How much does church texting cost?
Updated October 18, 2026 · 6 minute read
Church texting is affordable, but services price it very differently. Knowing what you’re actually paying for makes it easy to compare.
The two ways services charge
Monthly plans. Most church texting services sell a subscription that includes a set number of “credits” (texts) each month. You pay the same amount whether you use them or not, so you size the plan for your busiest month, often Easter or Christmas.
Pay as you go. You add money to a balance and pay per text you send. Quiet months cost little or nothing; busy months cost more. There’s no plan to cancel.
Neither is always cheaper. A church that sends a steady, high volume every month may do fine on a plan. A small or seasonal church usually pays less with pay-as-you-go.
What counts as a “text”
- Segments: one standard text is up to 160 characters. Longer messages are billed as several segments.
- Special characters: emoji and accented letters use a different encoding with only 70 characters per segment, so the same message can cost two or three times as much.
- Picture messages (MMS) usually count as several texts.
- Replies are free on some services and charged on others. Ask.
Other fees to ask about
- Your number: a local or toll-free number has a small monthly cost, typically a dollar or two.
- Carrier registration: a one-time fee for registering your church (and sometimes a small monthly campaign fee) charged by the carriers.
- Contracts and cancellation: some plans bill monthly with no refunds for partial months.
Estimate your church’s monthly cost
Multiply the people on your list by the texts each person gets per month, then by the price per text.
Example: 150 people × 4 texts a month = 600 texts. At 2.8¢ per text, that’s about $16.80 a month.
Then compare that with a plan’s monthly price, and remember to use your average month, not your busiest.
Questions to ask any provider
- Is there a monthly fee if we don’t text?
- Do unused texts roll over?
- Are replies free?
- What do picture messages and long texts cost?
- Do we need a credit card to try it?
- Who handles carrier registration?
FaithTexting has no monthly plan: your first 100 texts are free with no credit card, then texts are from 2.8¢ each and get cheaper as you send more. Replies are free, and your number is passed through at cost. Use the calculator on our home page with your own numbers.
Text your congregation this Sunday.
Start freeCommon questions
How much does it cost for a church to text its members?
It depends on volume and pricing model. As an example, 150 people receiving 4 texts a month is 600 texts, about $16.80 a month at 2.8¢ per text with pay-as-you-go pricing.
Is a monthly plan or pay-as-you-go better for a church?
Pay-as-you-go usually costs less for small or seasonal churches. Large churches that text heavily every month may find a big flat plan similar.
Do churches pay for replies?
Some services charge for incoming texts and some don’t. FaithTexting does not charge for replies.
Keep reading
Church texting and the law: consent, STOP and carrier rules in plain English
What churches need to know before texting their congregation: permission, opting out, quiet hours, carrier registration (10DLC and toll-free), and what to keep on record.
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Copy-and-send church text message examples for first-time guests, service reminders, events, prayer, small groups, volunteers, giving, holidays and weather closings.
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