SMS marketing FAQ
This page answers common questions about pricing plans, TCPA compliance (the federal rules for marketing texts), carrier registration, account setup, and other details that campaign managers and business owners ask about on the first call. If your question is not here, send us a note from the contact form.
Sign up with an email, import a CSV of contacts, and choose the type of number to send from. For the fastest start, buy a toll-free number. You can send from it after carrier verification is approved, which Twilio reviews in about three business days.
For any serious program, we also recommend 10DLC registration (a local number registered with the carriers for business or campaign texting). We submit it at the same time, and you can send from your toll-free number while it is reviewed. The one-time $75 TCR (The Campaign Registry) fee is handled during setup. Your number is $5 a month, and your first 100 SMS are free.
A toll-free number is the fastest way to send your first message. You buy a number and submit it for carrier verification, which Twilio reviews in about three business days. Full sending speed (messages per second) is available in 3 to 5 business days.
10DLC is the long-term compliant option. It is a 10-digit local number that AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have verified against your registered organization. It allows higher sending speeds, more reliable delivery to people's phones, and a lower risk that carriers block your messages, so we recommend it for any program that sends in real volume. Both are set up at the same time, so you can send from the toll-free number while 10DLC is reviewed.
Yes. Our white-glove setup is a one-time flat fee of $299. It covers 10DLC registration, brand vetting (a review of your organization), list migration, and a quality check of your first send. Most accounts do not need it, but statewide races, businesses with several locations, and agencies usually do.
Upload a CSV, match the columns (phone, first name, last name, tags, consent source), and select import. We automatically convert phone numbers to a standard format and flag duplicates before they are saved. You can tag contacts on import by precinct, donor tier, location, or any other category that suits your list.
Opting in means giving permission to receive your texts. People can opt in through a web form with an SMS opt-in checkbox, a keyword they text to join, a QR code that leads to a sign-up page, a paper form at an event, or a prompt at checkout. Every method must clearly explain what the person is signing up for and show how to opt out. CampaignCNX+ stores the source and time of consent on every contact.
Pay-as-you-go costs $0.06 per SMS and $0.18 per MMS, with no contract, and credits never expire. Monthly plans are Basic at $55/mo (1,000 SMS, about $0.055 each), Pro at $225/mo (5,000 SMS, about $0.045 each), and Enterprise at $695/mo (20,000 SMS, about $0.035 each). Every new account gets 100 SMS free.
If you send fewer than about 900 SMS a month, stay on pay-as-you-go. Above about 900 messages a month, Basic costs less. Pro suits active campaign seasons and weekly retail sends, and Enterprise suits statewide races, agencies, and businesses with several locations.
You can keep sending. There are no hard caps, and a send is never stopped partway through. Overage (messages beyond your plan's allowance) is charged at your plan's own rate ($0.055 on Basic, $0.045 on Pro, $0.035 on Enterprise), not the pay-as-you-go rate. You will see the overage cost on the review screen before every send.
Yes. You can move to a higher plan, a lower plan, or pay-as-you-go with no penalty and no sales call. Upgrades made in the middle of a billing cycle are prorated (charged only for the rest of the cycle).
Pay-as-you-go credits never expire. On a monthly plan, unused included messages roll over to the next month.
A segment is the unit we bill on. A standard SMS holds 160 characters per segment. A message of 161 to 306 characters is 2 segments, and 307 to 459 characters is 3. Emojis or special characters switch the message to Unicode, a larger character set, which lowers the limit to 70 characters per segment. The composer shows a live character and segment count before you send, and you can check any message with our SMS character counter.
Yes. You receive 100 free SMS when you sign up. Your number is $5 a month, and you can use the free texts after carrier approval, which takes about three business days for a toll-free number. That is enough for a real test send to a small list before you commit.
Yes, when you follow the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The requirements are prior express written consent before texting, a working opt-out (a STOP reply), sending only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, and clear identification of who is sending.
We track consent status on every contact and honor opt-out keywords (STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, QUIT, and similar words) immediately across the platform. We check your outgoing messages for STOP language before the send goes out, so a non-compliant message cannot be sent. Quiet hours automatically limit sending to set hours in each contact's time zone, and every message has a full audit trail. TCPA violations cost $500 to $1,500 per message, so our default settings are strict.
A lookup against the federal Do Not Call (DNC) registry is available as an add-on ($0.015 per lookup, through DataZapp). Run it during import so you pay only for the numbers you check. It is not automatic on every send, so you can use it where it is worth the cost.
When a recipient replies STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, QUIT, or a similar keyword, the contact is marked as opted out immediately, receives an automatic confirmation, and is removed from every future send on your account. You do not need to take any action.
Yes, if you are a 527 political organization (a candidate, party, PAC, or committee registered with the FEC or a state, local, or tribal election authority). Since February 2026, the carriers have required a Campaign Verify authorization before they allow political texts on toll-free numbers or short codes (five- or six-digit numbers used for high-volume texting). 10DLC has required it since 2021, and carriers can fine senders and block texts sent without it. Campaign Verify is a nonpartisan identity check matched against your FEC filing or your state's election authority. It costs about $95 per committee for the two-year election cycle, paid directly to Campaign Verify rather than to us. The confirmation PIN is mailed to the contact listed on your public filing, so start the process on the day you decide to text, because this step sets your timeline. No vendor can complete it on your behalf. After your token (the authorization code Campaign Verify issues) arrives, we file the carrier registration and the verification for you. Senders that are not political do not need it.
We recommend it for any program that sends in real volume. A toll-free number completes carrier verification fastest, but 10DLC gives you the sending speed and reliable delivery that matter over the long term. Both are set up at the same time, so you can send from the toll-free number while 10DLC is reviewed.
Sending speed (throughput) depends on your number type and your carrier trust score, which is the carriers' rating of your organization. It is typically 1 to 75 messages per second on 10DLC, and higher with full brand vetting. For high-volume sends, we can spread messages across several numbers.
There is no account-wide cap. Your limits are sending speed (messages per second) and your plan's included messages, and a send is never stopped partway through. Overage is billed at your plan rate and shown on the review screen before you send.
Yes, you can schedule a campaign for any future date and time. Quiet hours are always enforced, so messages are delivered only within the legal 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. window in each recipient's local time zone.
SMS is text-only, with 160 characters per segment, and costs $0.06 each on pay-as-you-go. MMS supports images and longer text (up to 1,600 characters). An MMS uses 3 message credits, so it costs $0.18 on pay-as-you-go, $0.165 on Basic, $0.135 on Pro and $0.105 on Enterprise. Flyers, sale images, and formatted layouts all count as MMS.
Yes. Two-way messaging is an add-on ($12.49/mo) on pay-as-you-go, Basic, and Pro, and it is included on Enterprise. Replies arrive in one shared inbox, with the full conversation history for each contact.
Yes. Merge fields fill in each contact's first name, last name, and any custom fields you have imported. The composer shows a preview for a sample contact before you send.
Yes. We have an API that developers can use to add SMS to their own applications. Email us for the API documentation and credentials.
A seat is one team member's login. Pay-as-you-go and Basic include 1 seat, Pro includes 2, and Enterprise includes 5. Extra seats are $25 per user per month, with bulk discounts above 5 extra seats.
CampaignCNX+ is the texting part of the suite. Alma is the website chatbot that answers visitor questions and qualifies leads. Beacon handles field operations, such as door-knocking, shift assignments, and canvasser check-in. CoreCNX is the CRM (a shared contact database) that keeps one record for each contact across all of them. All four are available today and share one account and one bill.
You cancel from the dashboard. There are no contracts and no cancellation call. Pay-as-you-go credits stay on the account and don't expire.
Still have questions
If the answer you need is not on this page, use the contact form. A real person will respond within one business day, and active customers can send urgent issues through the dashboard for priority handling.
