If you've been pricing out ProTexting for mass texting, you've probably noticed the pattern: a base plan for SMS, then a separate line item for keywords, another for MMS, another for autoresponders, maybe another for a dedicated number. By the time you've assembled the bundle you actually need, the per-message economics have drifted somewhere you didn't plan for.
This post is a side-by-side look at where ProTexting genuinely shines, where it gets fiddly, and how ReadySMS handles the same jobs differently — especially if you also want to call leads, not just text them.
Full disclosure: I work for ReadySMS. I'll keep the comparison honest and tell you when ProTexting is the better pick. I'm not going to quote ProTexting's prices either, because their menu changes and I don't want to put numbers in your head that are wrong by the time you read this — confirm current pricing at protexting.com.
Where ProTexting is genuinely good
ProTexting has been doing business texting for a long time, and it shows in the breadth. If your needs are squarely SMS-marketing-shaped, a lot of the boxes are checked:
- Keyword/shortcode-style campaigns — text-to-join flows, keyword opt-ins, and the campaign-management UI around them are mature.
- MMS and rich content — picture messaging, vCards, and the marketing-y formats are first-class.
- A long feature catalog — drip campaigns, scheduled blasts, polls, contests, birthday messages. If you can name an SMS-marketing feature, there's a decent chance they have a module for it.
- A real support reputation — for non-technical marketers who want to be walked through setup, that's worth something.
If you're a marketer who lives entirely inside SMS — keyword campaigns, MMS promos, list growth — and you don't need outbound calling or a deep CRM integration, ProTexting is a reasonable, established choice. No need to overthink it.
The friction shows up at the edges: when you want every feature at once, when you want to call as well as text, or when you want predictable per-message cost at volume.
The add-on maze problem
The thing that makes pricing comparison hard with menu-based platforms isn't any single fee — it's that you can't see your real cost until you've assembled the whole cart. A base plan covers some sends. Keywords are extra. A dedicated number is extra. MMS counts as more than one message. Overages bill at a different rate than your plan rate.
None of that is unique to ProTexting — it's the standard SMS-marketing-suite model. But it means your "$X/month" plan and your actual bill are two different numbers, and the gap grows with volume.
ReadySMS takes the opposite approach on purpose: prepaid credits, one per-segment rate by tier, and carrier fees itemized separately so the bill is legible. You're not assembling a bundle. You buy credits, you send, and the carrier pass-through ($0.0045/segment) shows up as its own line so you can see exactly what's platform and what's carrier.
The pricing math, done out loud
Here's where the volume difference matters. ReadySMS prices per outbound segment, plus that transparent $0.0045/segment carrier pass-through:
| Tier | Segments / month | Per segment | + carrier | All-in / segment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 0–50,000 | $0.0155 | $0.0045 | $0.0200 |
| Growth | 50,000–500,000 | $0.0125 | $0.0045 | $0.0170 |
| Enterprise | 500,000+ | $0.0028 | $0.0045 | $0.0073 |
A worked example. Say you send a 175-character promo with one emoji to 5,000 contacts. The emoji forces unicode encoding, which drops the segment limit to 70 characters (67 for multipart), so 175 characters splits into 3 segments.
- On Starter: 5,000 × 3 × $0.0200 = $300
- Drop the emoji and tighten copy under 160 GSM-7 characters → 1 segment: 5,000 × 1 × $0.0200 = $100
That second number is the lesson, and it's true on any platform: the emoji tripled your cost. A transparent per-segment model just makes the tax visible so you can decide whether the emoji is worth it. If you want to go deeper on trimming send cost, we wrote a whole piece on it — reduce SMS costs.
You can run your own list and message length through the cost calculator before committing to anything.
The dialer ProTexting doesn't have
This is the biggest structural difference. ProTexting is a texting platform. If you also want to call your leads — and if you're doing outbound, you do — that's a separate tool, a separate seat cost, and a separate integration headache.
ReadySMS ships a Power Dialer in the same account:
- Free — $0/mo, 1 agent, 1 number, 500 minutes/mo, then $0.06/min
- Pro — $29/agent/mo, up to 3 agents, $0.05/min
- Team — $69/agent/mo, unlimited agents, $0.0375/min, plus speed-to-lead auto-dial, lead routing, and manager monitoring
The pairing that matters: a new lead comes in, you fire an instant SMS and auto-dial within the first few minutes. The first-five-minutes advantage on inbound leads is real, and having text and voice in one place is what makes it possible without duct tape. If you want that combination specifically, the PhoneBurner alternative and OpenPhone alternative write-ups dig into the dialer side in more detail.
10DLC: handled, not homework
Any US business texting at scale needs A2P 10DLC registration — brand and campaign — or carriers filter your traffic. This is true for ProTexting, ReadySMS, and every other compliant platform. The question is who does the paperwork.
ReadySMS handles brand + campaign registration in-app: roughly ~$10/mo per brand and ~$20/mo per campaign in carrier fees, approval typically 4–7 business days. You're not filling out registration forms on a third-party portal and hoping. If you're new to this, the 10DLC explainer walks through what each piece actually does.
Beyond registration, the compliance stack runs on every send:
- Automatic STOP/opt-out handling that propagates across campaigns, so an opt-out stays an opt-out everywhere
- Quiet-hours enforcement based on the recipient's area, to reduce TCPA exposure
- Litigator / DNC scrubbing to screen known TCPA-litigator and complainer numbers before send
- Consent attestation capture building an audit trail for bulk and API sends
The honest framing: none of this makes you lawsuit-proof. Compliance is ultimately the sender's responsibility. But with TCPA exposure running $500–$1,500 per text, the standalone litigator scrub at $0.005/contact is cheap insurance against a single bad number on your list.
Native GoHighLevel — if that's your stack
If you run on GoHighLevel — and a lot of agencies and local-business marketers do — this is the deciding factor. ReadySMS connects to GHL over OAuth with two-way message sync mapped per location/sub-account, so agencies keep each client isolated. Inbound replies land in your conversations inbox and in GHL.
ProTexting isn't built around GHL the way ReadySMS is. If your campaigns, contacts, and automations already live in GoHighLevel, the integration depth matters more than any single feature checkbox. The GHL setup guide walks through connecting it.
Quick comparison
| ProTexting | ReadySMS | |
|---|---|---|
| Mass SMS / MMS | Yes, mature | Yes |
| Keyword campaigns | Yes, strong | Bulk campaigns + templates |
| Pricing model | Plan + add-on modules | Prepaid credits, per-segment by tier |
| Carrier fees | Bundled | Itemized separately ($0.0045/seg) |
| Built-in power dialer | No | Yes (Free / $29 / $69 per agent) |
| 10DLC registration | Required (confirm handling) | Handled in-app |
| Native GoHighLevel | Not the focus | Deep OAuth, per-location sync |
| Free trial | Confirm at their site | 20 free test sends + $25 credit on 10DLC registration |
Who should pick which
Stay with ProTexting if you're a pure SMS-marketing shop that leans on keyword/shortcode campaigns and rich MMS, you don't need outbound calling, and you don't live in GoHighLevel. It's an established platform with a real feature catalog and good hand-holding.
Switch to ReadySMS if you want predictable per-segment cost that drops toward a penny at volume, you also want to call leads from the same place, you're on GoHighLevel, or you'd rather have 10DLC done for you than do it yourself.
The cleanest way to decide is to send something. ReadySMS gives you 20 free test sends to your own number, plus a $25 credit when you submit 10DLC registration — enough to register a campaign, run a real blast, reply to a few inbounds, and see your actual cost itemized. No monthly platform fee, no contract. Run a small list through it, compare the bill to what you'd assemble elsewhere, and let the numbers decide. Start at the pricing page or skim the rest of the blog first.