TextRequest Alternatives: 8 Best Business Messaging Platforms

Text Request is a platform known for making SMS marketing campaigns, two-way conversations, and customer review requests simple to manage. It’s easy to use and well-liked by smaller teams that need a straightforward texting tool.

That said, common concerns show up repeatedly in Text Request reviews. There are mentions of limited integrations, occasional software glitches, and rigid pricing plans that become costly as messaging volumes grow. For organizations where reliable delivery, scalability, and responsive support are non-negotiable, these and other drawbacks of Text Request can create major problems.

In this article, we’ll explore the top TextRequest alternatives for businesses that need dependable, high-volume messaging, along with some pointers on which criteria are worth weighing when comparing your options.

Quick feature comparison: Do you have everything you need?

Here’s a quick side-by-side comparison and a condensed view of each business texting platform’s core features to help you compare them at a glance.

What makes a strong Text Request competitor

When evaluating alternatives to TextRequest, it helps to look beyond just pricing and basic texting features. The right platform should be built to handle your messaging needs at scale, whether that’s tens of thousands or even millions of messages each month. Reliable delivery is critical, for instance. Missed texts, especially for logins, customer sign-ups, or appointments, translate directly into lost revenue.

Other factors worth weighing include how quickly you can reach support when issues come up, the availability of clear delivery reports and analytics, and whether the platform offers seamless integrations with the tools your team already uses.

For companies thinking long-term, flexibility matters, too. An omnichannel API that combines SMS with communication channels like WhatsApp or Viber can save time and simplify workflows. Taken together, these criteria cover the basics of what you should keep in mind when aiming to pick the best Text Request alternative possible.

1. Messente: SMS, WhatsApp, and Viber in one reliable API and dashboard

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Estonia, Messente is a communications platform that serves industries like financial services, logistics, and cybersecurity. Equipped with tools for customer engagement, authentication, and notifications, the platform enables companies to send SMS, WhatsApp, and Viber messages anywhere in the world.

Messente’s main features

While the platform is loaded with functionality, here’s a breakdown of the key features you should keep in mind.

Omnichannel messaging

The unified API lets you send SMS, WhatsApp, and Viber messages globally without needing any external plugins or integrations. Along with text-only SMS, Messente’s dashboard also supports multimedia content on WhatsApp and Viber.

You can set automatic fallback channels (for example, send an SMS if a Viber message fails) to maximize deliverability.

Global reach and reliability

Messente connects to almost 200 countries via around 1,000 mobile operators, creating a global delivery network for its users. Its advanced routing algorithm automatically selects the best-performing routes for each message, with guarantees of over 99.98% uptime for continuous service. Reviews note that messages reach their intended destinations reliably, and delivery speeds are consistently fast.

Cost optimization tools

Features like the auto-replace tool, which converts non-GSM characters to cheaper alternatives to reduce SMS length and cost, are designed to help you make your campaigns as cost-efficient as possible.

A real-time Pricing API lets you check message costs by destination on the fly, which is helpful for budget control. There is also the Phone Validator tool, which allows you to check the validity of phone numbers so that you don’t waste credits trying to send to numbers that don’t even exist.

Other tools and features

Messente provides specialized tools to streamline workflows. The no-code dashboard itself comes loaded with features to make campaign setup and execution a breeze. Then, take Verigator, for example, which is a ready-to-go OTP (one-time password) service with a pre-registered sender ID for instant two-factor authentication setup.

Other APIs include the Statistics API, for fetching country-by-country usage reports, and the Phonebook API, for easy contact management and audience segmentation.

Security and compliance

Messente’s built-in measures include GDPsR, DORA, and ISO 27001:2022 compliance, along with adherence to telecom regulations like TCPA, for both local and global markets. Role-based permissions and multiple API keys (with IP restrictions) allow unlimited team members to collaborate securely. For messages where privacy is a top concern, you can even hide message content from Messente itself.

Analytics and insights

Messente’s dashboard provides detailed delivery reports and campaign history. You get real-time tracking of delivery rates, response times, and engagement metrics. Several users laud the reporting features along with the intuitive and easy-to-navigate UI.

Integrations and support

Messente integrates with thousands of apps via either native connections or Zapier, enabling secure data exchange with CRMs, eCommerce platforms, and more. It provides a dedicated support package, too. Every user is entitled to “free support from real people”. Customer reviews have good things to say about the quality of support, too, especially focusing on the responsiveness.

Why Messente is better than Text Request

Messente distinguishes itself in areas where many SMS-centric platforms are limited. For example, its omnichannel API reaches users on Viber and WhatsApp in addition to SMS. In comparison, Text Request primarily offers SMS texting. Messente’s global reach and regulatory compliance efforts also exceed those of Text Request, which is mainly US- and Canada-focused.

The rich feature set and flexibility give Messente an edge over more narrowly focused platforms. Some reviews state that Messente’s global capabilities and customization make it really easy to implement in tech workflows.

Messente also has flexible payment options. You don’t have to sign up for a fixed contract commitment. You can choose to pay per message, too. Where many SMS apps limit seat counts, Messente offers unlimited users and API keys for each account.

Users consistently praise Messente’s account management. The Messente team provides hands-on support and proactive insights (e.g., flagging suspicious text traffic), something reviewers say saves time and money.

When not to use Messente

Messente is primarily a messaging API with a web-based dashboard, so if you need a mobile app for texting on the go, Messente won’t provide that. Some older users also expressed concerns about the web interface feeling clunky or laggy, but recent UI and UX updates have addressed those issues.

Also, while Messente is a multi-channel communication platform, it focuses on text-based messaging channels only. So, if you rely on voice/video calls, for instance, you may need additional external tools.

2. VirtualText (by VirtualPBX): Business SMS/MMS on your main business number

VirtualText is a business SMS and MMS texting app by VirtualPBX that lets companies send appointment reminders, drip campaigns, and group messages from a shared inbox. It is offered by VirtualPBX, a cloud telephony provider, and supports texting from your main business phone number.

VirtualText’s key features

• Appointment reminders and campaigns

• Drip marketing and blasts

• Shared multi-user inbox

• Keyword auto-replies and templates

• CRM and chat tool integrations

• Mobile apps for both iOS and Android

Why choose VirtualText over Text Request

VirtualText stands out for its tight integration with the VirtualPBX phone system and its inclusive pricing. Its entry plan starts at $25/month and includes features like keywords, scheduling, and drip campaigns.

Features such as automated appointment reminders with QR code check-ins help achieve high engagement.

VirtualText gives businesses an affordable, all-in-one texting solution built on an established VoIP platform, with robust team support and marketing tools out of the box.

Potential drawbacks of VirtualText

Launched in 2022, VirtualText is relatively new in the market, so fewer user reviews or mature integrations exist compared to longer-established platforms. Also, VirtualPBX’s service primarily covers the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, which may not suit organizations that need truly global SMS communications.

Some users on review sites have reported frustrating support experiences, along with verification and refund issues, although those come from subscribers of the parent company, VirtualPBX.

3. EZ Texting: Scalable, user-friendly SMS and MMS marketing

EZ Texting is a mass SMS and MMS marketing platform that helps businesses send bulk text campaigns and automate customer messaging. The provider focuses on large-scale texting and engagement.

EZ Texting’s key features

• Bulk SMS and MMS blasting

• Unlimited contacts, with integrated tools including signup forms, QR codes, and keywords

• Visual calendar and autoresponders

• Two-way messaging

• Credits roll-over

• APIs and webhooks

Why choose EZ Texting over Text Request

EZ Texting is built for high-volume marketing and is known for its scale and ease of use. It offers a free trial, unlike Text Request, and starts at a lower base price of about $25/month. With a larger customer base and feature set, EZ Texting provides many marketing tools by default. Its user interface is designed for marketers, with visual campaign calendars and templates, rather than just basic business texting.

In short, EZ Texting appeals to organizations that need powerful bulk texting and automation features at scale, often at a lower entry price than Text Request.

Potential drawbacks of EZ Texting

Some users note that EZ Texting’s credit-based pricing can become confusing or expensive for frequent or large campaigns in particular. A few users have also reported confusion over how many credits certain texts use. It would be nice to be told which characters or special symbols incur extra costs, and why.

A few reviewers mentioned a slow account setup process, occasional service downtime, and limited native integrations, along with unexpected charges. While generally user-friendly, beginners may need time to learn the full suite of marketing features offered by EZ Texting’s platform.

4. Signpost: Local customer communication platform with built-in messaging

Signpost is a local marketing and customer relationship platform that includes SMS texting as part of broader reputation and communication tools. It aims to automate customer outreach by combining text messaging with call handling and review requests. Signpost is often used by service businesses for customer acquisition and retention.

Signpost’s key features

• AI-assisted call handling

• Text messaging and reminders

• Lead capture and CRM

Why choose Signpost over Text Request

Signpost’s strength is its all-in-one local marketing approach. While Text Request focuses on standalone SMS tools, Signpost bundles texting with Facebook Messenger, phone call handling, and lead management. This makes it appealing to businesses that want to improve their overall customer interaction in addition to sending texts.

Potential drawbacks of Signpost

SMS is not a specialty of Signpost, so if that’s what you’re looking for, you should instead choose a provider that is focused on text messaging channels. Also, since Signpost is bundled as a full service with no option for standalone SMS, businesses not needing its full suite might find it cumbersome or expensive.

A few users find the interface and integrations less flexible. One user also warned of billing issues and unmet promises. Some users of Signpost’s answering service noted that agents are not US-based and scheduling can be inconsistent.

5. Textedly: Simple mass texting with review features

Textedly is a cloud-based SMS and MMS marketing platform used by businesses of all sizes for mass texting and automated messaging. It emphasizes ease of use and scalability, offering features like bulk messaging, two-way chat, and campaign automation.

Textedly’s key features

• Large-scale text or multimedia campaigns via SMS and MMS

• Threaded messaging inbox

• Scheduling and drip campaigns

• Contact management

• Pay-by-text links and Google review management

• Mobile app and API

Why choose Textedly over Text Request

Textedly is especially known for its affordability and marketing-oriented features. It includes features like SMS payments and review collection that Text Request does not natively provide. It also offers a 14-day free trial, unlike Text Request. For businesses focused on simple SMS campaigns, Textedly’s user-friendly interface and direct integrations (via Zapier/REST API) make it quick to deploy.

Potential drawbacks of Textedly

Lower-tier plans include only a few keywords, and creating complex segments can be less intuitive. Several advanced features, such as text-to-pay and Google reviews, are only available in higher tiers.

Textedly’s pay-as-you-go plans (based on message credits) can become costly at high volumes or for MMS. Some users deem it expensive when sending frequent campaigns. Also, text credits do not roll over automatically to the next month (unused credits expire), requiring careful budgeting each month.

6. Twilio: Programmable communications APIs for global, custom messaging

Twilio is a feature-packed programmable communications platform that offers SMS, MMS, voice, video, and email APIs. It is a developer-focused service that lets businesses build custom messaging solutions. Twilio supports global and omnichannel messaging with no fixed contracts. It’s widely used for transactional and marketing messages by companies of all sizes.

Twilio’s key features

• Programmable messaging APIs for SMS and MMS, with voice and video channels, and more

• Highly scalable cloud platform

• Flexible pay-as-you-go pricing

• Global reach

• Advanced developer tools

• Integrations for data services, CRMs, and custom systems

• Additional services like Twilio Flex (contact center), Authy (2FA), and Twilio IoT

Why choose Twilio over Text Request

Twilio is fundamentally different from Text Request. It is a flexible and super sophisticated API platform, and not just a simple SaaS UI. It is chosen when businesses need highly customized or global messaging systems.

Key advantages of Twilio include no minimum usage and no fixed plans (you pay per message or per call), and support for international carriers and channels beyond SMS. Companies with developer resources can leverage Twilio to integrate texting directly into their own apps or workflows, and to expand to voice, WhatsApp, chatbots, and more, all of which are features that TextRequest doesn’t offer.

Potential drawbacks of Twilio

Twilio’s flexibility and versatility come with complexity. Onboarding often requires a developer, and initial setup (like A2P campaign registration) can be time-consuming. Several users have reported a difficult verification process and account delays. The learning curve is also quite steep if you are not comfortable with APIs or advanced telecom concepts. And, unlike TextRequest, it is definitely not a plug-and-play solution, which can be a serious problem for the average user.

While pay-as-you-go avoids upfront fees, heavy or global usage can become expensive. Some reviewers note that Twilio’s pricing can escalate quickly, and the billing model isn’t as transparent or easy to understand as other providers’.

Twilio’s free support can be slow for non-enterprise customers. Multiple users complained of poor support experiences, especially about accounts being suspended without notice and tickets going unresolved.

7. SimpleTexting: Easy SMS marketing for small and mid-market teams

SimpleTexting is a user-friendly SMS marketing and mass texting platform aimed at small and medium businesses. Living up to its name, it provides comprehensive texting tools in an intuitive interface.

SimpleTexting’s key features

• SMS and MMS messaging

• Unlimited contact lists and custom fields

• Automations and autoresponders

• Built-in AI assistance for copywriting and analytics

• Shared inbox for team conversations

• Built-in SMS surveys and polls

• Native Zapier support and several app integrations

• Mobile app

Why choose SimpleTexting over Text Request

SimpleTexting packs many features into every plan, making it powerful for its price. For example, it includes unlimited keywords, lists, surveys, and automation tools, even on lower pricing tiers. Its ease of use is highly rated. Onboarding is fast, and the UI is intuitive. Reviewers also highlight competitive pricing and prompt customer support.

Potential drawbacks of SimpleTexting

There have been a few concerns over pricing. Some users feel the per-message cost is higher than basic services, especially for MMS. Also, SimpleTexting has few intermediate plan options, e.g., small businesses might jump from low-volume to high-volume plans abruptly.

The limited availability of native integrations might also be an issue, although the platform does leverage Zapier to fill the gap.

8. SlickText: Marketer-first SMS automation and subscriber growth tools

SlickText is a leading SMS marketing platform known for its ease of use and powerful marketing tools. It offers mass text messages, contact growth tools, automation workflows, and more. Thousands of businesses use SlickText to send targeted text campaigns and grow subscriber lists.

SlickText’s key features

• Mass texting and lead capture tools

• Shared inbox for two-way conversations

• Drag-and-drop workflow builder

• Recurring text blasts

• Integrations for marketing and CRM tools

• Templates and short links

• Media and QR code messaging

Why choose SlickText over Text Request

SlickText delivers a highly rated, marketer-centric experience that goes beyond basic texting. It provides advanced automation and analytics.

It is easy for beginners to pick up, yet scalable with features like custom automations. For companies focused on growing an SMS subscriber base with sophisticated marketing campaigns, SlickText offers more in-depth campaign planning tools than Text Request.

Potential drawbacks of SlickText

While SlickText has many integrations, a few users noted missing direct integrations with certain platforms. Additional integrations may require workarounds or custom development.

A few users mentioned minor usability issues as well as interface improvements, but these would fall into differences in personal preferences rather than platform disadvantages.

One user was dissatisfied with how support is not available on weekends, which means if you run into trouble with a critical weekend campaign, you may not get the help you need until it’s a bit too late.

At-a-glance: Which alternative is best for what (pricing and trial)

Let’s give you a quick look into which provider fits your needs, along with pricing details and trial options.

Wrapping up: Which Text Request alternative should you pick?

Each SMS marketing platform has its strengths. Some give you ease of use, while others excel at scalability, integrability, or automation. Depending on your business size, goals, and technical needs, the right choice may differ. For example, some tools emphasize beginner-friendly dashboards, while others are tailored for highly customizable developer-led workflows.

If you’re looking for a provider that balances global reach, reliability, and compliance while remaining straightforward to implement, Messente stands out. It combines enterprise-grade delivery with features that smaller and mid-sized businesses can easily adopt, making it a practical option for companies of all sizes that want both reach and dependability.