Choose an SMS tool by how people opt in, how you schedule messages and how replies are handled. Marketing-led tools suit campaigns to a subscriber list, team texting tools suit two-way conversations, and messaging platforms with an API suit automated alerts. The seven options below are listed in no particular order.
Before you swap texting platforms, look at your opt-in records. They're the one thing you can't rebuild later, and they decide how smoothly your subscribers come with you. Textedly sells itself on easy bulk SMS and automated campaigns. If you're ready for something else, here are seven SMS and text message marketing tools for small businesses, and how they differ.
Campaign senders, team texting and messaging platforms
Marketing campaigns to a subscriber list
SlickText, EZ Texting and Attentive are built around marketing to subscribers. The first focuses on loyalty and revenue from text campaigns, the second on bulk SMS and MMS, and the third brings SMS and email into one AI-assisted platform.
Two-way texting for teams
Textline is aimed at sales, marketing and service teams who reply to customers by text and need to share the conversation. It's a different job from blasting a promotion, and the tools reflect that.
Messaging platforms and automation
ClickSend sends SMS and MMS through a web app, an API or integrations, which makes it handy for staff alerts and system messages as well as marketing. TextMagic focuses on automated reminders and workflows linked to your store and other tools. Mobile Text Alerts covers marketing, sales, alerts and support from one account.
Opt-ins, scheduling and replies
The thing to test in any replacement is three simple jobs: how subscribers opt in, how messages are scheduled, and how replies are handled. Get any one of them wrong and you'll either lose subscribers, send at the wrong time or leave customers talking to nobody.
Look at opt-in first. Can people join by texting a keyword, filling in a web form or ticking a box at checkout, and does the tool keep a record of when and how each person agreed? Then scheduling: can you send by time zone, set up recurring messages and pause a campaign quickly? Finally replies. Some tools treat replies as an afterthought, while others route them to a shared inbox so a real person can answer. Tools in this category split by who they're built for and how much you set up yourself, so run the same real campaign through each before you decide.
The full SMS list, A to Z
Alphabetical and in no particular order. Each line reflects how the vendor describes its own product.
Attentive
Best for: Brands that want SMS and email marketing in one platform, with the vendor leaning on AI to personalise each customer interaction.
ClickSend
Best for: Businesses texting customers and staff alike, by web app, API or integration, from single messages to large volumes; a free plan is named.
EZ Texting
Best for: Small businesses sending bulk SMS and MMS campaigns, with the vendor promising quick registration and a tool you won't outgrow.
Mobile Text Alerts
Best for: Organisations sending marketing texts, sales messages, alerts and support updates, with the vendor pitching critical updates as a core use.
SlickText
Best for: Marketers using text campaigns to build customer loyalty and revenue; the vendor names a free plan.
Textline
Best for: Sales, marketing and customer service teams that need shared two-way texting, built, the vendor says, for teams rather than solo senders.
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TextMagic
Best for: Businesses automating reminders, workflows and campaigns, with connections to your store, your other tools and an AI assistant, per the vendor.
Texting platforms in a table
| Tool | Main focus | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Attentive | SMS and email platform | Brands personalising texts and email from one place |
| ClickSend | SMS and MMS messaging | Texting customers and staff by app, API or integration |
| EZ Texting | Mass texting service | Bulk SMS and MMS campaigns that grow with you |
| Mobile Text Alerts | All-in-one SMS | Marketing, sales, alerts and support from one account |
| SlickText | SMS marketing service | Building customer loyalty with text campaigns |
| Textline | Team business texting | Sales and support teams replying by text |
| TextMagic | Automated business texting | Reminders and automated flows linked to your store |
My advice for small businesses that text customers
Decide whether texting is a marketing channel or a conversation channel for you. If it's mostly promotions, offers and reminders to a list, a campaign-led tool will feel natural. If customers text back with questions and bookings, you'll want two-way texting with a shared inbox, or you'll end up answering from someone's personal phone.
Rules on consent, quiet hours and opt-out wording vary by country and sometimes by state, so check the guidance from your regulator before your first campaign on a new platform. Many countries also ask businesses to register their sending numbers. For more on using texts well, my guides to automated text messages and SMS and email marketing best practices cover the habits that keep people subscribed.
Think about who'll run it day to day as well. A campaign tool that one marketer manages on a Friday afternoon needs a clean scheduler and simple reporting. A team texting tool used by five people at once needs clear ownership of each conversation, so a customer doesn't get two different answers. Ask each vendor for a walkthrough of exactly the job you'll do most, not the full tour.
Keeping your subscribers when you switch
- Export your full subscriber list with opt-in dates, sources and any opt-outs before you cancel anything.
- Import opt-outs as well as subscribers, so nobody who left gets texted again.
- Check whether your sending number or short code can move with you, and what changes for subscribers if it can't.
- Rebuild keywords and auto-replies so anyone texting your old keyword still gets an answer.
- Send one plain message from the new platform to a small test group before your next big campaign.
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Frequently asked questions
Do I need permission to send marketing texts?
In most countries, yes. The exact rules on consent and opt-outs vary, so check the guidance from your regulator and keep a record of how each subscriber agreed.
What's the difference between SMS and MMS?
SMS is a plain text message. MMS can carry images, GIFs or short video, which can work well for promotions but isn't supported the same way everywhere.
Can customers reply to marketing texts?
On most platforms, yes. Check how each tool handles replies: some send them to a shared inbox, others only process keywords such as STOP.
Can I keep my texting number if I switch providers?
Sometimes. It depends on the type of number and the providers involved. Ask the new provider before you cancel your old account.
How often should a small business send marketing texts?
Only as often as you have something useful to say. Ask subscribers what they'd like when they join, and watch opt-outs after each send.
