Switching from another platform

Most people who decide to switch SMS platforms do not, because they assume it will cost a weekend. It usually costs an afternoon, and most of that is waiting on carrier registration rather than doing anything.

Here is the honest version, including the parts that are annoying.

What moves easily

Your contacts. Export a CSV from your current platform and upload it. Numbers arrive in whatever group you choose, and anything that is not a valid US or Canadian number is filtered out during import. See CSV import.

Your groups. Export each list separately and import it into its own group, or import one file and sort afterwards. Groups are unlimited.

Your message history, if you want it. Not into the product, but keep the export. It is the record of what you sent and when, and it is worth having.

What you have to bring, and cannot recreate

Consent records. This is the important one. When you export contacts, export the opt-in data too: when each person subscribed, and through what. Most platforms include a subscription date; some include the source.

Keep that file. If a complaint is ever raised, the question is whether the person agreed, and the answer lives in that export rather than in either platform. Moving platforms does not reset your obligations, and it does not create consent for numbers that never had it.

If your current list has numbers you cannot account for, switching is a good moment to drop them rather than carry the problem across.

What does not transfer

Your phone number. In most cases you get a new dedicated number here rather than porting the old one. That matters more than it sounds: people who have your old number saved will text it and get nothing.

The usual fix is to send a final message from the old platform telling people the number is changing, and a first message from the new one so the new number lands in their thread history. Do those on the same day.

Carrier registration. A2P 10DLC registration is tied to the number and the sending organization, so it has to be done again. It takes some lead time and the fees are set by the carriers, not by us. Start it before you plan to send. See 10DLC approval.

Keywords. Set them up again here. They are unlimited and take a minute each.

A sensible order

1. Export contacts and consent records from your current platform, and keep both files.
2. Create an account here and start carrier registration for your new number.
3. Import contacts while registration is in progress.
4. Recreate your keywords and the opt-in form on your site.
5. Send the number-change notice from the old platform, and a first message from the new one.
6. Cancel the old subscription once you have confirmed delivery.

Step six is worth stating explicitly: cancel after you have sent successfully here, not before.

What it costs to try

You start with 100 free credits, so you can import a list and send a real message before paying anything. There is no subscription to commit to, which means switching does not require a decision about next year. See pricing, or how we compare to where you are now.