The use of the WordPress SMS plugin is very beneficial and whatever your goals when it comes to sending text messages with WordPress, there’s an SMS plugin that will help you accomplish them. The trick is finding the best one to suit your specific needs. Below, we’ve collected ten plugins that can help you send different types of SMS messages to subscribers.
1. Formidable Forms + Twilio SMS Add-On
Since you’ll need a method for collecting phone numbers from your subscribers, integrating WordPress SMS gateway plugins with form builders makes perfect sense. Formidable Forms can help you do just that with its Twilio SMS add-on.
Twilio is a digital communications platform. Using an Application Programming Interface (API), it can send and receive SMS messages via your WordPress site. In order to use the Formidable Forms Twilio add-on (as well as the other plugins and extensions in this post powered by this platform), you’ll need to create an account and retrieve an API key.
If you choose to combine Twilio and Formidable Forms through this add-on, you’ll be able to:
- Receive texts via your forms (for example, accepting poll votes by SMS)
- Send texts to subscribers whose phone numbers who’ve collected in your forms
- Create conditional notifications and automated responses (such as birthday wishes)
In order to use this extension, you’ll need a Formidable Forms Pro Business License. This plan costs $199 per year. Pricing for Twilio is on a pay-as-you-go basis, so you only have to cover the cost of what you use. The programmable SMS feature starts at $0.0075 per text message sent or received. This is approximately $1 per every 133 texts.
2. Gravity Forms + Twilio Add-On
The Formidable Forms add-on is a handy solution if you’re already using the plugin on your site. However, those who prefer the popular alternative Gravity Forms will be happy to know that this form builder also has a Twilio add-on. Once you have your account, integrating the two platforms in WordPress is fairly intuitive:
It also includes a variety of helpful features for keeping track of form submissions and engaging your customers, such as:
- Automated notifications sent to you via text whenever someone completes or form or makes payment
- Bitly integration for creating short links that won’t eat up your 160 character limit
- Integration with the Gravity Forms PayPal extension to send payment notifications to your customers
Gravity Forms is a premium-only plugin, and licenses start at $59 per year. However, the Twilio extension is part of the Pro add-on package. It requires you to buy a middle-tier plan at $159 per year. Even so, the additional cost grants you access to several other useful features as well, and lets you use the plugin and its extensions on up to three sites. Twilio rates apply.
3. Appointment Hour Booking + Twilio Add-On
When you’re busy trying to juggle work, keeping up your home, and whatever other commitments you have, it can be easy to let things slip through the cracks. That’s why (if you’re not using a booking plugin on your WordPress site) combining Appointment Hour Booking and its Twilio add-on is a smart move when you’re providing services to clients.
By sending reminders about upcoming reservations, you can minimize the likelihood that your client will end up being a no-show. It also gives them a last-minute chance to cancel or reschedule, helping you avoid wasted time waiting on someone who forgot you were coming to repair their refrigerator.
The combination of Appointment Hour Booking and Twilio provides several helpful features:
- Incorporates a phone number field into your booking form to collect contact information from subscribers
- Sends automated booking and reminder notifications
- Provides easy integration of your booking system and SMS notification process
You can access Appointment Hour Booking for free, but to use the Twilio SMS add-on you’ll need their Professional plan, which runs for €54 per year. Once again, you’ll still have to pay Twilio’s per-text charge of $0.0075.
4. Joy of Text
If a premium form builder isn’t the right fit for your site, never fear. Joy of Text is the most flexible of the WordPress SMS plugins on this list, and focuses solely on the task of sending text messages from your site. Like the previous tools we’ve mentioned, this plugin also uses Twilio to fuel its features:
One of the best things about Joy of Text is that it’s highly versatile and can meet the needs of almost any WordPress site. Key features include:
- Integration with many popular plugins such as WooCommerce, BuddyPress, MemberMouse, and Easy Digital Downloads
- WhatsApp integration for international digital communication capabilities
- Scheduler and Notifier extensions so you can set messages to send at a later date and automate SMS notifications
The Joy of Text Pro plugin alone starts at $65 per year. However, all of the above-mentioned features require additional extensions, which run between $15 and $25 per year for a single site. If you’re interested some or all of them, you may want to purchase one of the extension bundles.
You may also want to consider Joy of Text Lite, which will enable you to collect phone numbers via a form and send mass texts to your subscribers. Regardless of how much you pay for the plugin, you’ll also need to factor in Twilio SMS rates.
5. Twilio SMS Notifications for WooCommerce
One of the most convenient features you can offer your e-commerce customers is automated text updates regarding their purchases. Fortunately, there are several WordPress SMS plugins that can help you implement this functionality, including Twilio SMS Notifications:
As an official WooCommerce extension, you can rest assured that this tool will work seamlessly with its parent plugin to deliver accurate and timely notifications to customers. Other key features include:
- Enable customers to opt-in to SMS updates during the checkout process
- Send notifications for various order status updates including processing, completed, canceled, and refunded
- Test your messages before sending them to customers by delivering an example to yourself first
In order to use this plugin, you’ll need to have WooCommerce installed and activated (which you can do for free). A single site license for the Twilio SMS Notifications extension is just $49 per year, though you’ll also need to consider the per-text fees.
6. Appointment Hour Booking + Clickatell Add-On
In addition to integrating with Twilio, you can also pair Appointment Hour Booking with the Clickatell add-on. This alternative digital communication platform also offers two-way messaging via shortcodes and long numbers. You can easily connect it to your WordPress site using an API key:
It’s probably not surprising that this add-on is very similar to the plugin’s other SMS extension. However, there are a few potential perks to choosing this option over the other. With Appointment Hour Booking and Clickatell, you can:
- Send messages to individuals or groups across the globe to over 1,000 countries
- Personalize texts using special tags to show subscribers’ names and other information
- Real-time reporting of analytics in your Clickatell account dashboard
7. Easy Appointments + All in One Extension Package
Easy Appointments provides an alternative to Appointment Hour Booking if you’re looking to create a system for managing reservations. Its All in One Extention package includes Twilio SMS for creating reminders and notification texts. Conveniently, it will also incorporate a phone field in your booking form to help capture subscribers:
The parent plugin includes many features that make it an effective tool for scheduling appointments, including a Full Calendar view and the ability to create bookings based on location, services, or specific staff members. To help enhance those features, Easy Appointment’s Twilio integration includes:
- Status updates and booking confirmation messages
- Custom templates for a variety of status types for quick message composition
- Automated reminders that can be set to go out five to 120 minutes before the appointment
The Easy Appointments plugin itself is free, making it simple for you to try it out to see if it could be a good fit for your business. If so, you’ll need the extension package to access the Twilio integration.
Licenses cost $39 for one year or just $59 for two years, making this the most affordable of the booking-related WordPress SMS plugins. Twilio rates are not included.