What is 10DLC registration?
Two records the US carriers review before your local numbers can text their subscribers: your brand, which is your business, and your campaign, which is what you text and how people agreed to it.
10DLC stands for 10-digit long code, an ordinary local number a business uses to text people. The Campaign Registry, the database the US carriers use, says that “direct registration with TCR is not available for Brands”, so a texting provider files your brand and campaign. Textually does this for you.
Canada works differently. For Canadian recipients we use toll-free numbers, and each one goes through toll-free verification. Our 10DLC guide walks through both paths step by step.
What do you need for 10DLC registration?
Your business details, a contact person, and a clear description of what you text and how people agreed. You enter them once, in the texting setup form inside Textually.
- Your legal business name, the name you trade under and your business type, exactly as registered with the government.
- Your EIN (US tax number) in the US, or your Business Number in Canada.
- Your business address and website, which should show your business name and how people sign up to hear from you.
- A contact at the business, with an email on your business domain and a mobile number the carriers text a code to.
- What your texts are for, how people agree to them, and the exact place and wording where they agree. A picture or PDF of your opt-in form is required for Canadian toll-free verification.
- Links to your privacy policy and terms of service.
- Two sample texts that include your business name, and roughly how many texts you send a month.
Carriers compare what you send with these answers, so write them the way you really text. If you text as one person without a business tax number, there is a sole proprietor registration, with one number and lower daily volume.
How long does 10DLC registration take?
Usually 1 to 3 weeks, depending on the carriers’ review queue and whether anything is sent back. Complete, consistent details are the best way to avoid a second review.
The path from application to first text has five steps: apply (day 1), review call (within days), registration (1 to 3 weeks), numbers go live (on approval), first campaign (same day). You can launch your first campaign the same day your numbers go live.
The Texting page in Textually shows each stage: details sent, with the carriers, and numbers live. If the carriers ask for changes, we email you their reason, and you fix the details on the same page and send them again.
These times are typical. The carriers publish no guaranteed turnaround.
What does 10DLC registration cost?
A one-time carrier fee for US registration, passed on at cost and shown in the setup form before you agree to it. Canadian toll-free verification has no carrier fee.
- The carriers’ monthly campaign fee is included in the platform fee.
- If the carriers ask for changes and we resubmit, their review fee applies again. We tell you before that happens.
- Numbers are $10 a month local and $12 toll-free, billed from the day each goes live. The platform fee also starts when your first number goes live.
Every price is on the pricing page.
How does texting Canadian customers work?
From verified toll-free numbers, with the same consent checks, opt-out line and sending hours as your US texts.
Canada’s anti-spam law, CASL, sets its own consent rules, and French-speaking recipients may reply ARRET. Textually treats both STOP and ARRET as opt-outs, and a HELP reply returns your business name and contact. Our guide to texting customers in Canada covers consent and the French opt-out words.
What keeps a registration in good standing?
Sending what you registered. Textually builds the main carrier expectations into every send.
- The opt-out line your campaign was approved with is added at send time until the lead replies, so it can’t be edited away.
- Texts go only to leads with a consent record, or to campaigns where you confirmed consent for everyone.
- STOP and other opt-out words end texts before the next send, and HELP gets an answer.
- Texts go out only in your sending hours, and never before 8 AM or after 9 PM in the lead’s local time.
Each rule is explained on the texting rules page, and our opt-in wording examples help you describe consent the way carriers expect.