With the rise of mobile phone usage, SMS marketing has become a powerful tool for connecting directly with customers through text messages. Studies show that more than 45% of businesses are using SMS marketing, and 87% of them are successful. Moreover, most customers nowadays prefer text messages as an immediate and effective communication method.
That means, if you also own a business, SMS marketing can be an impressive return on investment. But are you on a tight budget? Relax. I’m also a small business owner exploring different SMS marketing platforms for my business under $600.
Among them, Textedly is the best SMS marketing platform I’ve ever used. To explore more of them and choose the best option for you, don’t miss out on our following discussion.
What is SMS Marketing?
Before we jump to the best SMS marketing platform, let’s explore what sms marketing is. SMS or Short Message Service is one of the most universal forms of communication. So, when we talk about SMS marketing, it means sending text messages to people’s mobile phones for marketing purposes.
SMS marketing helps businesses connect directly with their customers by sharing news about new products, exclusive deals, offers, or reminders. Like email marketing, SMS marketing has become a popular way for businesses to connect with their audiences in a personalized and measurable way.
Being able to connect one-on-one with customers through personalized two-way messaging has made SMS a game-changing performance marketing channel. With a more than 98% open rate, text messages are more likely to be opened and read by your target customers than any other customer channel.
Our Top 7 Picks for the Best SMS Marketing Platform Under $600
SMS Marketing Platform | Industries | Users | Market Segment | Pricing | Free Trial |
Textedly | Real Estate, Events, Restaurants, & Retail | Small businesses | SMBs | Starts at $24/month | 14 days |
TextMagic | Technology. Logistics & Professional services | freelancers,Enterprises | SMEs, Enterprises | Pay-as-youStarts at $0.04/SMS | 30 Days |
SimpleTexting | Healthcare, Retail, E-commerce, & nonprofits | Startups, Small businesses | SMBs,Nonprofits | Starts at$29/month | 14 days |
SlickText | Retail, Healthcare, & Hospitality | Small businesses and mid-market | SMBs,Nonprofits | Starts at$29/month | 14 days |
EZ Texting | Retail, Healthcare, Hospitality & Real Estate | Small businesses and mid-market | SMBs,Enterprises | Starts at$25/month | 14 days |
Twilio | Technology, Startups, & E-commerce | Developers & Enterprises | Tech-savvy users | Pay-as-youStarts at $0.0075/SMS | No |
Podium | Local Services, Healthcare & Automotive | Local businesses | SMBs,Local Services | Custom Pricing | No |
Choosing the Best SMS Marketing Platform
We already know the best SMS marketing platforms we can get through. Now let’s discuss them in detail so you can choose the best one for your business.
Textedly

Undoubtedly, this is my first-ever choice as the best SMS marketing platform. Textedly is an easy-to-use and the most proficient SMS marketing platform designed for businesses of all sizes.
It gives companies the key tools to send bulk messages, run their campaigns, and see how well they’re doing. Additionally, it doesn’t cost too much and can grow with your business, making it an excellent choice for groups that want to reach more people through simple but effective text message marketing.
Pros
- Easy-to-use interface
- Strong customer support
- Affordable and scalable
- Unlimited subscribers in most plans
- Superb for small businesses
Cons
- Comparatively fewer advanced features for enterprises
TextMagic

TextMagic is a reliable SMS service for small and medium-sized businesses. It helps with marketing and day-to-day communications by letting users send messages in bulk, reminders, notifications, and alerts. The platform has features like API integration, the ability to turn emails into SMS, and two-way messaging, making it useful for many business needs.
Pros
- No subscription needed
- Easy to use
- Global coverage and strong API automation
- Ideal for both marketing and transactional messaging
- Multi-user accounts for teams
Cons
- Pricing can increase due to heavy use.
SimpleTexting

This is another easy-to-use SMS marketing platform used by over 10,000 businesses worldwide, including small and medium-sized businesses. SimpleTexting offers two-way communications, allowing users to send messages in bulk, reminders, and notifications, automate messaging, and engage customers directly. With an open design and easy to use, it’s ideal for any business or organization that prefers simplicity and engagement.
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Pros
- Integration with CRM and other marketing tools
- Strong focus on customer engagement
- Excellent customer service
- Intuitive interface with extensive tutorials
Cons
- Limited advanced features on lower plans
SlickText

SlickText believes that businesses should aim for great SMS marketing campaigns. These could include text-to-join options, loyalty programs, and deep analytics. Its simple design and rich features make it particularly suited for small businesses trying to widen their customer base through promotions and engagement.
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Pros
- Great for smaller businesses
- Easy-to-use features for creating loyalty programs
- Excellent tracking and reports system
- Cost-effective
- Keyword-based campaigns with advanced analytics dashboards.
Cons
- Slightly lower API support for developers
EZ Texting

EZ Texting is a platform for mass communication through SMS marketing. This advanced SMS marketing platform is full of automation features like sending bulk messages, scheduling and creating template messages, and contact management. Further integration with popular CRMs and marketing platforms makes this a great choice for teams looking for an all-in-one communication tool with flexibility at heart.
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Pros
- Complete set of features
- User-friendly to non-techies
- Great integrations with CRMs and email tools
- General onboarding support
- Pre-designed messaging templates.
Cons
- Slightly higher costs compared to its competitors
Twilio

Twilio is a developer-centric platform with excellent APIs for SMS, voice, and other communication channels. Businesses can build tailored solutions to meet large-scale communication needs, such as transactional messaging, notifications, and customer service. Its flexibility and scalable nature have made Twilio very popular in enterprises and among tech-savvy businesses.
Pros
- Outstanding flexibility for developers
- Highly scalable for enterprise usage
- Various communication options to choose from
- Vast documentation and developer’s support
- Intelligent analytics and real-time insight
- Programmable SMS API for customized solutions
- Global reach with scalable infrastructure
Cons
- Not a suitable choice for newbies or non-technicals
Podium
Podium is a text-message customer interaction platform that improves communications between businesses and their local customers. It allows companies to solicit, interact with customers, and process payments by text. Podium is particularly ideal for service-based businesses that want direct customer engagement and better reputation management. This platform was founded in 2014, and it’s already used successfully by over 100,000 companies.
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Pros
- Perfect for local businesses. (For Local Business)
- Smoothens customer communication and review.
- Payment collection with SMS.
- Strong focus on enhancing customer experience.
- Two-way messaging to engage customers.
- Integration with local business tools.
Cons
- Costly for small businesses
How to Maximize My SMS Marketing ROI?
SMS marketing ROI is all about using a tactic to get messages that give good returns but can also be documented and counted. To that end, here are vital strategies to think about:
1. Targeted Audience Segmentation
Firstly, learn your customer demographics. You can segment your audience based on preferences, behaviors, and purchasing history, sending personalized texts that resonate with this group.
2. Clear Objectives and KPIs
Secondly, setting clear objectives for your SMS campaigns would be a good start. Decide key performance indicators (KPIs) like conversion rates, click-through rates, and customer engagement metrics with which to track and gauge success.
3. Captivating Content
Now, create effective, information-infused, to-the-point text messages with clear call-to-action (CTAs). Consider using promotional offers, exclusive discounts, or loyalty programs to incentivize engagement.
4. Timing and Frequency
Next, optimize the timing for messages, sometimes based on customer practice and preference. Also, take care not to saturate your audience with messages. Adhere to the rule of some moderation and consistency in frequency.
5. Use Automation and A/B Testing
Lastly, set up automation tools that can send messages by specific deadlines and A/B test them to discover what content and strategy work well.
Focusing on these aspects can greatly improve your SMS marketing ROI and boost business outcomes.
Final Verdict
These platforms, Texetedly, Twilio, SimpleTexting, TextMagic, EZ Texting, Podium, and SlickText, are the most reliable options under $600. They have their own exclusive strengths and suit different business needs. Now, it’s time to choose the best SMS marketing platform based on the specific goal you have in mind and the feature that attracts you. Undoubtedly, marketing through SMS has great growth potential.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What features should you consider when choosing an SMS marketing platform?
While choosing an SMS marketing platform, consider the following features to ensure that it suits your business goals and technical needs.
1. Automation
2. Audience segmentation
3. Two-way messaging
4. API integrations
5. Analytics
6. Scalability
7. Compliance tools
8. Pricing
9. Ease of use
10. Multi-channel capabilitiesCan I do SMS marketing for free?
Yes, you can. For example, TextMagic offers a free trial that allows you to do SMS marketing without any cost for 30 days.