audience base with the same interests.
• 2-Way Texting: With two-way communication, customers can respond to messages you sent and engage in one-on-one conversations. 
• MMS Messages: You are not limited to plain-old text messaging, you can also send pictures, animated GIFs, contacts, and audio and video files.
• Text Forwarding: You can forward incoming messages to other phone numbers and email addresses. In this way, you won’t miss any message by any chance.
• SafeSTOP Opt-Out: SafeSTOP makes your marketing campaign compliant with regulatory authorities like GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act).
• Drip Campaigns: You can create a series of automated messages (SMS and/or MMS) and send them out to the customers at a predefined time.

Pricing–

• Launch: The starting price is $20/month. In this, you get a 10-digit local phone number. You will be able to send up to 500 messages in a day for free and after that per message cost is $0.027. 
• Boost: The starting price is $60/month. In this, you get a 10-digit verified business phone number. You will be able to send up to 2,000 messages in a day for free and after that per message cost is $0.0225.
• Scale: The starting price is $100/month. In this, you get a 10-digit verified business phone number. You will be able to send up to 50,000 messages in a day for free and after that per message cost is $0.018.
• Enterprise: The starting price is $3000/month. In this, you get a 10-digit verified business phone number. You will be able to send up to 1 Million messages in a day for free and after that per message cost is $0.010.

3. TextMagic

It is an SMS marketing software that specializes in sending bulk personalized messages. With this, users can even convert an email into SMS. For this, you just need to integrate its SMS API into your software.

Features-

• Contact Management- the contacts are categorized into groups and lists and managed. 
• Two-way SMS chats-  the customers can reply to your messages as well.
• Bulk messages- You can send bulk messages globally
• Zapier SMS integrations- it can also integrate with Zapier tools for added advantages.
• SMS templates- there are many customizable SMS templates and even email templates can be used as SMS templates.
• Scheduling text messages- you can easily schedule your SMSs and drip SMSs.
• Attachment- A PDF file, image, or Word file can also be attached.
• Reporting and Analytics- you will get analysis and reports of text status, delivery, reply rates, and costs.

Pricing-

There is a free trial. After that charges are $0.04 per SMS or MMS and lookup.

4. EngageBay

It’s an SMS service provider with an all-in-one platform for sales, marketing, and customer service. It is a cost-effective software that has many free plans.

Features-

• All-in-one platform- It is an SMS marketing service provider that also provides an all-in-one platform for sales, marketing, helpdesk, and live chat. 
• CRM features- it provides CRM features like contact management, deal management, sales automation, and appointment scheduling. 
• Marketing Automation Features- like landing pages, email management, etc.
• Helpdesk software- it includes features like ticket management, views, micros, and ticket automation
• SMS personalization- with this, you can easily personalize your SMSs and make them more user-friendly.
• Integration- it can integrate with software applications and tools.
• Automation workflows- it can automate your SMS campaigns, and segment audiences using your CRM data and customers’ behavior.

Pricing–

EngageBay has four pricing plans.

• The free plan starts at $0 per month, 
• Its Basic plan starts at $8.99 per month, 
• Its Growth plan starts at $29.99 per month and 
• Its Pro plan starts at $47.99 per month.

5. JookSMS

It is an SMS service provider with many marketing automation features. It is used by over 5000 companies. Its best part is that it provides a free demo and trial for its users. Its installation and configuration are also very easy. It is best for sending bulk messages and lead generation.

Features-

• Marketing campaigns- with its marketing automation features you can easily create and send SMS marketing campaigns. 
• Drip SMS marketing campaigns- you can easily set trigger points and send drip SMS according to them. You can also send drip SMSs at a certain schedule.
• SMS templates- it offers a variety of customizable SMS templates.

Pricing-

• It has a free plan for 30 days.
• It also offers a prepaid plan where you have to pay according to the services you opt for.
• It has a basic plan for $25 per month for 1033 SMS
• It has a gold plan for $50 per month for 2233 SMS
• It has a platinum plan for $100 per month for 4666 SMS.

6. SimpleTexting

This is one of the most renowned SMS service providers and marketing automation platforms. The best thing is that it offers unlimited keywords in all its plans.

Features-

• Unlimited keywords: SimpleTexting offers you multiple keywords for your phone numbers without any extra cost. Other SMS service providers generally limit this number for their base plans. 
• Integrations: it can integrate with many software and custom integrations. 
• Templates: it has many customizable SMS templates.
• Advanced automation: with its advanced automation you can send marketing messages automatically after someone joins your list which reduces drop-offs. You can even generate an automatic response when someone texts a particular keyword.
• Collaboration: using Simple Texting you can invite team members to your account and give them access to an SMS phone number. Then you can loop them in your conversations with customers. 
• Analytics: with this application, you can get analytics of subscribers, link clicks, messages sent per list, etc.

Pricing-

• 14-day free trial for 50 outgoing SMSs. 
• paid plans are based on the number of SMSs you can send. 
• Custom-made integrations are available in the $145/month plan and above.

7. SlickText

It is an SMS service provider as well as a marketing automation platform with many advanced features. It also has excellent customer service features.

Features-

• Surveys and questionnaires: you can easily add surveys and questionnaires within your dashboard. You can even assign keywords and shortcodes. This encourages customers to take them.
• Analytics and reports: With SliceText you can easily analyze your customer feedback. It also provides reports. 
• Automated workflows: You can easily build automated message sequences. This makes audiences engaged with your brand.                                 
• Drip campaigns: you can send a constant drip of messages based on schedules and trigger points. 
• Analytics: gives you metrics such as click-through rates and abandoned cart rates.
• Knowledge base and live chat: there are tutorials available in the form of blog posts and videos. There is also live chat support in all its plans.

Pricing-

• 14-day free trial with 50 free text messages.
• Basic plan- starts at $29/month. It offers 500 messages and two keywords. 
• Other plans depend on the number of messages and keywords used.

8. Attentive

It is the best SMS service provider for comprehensive text message marketing. It is an all-in-one SMS automation platform.

Features-

• Recipient growth: you can easily grow your SMS and email list by designing sign-up forms and promoting them on your websites. 
• Audience targeting: there is a set of tools for personalized audience targeting through which you can segment your audience based on various criteria. 
• Advanced messaging features: with this, you can create marketing campaigns, design journey maps, automated transactional messages, A/B testing features, real-time analytics, etc.
• Analytics and reporting: You can generate reports on campaign performance, automated message performance, conversions, etc.
• Integrations: it can integrate with many software applications and tools.

Pricing-

For pricing plans, we recommend you check their website.

9. Textedly

Features

• Voice call center: with this, you can easily turn your toll-free number or long code number into a voice call center. Through this customers can easily call the same number they text.
• Incoming MMS: your recipients can even send you MMS.
• Instagram texting: it can also integrate with Instagram. 
• Integrations: it can integrate with many software applications and tools.
• Data Collection: you can easily get and input the State, City, and ZIP code for your subscribers.

Pricing–

• 14-day free trial with 50 text messages 
• Bronze plan is for $24/month which offers 1,200 messages/month and 1 custom Keyword.
• Plus plan is for $39/month which offers 2,400 messages/month and 2 custom Keywords.

Conclusion

For now, this concludes the list of the best SMS marketing software. We’ll add more tools after researching and trying ourselves out. If you have any questions regarding any of the mentioned products, leave a message and we’ll help you choose the right SMS marketing solution for your business. In the meantime, you can check the SMS vs Email Marketing comparison and find out which marketing channel will be more effective and economically viable for you.