SMS & Chat Marketing

Contents

1. 01WelcomeWhat these tools do, how many we grade and what to know before choosing
2. 02Our top threeThe three we'd look at first, and who each one suits
3. 03What they costWhat paid plans start at, the best buy at each budget and the free plans
4. 04The gradesThe highest graded, and how the whole category does on each subject
5. 05Keep or make?Which are worth paying for, and which you could make yourself
6. 06Every toolAll of them, best graded first, with what each costs
7. 07Quick answersThe questions people ask when choosing, each answered in a line or two
8. 08About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it

ToolGPA put this guide together from each tool’s own pages, their app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on the SMS & Chat Marketing page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 18, 2026.

Reach customers by text, WhatsApp and Instagram messages, with broadcasts and replies that run by themselves.

Before you choose, here are 7 things to know about SMS and chat marketing tools, worked out from every one we grade.

1. 1

   We grade 15 SMS and chat marketing tools

   4 of them are free or have a free plan, and 10 more let you try before paying. Everything in this guide comes from their own pages and our grades.

2. 2

   Paid plans start at $26.59 a month in the middle

   From $10.33 (Interakt) to $112 (Gallabox), going by what each one's paid plans start at.

3. 3

   Best value: Interakt

   Nothing on our chart scores higher than it without costing more.

4. 4

   10 of 15 have iPhone and Android apps

   15 run in a web browser and 0 have a Windows app. Check the one you need before you fall for anything.

5. 5

   The middle GPA is 2.2

   0 score 3.0 or higher. The highest is Chatfuel, at 2.6.

6. 6

   Best free option: AiSensy

   AiSensy has the highest GPA of the free ones, 2.4. WhatsApp API for broadcasts, retargeting and click-to-WhatsApp ads.

7. 7

   15 worth keeping, 0 you could make

   By our keep-or-make rules, 15 do something you couldn't reasonably build yourself, 0 are simple enough to make with an AI app builder, and 0 are a close call.

Part 02 · Top three

Our top three

The three we'd look at first, and who each one suits

The three SMS and chat marketing tools we'd look at first. First place suits the most people; second and third are the best picks for the people it leaves out. Each has an Insider's Guide of its own.

1. 1st

   

   2.4GPA

   SimpleTexting

   Free trial · from $23.20/mo

   For: Most small businesses texting their customers

   SimpleTexting sends mass texts and picture messages, grows lists with keywords, forms and pop-ups, runs auto-replies and drip campaigns, and lets the team answer replies one to one. Every plan has every feature, with 3 users, unlimited contacts and the API: 1,000 credits a month is $39.20 billed yearly ($49 monthly), after a free trial with no card. It runs on the web, iPhone and Android, and its iPhone and iPad app averages 4.7 from about 3,500 ratings. Know the limits: it is texting only, with no WhatsApp or Instagram, a local number adds $10 a month and $4 to register, carriers add about $0.0025 a US text, and each user past 3 costs $20 a month.

   The SimpleTexting Insider’s Guide

2. 2nd

   

   2.6GPA

   Chatfuel

   Free trial · from $18/mo

   For: Businesses whose customers write on WhatsApp and Instagram

   Chatfuel runs AI chatbots and broadcasts on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and website chat: an AI agent answers from your knowledge base and qualifies leads, comment auto-replies pull people into a chat, and bookings and payments happen in the conversation. Business is $18 a month billed yearly ($20 monthly) for 1 bot, unlimited contacts and teammates and $20 of credits a month, after a 7-day trial with no card. It is second because it reaches only people who message on those channels. Meta's WhatsApp charges come out of the wallet, credits do not roll over, it has no phone app, and the help center says Zapier is not supported.

   The Chatfuel Insider’s Guide

3. 3rd

   

   2.4GPA

   Wati

   Free trial · from $59/mo

   For: Teams sharing one WhatsApp number, on phones too

   Wati is a WhatsApp Business API inbox that also takes Instagram, Messenger and TikTok chats, with broadcasts, no-code chatbots, click-to-WhatsApp ads and, through a $4.99 a month add-on, Shopify cart and order messages. It has iPhone and Android apps and links to HubSpot, Salesforce, Klaviyo, Zapier and Make. Growth is $59 a month billed yearly ($69 monthly) for 3 users and 15,000 broadcasts a month, after a 7-day trial. It is third because it costs over three times Chatfuel's entry price and does less on it: Growth covers 1 channel and 1,000 automation triggers, extra users on Pro cost $39, Meta charges per message on top, and payments are not refunded after you cancel.

   The Wati Insider’s Guide

Going by our grades, Interakt gives the most for the money among SMS and chat marketing tools: no tool on this chart scores higher without costing more.

Paid plans start at a middle price of $26.59 a month across the 14 that charge, from $10.33 (Interakt) to $112 (Gallabox).

3 of the 14 score above the category's average while starting at or below its middle price. 4 cost more than the middle price and score below the average.

Every tool gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. Here are the 12 highest graded SMS and chat marketing tools, then how the whole category does on each subject.

Tool	Value	Free	Features	Ease	Platforms	GPA
Chatfuel	B	C	B	C	B	2.6
Interakt	B	C	B	C	B	2.6
AiSensy	B	C	C	C	B	2.4
Manychat	B	C	C	C	B	2.4
SimpleTexting	C	C	C	B	B	2.4
Wati	C	C	B	C	B	2.4
EZ Texting	C	C	C	C	B	2.2
Gallabox	D	C	B	C	B	2.2
Postscript	C	C	C	C	B	2.2
PushOwl	B	C	D	B	C	2.2
SleekFlow	D	C	B	C	B	2.2
SlickText	C	C	C	C	B	2.2

Some software does something you couldn’t reasonably build yourself. Some is simple enough that an AI app builder could make the core of it in an afternoon. Here’s where SMS and chat marketing tools land, by the same rules for every tool.

• 15

  Keep it

  It does something you could not reasonably make for yourself, or it costs nothing.

• 0

  Your call

  You could make the core of it, and you would give something up.

• 0

  You could make this

  What it does is the kind of thing an AI app builder makes well, and it charges every month.

Every SMS and chat marketing tool we grade, with its GPA and what it costs. Each one has a page of its own on toolgpa.com, with its Insider’s Guide.

1. 1ChatfuelFree trial · from $18/mo2.6
2. 2InteraktFree trial · from ₹999/mo2.6
3. 3AiSensyFree plan · from $40.50/mo2.4
4. 4ManychatFree plan · from $169/yr2.4
5. 5SimpleTextingFree trial · from $23.20/mo2.4
6. 6WatiFree trial · from $59/mo2.4
7. 7EZ TextingFree trial · from $20/mo2.2
8. 8GallaboxFree trial · from $112/mo2.2
9. 9PostscriptFree trial · from $49/mo2.2
10. 10PushOwlFree plan · from $15/mo2.2
11. 11SleekFlowFree trial · from $49/mo2.2
12. 12SlickTextFree trial · from $24.17/mo2.2
13. 13TextedlyFree trial · from $29/mo2.2
14. 14AttentivePaid2.0
15. 15LandbotFree plan · from $36/mo2.0

ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.

ToolGPA is free to read. It may earn a commission from affiliate links and it works with sponsors, but anything paid for is labelled and no one can pay for a grade. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.

• 2,281

  tools graded

• 73

  categories

• 426

  price changes on record

• 579

  apps priced in 12 countries