# How to choose a business texting platform: 8 questions to ask > Choosing business texting software in the US or Canada: who registers your numbers, consent and opt-outs, CRM links, pricing per seat and per text, inbox and Canada. Updated 2026-10-25. https://usetextually.com/guides/how-to-choose-a-business-texting-platform The right business texting platform is the one that gets your numbers approved, keeps your texts legal, fits how your team already works and doesn't charge you for growing. Before you compare features, ask eight questions: who registers your numbers, how consent and opt-outs work, which CRM it connects to, how pricing grows, how replies reach the right person, whether it runs follow-ups or only blasts, whether it texts Canada, and whether you can keep your number. This guide is for small and mid-sized teams in the US and Canada choosing a tool to text leads and customers. The questions come from what buyers ask most often and from the rules carriers apply to business texting, as read in October 2026. It is one part of our [guide to SMS for sales and customer follow-up](/guides/sms-sales-and-customer-follow-up). We make Textually, so where we describe it we say so, and we say where other kinds of tools do more. ## First: what kind of texting tool do you need? Business texting tools are built for different jobs. Pick the kind before you pick the product. | If your main job is | Look for | Watch out for | |---|---|---| | Following up with leads and customers one to one | Multi-step sequences that stop on reply, a shared inbox, CRM sync | Tools priced per seat if many people reply | | Sending promotions to a subscriber list | Keywords to join, list broadcasts, picture messages, link tracking | Weak reply handling; easy to text people who never agreed | | Reviews, payments and web chat in one place | An all-in-one suite for local businesses | Monthly prices far above texting-only tools | | A sales floor that mostly calls | A dialer with texting added | Texting that is an afterthought | Textually is built for the first row. If you mainly broadcast promotions to a keyword list, a marketing-list tool does more. ## 1. Who registers your numbers, and how long does it take? In the US, business texts from ordinary 10-digit numbers need a 10DLC brand and campaign registered with The Campaign Registry, and Canadian recipients are best reached from a verified toll-free number. Without it, texts are blocked. This is the step where most teams get stuck, sometimes for weeks. Ask: - Do you file the registration for me, or do I fill in the forms myself? - Who fixes it if the carriers send it back, and is the review fee charged again? - How long does it usually take, and what can I do in the meantime? Our guides cover [how 10DLC registration works](/guides/how-to-register-10dlc) and [what to fix when it is rejected or stuck](/guides/texting-registration-rejected). ## 2. How does it handle consent and opt-outs? You are responsible for having each person's agreement to be texted, and for stopping the moment they opt out. A good platform makes that hard to get wrong. Ask: - Does it record where and when each person agreed, and skip people without a record? - Does STOP (and ARRET, for Canadian French speakers) stop texts at once, across every campaign? - Does it add the opt-out line to first texts for you? - Does it respect sending hours in each person's time zone? See [SMS opt-in language examples](/guides/sms-consent-opt-in-examples) and [STOP and opt-out rules](/guides/stop-and-opt-out-rules). ## 3. Does it connect to your CRM, and which way does data flow? Texting is only useful if your team doesn't have to copy things by hand. Check both directions: bringing contacts in, and sending replies and opt-outs back. Ask: - Can I bring contacts in from my CRM, or only from a spreadsheet? - Do replies and opt-outs land back on the contact's record? - Is the connection built by the texting company, or through a third-party connector I pay for separately? ## 4. How does the price grow as you grow? Business texting has four costs: a platform or seat fee, a fee per number, a price per text segment, and carrier registration fees. The total depends on which of these grows with you. See [what business texting costs](/guides/business-texting-costs) for each line with a worked example. Ask: - Am I charged per seat? What happens to the bill when five more people need to reply? - Are replies free, or charged like outgoing texts? - Do unused texts or credits expire at the end of the month? - Are carrier registration fees passed on at cost, or marked up? ## 5. How do replies reach the right person? A reply nobody sees is a lost lead. Ask how replies are shared across the team. Ask: - Is there one shared inbox, with each conversation assigned to a person? - Does a lead keep texting with the same number, even if you use several? - Can I see replies on my phone? ## 6. Does it run follow-ups, or only one-off blasts? One text is easy to miss, so most teams send a short series. A platform built for follow-up lets you set that series once and stops it the moment someone replies, so nobody gets a "just checking in" after they've answered. See [how many follow-up texts to send](/guides/how-many-follow-up-texts) for a starting cadence. Ask: - Can I set up several texts with waits in between? - Does the sequence stop by itself when someone replies or opts out? - Can a step depend on what happened earlier? ## 7. Can it text Canada properly? If any of your contacts are Canadian, ask how they are texted. Canadian carriers filter business texts from ordinary local numbers heavily, so business texts to Canadian mobiles usually go from a verified toll-free number. Canada's anti-spam law (CASL) also has its own consent rules. See [texting Canadian customers](/guides/texting-canadian-customers). Ask: - Do Canadian recipients get texts from a verified toll-free number? - Does it handle ARRET and French HELP replies? ## 8. Can you keep the number your customers already know? If customers already call or save your business number, texting from it keeps one number for everything. Many platforms can add texting to an existing business landline or move your number in; some only give you a new one. See [switching texting providers](/guides/switching-texting-providers). ## Questions to ask any vendor, in one list 1. Do you register my 10DLC brand and campaign, and verify toll-free numbers, for me? 2. If registration is sent back, who fixes it and what does it cost? 3. How do you record consent and handle STOP? 4. Which CRMs do you connect to, both ways? 5. Am I charged per seat, and are replies free? 6. Do texts or credits expire? 7. Can a sequence stop on reply? 8. How do you text Canadian recipients? 9. Can I keep my current number? 10. What is my total monthly cost for my team size and volume? ## Where does Textually fit? Textually, which we make, is built for one-to-one follow-up in the US and Canada. We register your 10DLC brand and campaign and verify toll-free numbers for Canadian recipients, as part of setup. Campaigns are multi-step sequences that stop when someone replies; replies go to one shared inbox, and every lead stays on the number that first texted them. A text is only sent with a consent record, STOP and ARRET end texts at once, and sending hours follow each lead's time zone. It connects to HubSpot, Follow Up Boss and Google Sheets, among [other integrations](/integrations), and you can add texting to your existing number. Pricing is a $49 monthly platform fee for founding teams with every seat included, $10 a month per local number, and texts bought up front from 5 cents down to 2.5 cents each, kept for 12 months, with replies free ([pricing](/pricing)). Access is by application, and each team is reviewed before its numbers are registered. It doesn't do keyword sign-ups, picture messages or list promotions. [Get access](/apply). ## Questions ### What is the best business texting platform? It depends on the job. For one-to-one follow-up with leads and customers, look for registration done for you, sequences that stop on reply, a shared inbox and CRM sync. For promotions to a subscriber list, look for keyword sign-ups and broadcasts. Compare total cost for your team size, not the entry price. ### What should I look for in business texting software? Registration of your numbers handled for you, consent records and instant opt-outs, a connection to your CRM in both directions, a shared inbox, follow-up sequences that stop on reply, clear pricing that doesn't grow per seat, and proper Canadian texting if you have Canadian contacts. ### How much does business texting software cost? Usually a monthly platform or seat fee, a fee per number, a price per text and one-time carrier registration fees. Seat-based plans grow with your team; text-based plans grow with your volume. Work out the total for your own team size and monthly texts before comparing. ### Do I need 10DLC registration to use a texting platform? Yes, to text US mobiles from a standard 10-digit number. Most platforms file it on your behalf as part of setup. Toll-free numbers need toll-free verification instead, which also covers Canadian recipients. ### Can I use my existing business number for texting? Often, yes. Many platforms can add texting to a business landline or VoIP number while calls stay where they are, or move the number over. Ask before you sign up, because not every provider accepts numbers from elsewhere.