Best SMS Marketing Platform of September 2026: Pinglo vs Textla, SimpleTexting, EZ Texting, SlickText and Textedly

Choosing an SMS marketing platform should be simple. In practice, every provider prices differently: some bundle a fixed number of credits into tiers, some charge extra for carrier fees or phone numbers, and some put basic features behind a higher plan. That makes a fair comparison hard.

So we did the math. We looked at six platforms small businesses ask us about most: Pinglo, Textla, SimpleTexting, EZ Texting, SlickText and Textedly. We compared them on what you actually pay and what you actually get.

How we compared

• Entry price: the lowest monthly plan, and the yearly equivalent where offered
• Cost per text: what a single SMS really costs once you go past any included credits
• Credit rules: whether unused credits roll over or expire
• What the entry plan includes: features you might assume are standard but are not
• Extra fees: phone numbers, carrier fees and setup charges listed on the pricing page

All competitor figures come from each provider's public pricing page, checked in early October 2026 after the September pricing cycle. Prices change, so always confirm on the provider's site before you sign up.

The quick verdict

• Best overall for small businesses: Pinglo. It has the lowest plan price of the six, a flat one cent per text, credits that never expire, and unlimited contacts.
• Closest alternative: Textla. It has the same one-cent text price, but plans cost more.
• Best if you want credits bundled into your plan: SimpleTexting or SlickText. Expect a higher price per text once you go past your allowance.

Pinglo

• Plans: Starter $22/month, or $17/month billed yearly; Professional $44/month, or $34/month billed yearly
• Texts: $0.01 per SMS, and $0.05 per picture message (MMS)
• Credits: never expire and roll over month to month; top up any time at the same flat rate
• Free credits: 100 when your number is set up, plus a one-time bonus of 250 (Starter) or 1,000 (Professional) on your first subscription
• Included on every plan: unlimited contacts, unlimited daily sends, bulk campaigns, two-way messaging, segmentation, real-time delivery analytics and USA-based human support
• Professional adds: scheduled and recurring campaigns, multiple team members and personalized message fields
• Trial: 14 days

The model is deliberately simple: you pay a plan fee and one cent per text, and nothing else on the page changes as you grow.

Textla

• Plans: Starter $25/month, or $19/month billed yearly; Professional $50/month, or $39/month billed yearly
• Texts: $0.01 per SMS and $0.03 per MMS in the US
• Credits: roll over with no expiry
• Trial: 14 days, with 100 free credits
• Worth knowing: scheduled and recurring campaigns, multiple team members and personalization need the Professional plan

Textla is the closest match to Pinglo on per-text price, and it is cheaper for picture messages. On plan price, Pinglo costs $3 less per month on Starter and $6 less on Professional with monthly billing, and $2 to $5 less per month on yearly billing.

SimpleTexting

• Plans: from $39/month for 500 credits, or about $398 a year
• Extra texts: 5.5 cents per credit beyond your allowance; an MMS uses 3 credits
• Other fees: a local number is listed at $10/month plus a one-time activation fee, and carrier fees are passed through
• Credits: roll over on monthly plans only
• Trial: free trial, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee

SimpleTexting is polished and well established. The trade-off is cost: at 5.5 cents per extra credit, a business sending a few thousand texts a month pays several times Pinglo's one-cent rate.

EZ Texting

• Plans: Launch at $25/month, or $20/month billed yearly, for 500 credits
• Extra texts: 4 cents per credit; an MMS uses 3 credits; incoming messages are free
• Other fees: a $5/month telecom fee on the entry plan
• Credits: roll over for one billing cycle
• Trial: 14 days

EZ Texting is a solid all-rounder with free inbound messages. Past the included 500 credits, though, each text costs four times what it does on Pinglo, and credits do not carry over for long.

SlickText

• Plans: from $29/month for 500 credits, scaling to large monthly bundles; yearly billing gives two months free
• Other fees: carrier fees are charged on top of credits
• Credits: sending pauses when your credits run out, rather than charging overage
• Trial: 14 days

SlickText suits businesses that like a fixed monthly bundle. You pay for that bundle whether or not you use it all, and carrier fees are extra.

Textedly

• Plans: Basic from $29/month for 500 messages, a little more per month on annual billing
• Free start: 50 free messages with no card
• Worth knowing: overage and picture-message pricing are not clearly listed on the public pricing page

Textedly is easy to start with. We would like clearer published pricing for anything beyond the plan allowance.

What 2,000 texts a month actually costs

Here is the same month on each platform. It uses each provider's entry plan, monthly billing and standard SMS, before taxes and before any one-time trial or welcome credits:

• Pinglo: $22 plan + $20 of texts = $42
• Textla: $25 plan + $20 of texts = $45
• EZ Texting: $25 plan + 1,500 extra credits at 4 cents = $85, plus the $5 telecom fee
• SimpleTexting: $39 plan + 1,500 extra credits at 5.5 cents = $121.50, plus number and carrier fees

The cheapest platform is not the one with the lowest sticker price. It is the one whose cost you can predict when your list doubles.

Why we think Pinglo is the best pick for most small businesses

• Lowest entry price of the six platforms compared, on both monthly and yearly billing
• One cent per text, flat. No credit bundles, no per-contact tiers and no platform surcharges
• Credits never expire, so a slow month is never wasted money
• Unlimited contacts on every plan, so growing your list never pushes you into a higher tier
• Real people, based in the USA, answering support by phone and email

Pinglo is not the cheapest option for every message type: if you send mostly picture messages, Textla's lower MMS rate is worth a look. But for text-first businesses that want simple pricing they can predict, Pinglo is the best value in the market today.

Try it yourself

Start a 14-day trial, import your contacts from a CSV, and send your first campaign at one cent per text. If you are moving from another platform, export your contacts with their opt-out status, so anyone who unsubscribed stays unsubscribed. Our team can walk you through it.