We do not to use AI in our articles, nor do we accept sponsorship in return for higher placement - our reviews, opinions, and ratings are our own.
If you've been in eCommerce for more than 15 minutes, you'll have no doubt received a cold email (or cold call, if deeply unlucky) from an SMS provider. There are dozens all vying for market share in a highly competitive space, which brings us to the purpose of this list: how do you choose the right one?
Well, our team has tested, demo'd, and learned about our fair share of SMS marketing platforms to help provide a a blueprint for you so you don't have to.
Through this process, we've found that while the executed product is always the same (SMS), the actual platform experience, as well as features like compliance and list growth, have a greater disparity than we thought initially possible.
A quick word: a recent trend of SMS platforms involves launching email as an adjacent offering. For the purpose of this list, we will not be exploring email as a part of these company’s features - rather we’ll only be looking at SMS in its purest form.
Our Pick: Attentive
A complete SMS suite with additional capabilities like signup forms and email marketing, alongside top-tier customer support.
This is our top pick by a fairly wide margin. Not only does it have best in case functionalities, like message retargeting, known litigator removal, and high-performance sign-up units (their word for "pop-ups" or "forms") - but it also features one of the best customer support teams we've come across.
We also appreciate Attentive’s attempts to be on the cutting edge of SMS technologies, especially when it comes to releasing tooling around business RCS. They seem to have found the perfect approach to creating a platform that powers both enterprise and SMBs, and the latter can especially benefit from accessing a suite of features usually reserved only for the biggest of CPG and DTC players.
Attentive is leading the shift to RCS messaging.
A full suite of automation with powerful triggers and strong segmentation capabilities.
However, one thing that should be noted is Attentive’s heavy push to use AI in messaging and automations. While this may be helpful to some, the AI will always push longer messages, which results in a higher cost per message once sent (it should be noted Attentive’s billing works in credits - for every 160 characters, 1 credit is charged).
SMS is such an easy space to get right if you have a strong brand identity, especially considering the need for brevity while crafting your message, that our recommendation is to avoid using the AI tool. This is in no way a dealbreaker, though, as it’s a completely optional tool.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Industry leader, providing a great product to brands of all size | A contract is required |
A great roadmap that is heavily discussed and advertised | Can be more expensive than competitors |
Integrates with just about everything | |
Frequent updates and product releases | |
White glove service is more than just a buzz word, their team genuinely goes above and beyond |
Top Integrations: Shopify, Klaviyo, Gorgias
Pricing: For shorter contracts a platform fee is charged, however you’re usually able to negotiate out of a fee if you’re able to sign a 2 or 3 year contract. Credits start at around $.01 and can get lower if negotiated.
So, who’s it for? We think Attentive is best for brands that are already familiar with SMS or have already begun capturing lists & consent. It’s also a great option for eCommerce & Marketing teams that just want to onboard one SMS marketing program in their brand’s lifespan and be done with it.
In speaking with teams at brands across a wide range of CPG, we’ve found that once you’ve onboarded with Attentive, you’re very unlikely to leave again (while the same cannot be said of other SMS platforms).
