SMS Marketing Software Comparison
As the SMS marketing space continues to grow, comparing the best solutions becomes more time-consuming and challenging. This is particularly true if your business is just beginning its SMS marketing journey.
We've spent dozens of hours hand-testing the leading SMS marketing software platforms, and interviewing businesses to understand their experiences with the top solutions. The details of our research process can be found on our article covering the best SMS marketing platforms.
Below, you'll find several resources that provide in-depth analyses comparing SMS marketing platforms.
Table of Contents
- How To Compare SMS Marketing Software
- The Most Popular SMS Marketing Solutions Vs. Competitors
- Comparing Popular SMS Marketing Solutions Against Each Other
- Bottom Line
How To Compare SMS Marketing Software
There are eight SMS marketing platforms that you should consider. As you learn about each tool, it's helpful to focus on how advanced the platform is and its price point.
As you can see, there are basic, affordable platforms and advanced, more expensive platforms. All the top systems offer the same core features. Some systems, however, are specialized for specific industries. SMSBump & Postscript are specialized for ecommerce, while ZipWhip is specialized for business communications.
The primary features in SMS marketing software are:
- Subscriber list building
- Segmentation
- Message creation
- Campaign building
- Two-way conversations
- Automated messages
- Analytics
In terms of price, you can expect to pay between $29 and $750 per month for your SMS marketing software. Pricing is primarily based on messages sent per month. Most businesses pay about $100 to $150 per month.
SMS Marketing Comparison Overview
Our analyst rating is based upon four main criteria: features, usability, pricing, and customer support. A SoftwarePundit Analyst rating over 85 is above average, and above 90 is excellent.
| Software Company | Analyst Rating | Features | Usability | Pricing | Customer Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SlickText | 90 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8.5 |
| SMSBump | 88 | 9 | 9 | 8.5 | 9 |
| SimpleTexting | 87 | 8 | 9 | 8.5 | 9 |
| Emotive | 87 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 |
| Postscript | 85 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9.5 |
| Avochato | 84 | 8 | 7.5 | 8 | 10 |
| ZipWhip | 83 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| EZ Texting | 82 | 7.5 | 9 | 7 | 10 |
| Textedly | 81 | 7 | 8.5 | 9 | 7 |
For more details, you can read our review methodology.
The Most Popular SMS Marketing Solutions Vs. Competitors
If you know the SMS marketing tool that you're most interested in, it's also useful to see how it stacks up against its top competitors. Here are analyses that compare the most popular SMS marketing tools against their top competitors.
SlickText Competitors & Alternatives
SlickText is one of the most popular SMS marketing solutions on the market. It received the highest rating of all products in our SMS marketing category. This is primarily because its data collection methods are excellent and can be leveraged in every aspect of its product. We felt that anyone interested in targeted marketing could successfully leverage SlickText for their business.
Read our SlickText Review.
SimpleTexting Competitors & Alternatives
SimpleTexting is the best affordable all-in-one solution for small businesses. It sacrifices advanced segmentation and drip campaigns in its affordability, but we analyzed that marketers with simple SMS marketing needs could still find success using it. This is because it offers unlimited keywords, unique campaigns, and decent data collection methods.
Read our SimpleTexting Review.
SMSBump Competitors & Alternatives
SMSBump is the most advanced SMS marketing solution specialized for Shopify and BigCommerce businesses. Although powerful all-in-one solutions like SlickText can bring success for your ecommerce business, SMSBump’s features are specifically designed for the most common use cases ecommerce stores face. Although it has a lack of customer data collection methods, it has one of the most robust segmentation and automated messaging systems we’ve analyzed.
Read our SMSBump Review.
ZipWhip Competitors & Alternatives
ZipWhip is one of the most popular SMS marketing solutions specialized for business communications. It is the only solution we analyzed that offers unlimited messages starting at $60 per month. It is, however, the most basic solution feature-wise. This is why we highly recommend ZipWhip for non-personalized mass texting and two-way communication.
Read our ZipWhip Review.
Comparing Popular SMS Marketing Solutions Against Each Other
One of the best ways to understand the differences between SMS marketing software tools is to compare one solution against another. We've written in-depth guides comparing the top SMS marketing tools against each other.
Postscript vs. SMSBump
Postscript and SMSBump are built specifically for ecommerce businesses. Compared to Postscript, SMSBump is more expensive, yet stronger. SMSBump has powerful campaigns and its SMS flows are the most advanced automated messaging system we’ve analyzed in our SMS marketing category. In addition, Postscript’s opportunities for targeted marketing are limited compared to alternatives.
EZ Texting vs. SimpleTexting
EZ Texting is a very expensive tool that includes average SMS marketing features. It includes drip campaigns and unique campaigns not found in SimpleTexting. However, we found that SimpleTexting’s affordability, detailed segmentation, unlimited keywords, and unlimited custom fields all outweigh EZ Texting’s advantages. If marketers are in need of drip campaigns, they should look to more affordable alternatives like Avochato or SlickText.
Textedly vs. SimpleTexting
Textedly and SimpleTexting are two very affordable all-in-one solutions. Although Textedly is more affordable when sending 25,000 messages per month or less, every aspect of its product is less robust than SimpleTexting. There is little doubt that SimpleTexting is the stronger application for your business.
SlickText vs. SimpleTexting
Overall, SlickText is more powerful than SimpleTexting when it comes to its features. It includes drip campaigns, and multiple data collection methods for targeted marketing. However, if affordability is important to you, SimpleTexting’s unlimited keywords for subscriber opt-ins and unique campaigns make it a viable alternative for your business.
SlickText vs. Avochato
SlickText is a similarly priced and far more robust alternative to Avochato. It offers advanced features that can help your business target your customers more effectively than Avochato. Avochato has strong two-way conversation capabilities, but offers limited segmentation and drip campaign features. We ultimately don’t feel this is a worthy trade off – SlickText is the better option for most businesses.
SlickText vs. EZ Texting
Overall, SlickText is the stronger application for small businesses than EZ Texting. It is more affordable and far more advanced feature-wise. EZ Texting can indeed be leveraged successfully by small businesses, but targeted marketing opportunities in SlickText are better across the board.
Bottom Line
When comparing SMS marketing platforms, you should first narrow your shortlist to the solutions we've covered above. From there, you should consider your budget, and how advanced of a platform you need. Here are some of the top solutions that we recommend for your business:
- SlickText is best for marketers looking for the most powerful SMS marketing solution on the market today.
- SimpleTexting is best for marketers looking for the best affordable, yet solid SMS marketing solution.
- SMSBump is best for Shopify or BigCommerce businesses looking for the most powerful solution that is specialized for eCommerce.
- ZipWhip is ideal for marketers with very simple marketing needs and who want unlimited messages at an affordable price.