SMS Marketing Statistics 2026: Opt-In, Click Rates and Cost per Message

85.6% of US consumers are opted in to texts from at least one business in 2026, and 75.3% of businesses now use SMS marketing, according to SimpleTexting's 2026 SMS marketing report. Across more than 17,000 Shopify stores in Postscript's 2026 SMS benchmarks, the median store earns $0.98 in attributed revenue per message, against a send cost of about a cent.

The headline for a marketer: SMS is cheap to send and expensive to waste. Campaign click rates in Postscript's data sit between 2.87% and 8.01% for the middle half of stores, far below the 20%-plus that most businesses report about themselves in surveys. The gap between what teams believe and what platforms measure is the most useful number on this page.

Every figure below links to the report or pricing page it was read on, all on October 28, 2026. Survey figures are self-reported; benchmark figures come from platform data.

Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, tracks 26 SMS marketing tools as of October 28, 2026, and 10 of them (38%) offer a free tier, according to its SMS marketing statistics page. Most senders pay from the first text, which is why cost per message matters as much as the platform fee.

Key SMS marketing statistics at a glance

Statistic	Value	Source
US consumers opted in to business texts	85.6%	SimpleTexting, January 2026 survey
Businesses using SMS marketing	75.3%	SimpleTexting, January 2026 survey
Businesses planning a bigger SMS budget	65.4%	SimpleTexting, January 2026 survey
Consumers who check a text within five minutes	74%	SimpleTexting, January 2026 survey
Campaign click rate, 25th to 75th percentile	2.87% to 8.01%	Postscript, 2025 data
Median revenue per message	$0.98	Postscript, 2025 data
Median 30-day subscriber retention	93.13%	Postscript, 2025 data
Messages per subscriber per month, median	1.91	Postscript, 2025 data

Five findings

1. Opt-in keeps climbing. SimpleTexting's consumer opt-in rate has risen every year since 61.8% in 2021, and 62% of consumers now receive texts from four or more businesses.
2. Texts get read fast. 74% of consumers check a text notification within five minutes and 23% within one minute, which is why SMS carries time-sensitive offers and reminders.
3. Triggered texts beat broadcasts. In Postscript's data, abandoned cart messages click at 9.53% to 17.28% in the middle half of stores, two to three times the campaign range.
4. Lists hold up when cadence is sane. The median store keeps 93.13% of new subscribers after 30 days while sending 1.91 messages per subscriber a month.
5. Too many texts is the top reason to leave. 55% of consumers name messaging too often as the main reason they opt out, ahead of spam-like content at 21%.

How many consumers opt in to SMS marketing?

85.6% of US consumers say they are opted in to receive texts from businesses, in SimpleTexting's survey of 1,000 consumers fielded January 7 to 8, 2026. The same survey series put the figure at 84% in 2025, 79% in 2024 and 61.8% in 2021.

Year	Consumers opted in to business texts
2021	61.8%
2022	70%
2023	71%
2024	79%
2025	84%
2026	85.6%

Source: SimpleTexting 2026 SMS marketing report, read October 28, 2026.

The curve is flattening, which changes the job. With most consumers already on at least one list, growth now comes from winning a place among the brands a shopper already hears from, not from converting people who have never opted in. Women (91%) opt in more than men (77%), and Gen Z leads all generations at 93%.

Consumers also say why they sign up. Appointment and reservation reminders lead at 76%, then shipment tracking at 61% and promotions and sale alerts at 59%. Texts that serve the customer come before texts that sell, which is a useful filter for a welcome series.

How fast do people read text messages?

Very fast. 74% of consumers check a text notification within five minutes, and 23% within one minute, according to SimpleTexting. 47% check their messages more than 10 times a day.

That speed is the channel's main advantage over email, and it is also the risk. A text that arrives at the wrong moment is read and resented at once. Most consumers (44%) prefer texts between noon and 5 p.m., and half prefer to hear from a business once every other week, with 37% choosing once a week.

What is a good SMS click rate in 2026?

It depends on who you ask. In Postscript's 2026 benchmarks, the middle half of stores see campaign click rates between 2.87% and 8.01%, measured on platform data from January 1 to December 15, 2025. In SimpleTexting's survey, 66.2% of businesses say their average click rate is 20% or higher.

Message type (Postscript)	Click rate, 25th to 75th percentile	Unsubscribe rate, 25th to 75th percentile
Campaign	2.87% to 8.01%	0.33% to 0.88%
Browse abandonment	7.38% to 13.65%	0.59% to 1.80%
Abandoned cart	9.53% to 17.28%	0.56% to 1.83%
Popup	11.34% to 22.27%	1.25% to 4.03%
Keyword	14.67% to 52.03%	0.70% to 3.40%
Back in stock	36.71% to 58.70%	0.45% to 0.83%

Source: Postscript SMS benchmarks, 2026 edition, messaging benchmarks, read October 28, 2026.

The two numbers measure different things, and the difference matters when you set a target. Platform data counts every message a store sent, including broadcasts to cold segments. A survey answer is a business's own estimate, often shaped by its best flows. Use the platform range as your baseline for campaigns and the higher triggered-flow rates as the ceiling for automations.

The table also shows where to spend effort. A back-in-stock alert clicks at several times the rate of a broadcast because the subscriber asked for it, and its unsubscribe rate stays below 1%. A brand that builds triggered flows first and sends fewer broadcasts gets more clicks per text.

How much revenue does SMS marketing generate?

The median Shopify store in Postscript's data earns $0.98 in attributed revenue per message, while the 75th percentile earns $2.13 and the 90th $4.54. Postscript calculates it as attributed SMS revenue divided by messages sent over 30 days.

The same benchmarks put the median subscriber lifetime value at $71.20, with $205.14 at the 75th percentile. On the survey side, the largest share of businesses (31%) told SimpleTexting that texts drive 21% to 30% of their online revenue, and 76% call SMS effective at driving revenue.

Treat attributed revenue with care. It counts sales that followed a text within the attribution window, not sales the text alone caused, so a store that texts its most loyal buyers before every launch will show strong revenue per message even if those buyers would have purchased anyway.

How much does an SMS message cost in 2026?

Postscript prints $0.009 per SMS on its Starter plan, $0.008 on Growth and $0.007 on Professional, plus carrier fees that it averages at $0.0033 per US SMS. MMS costs $0.045, $0.03 and $0.024 on the same plans. Starter has no platform fee but a $49 monthly minimum spend; Growth costs $100 a month and Professional $500.

SimpleTexting prices by credit. Its 500-credit plan costs $29 a month on monthly billing, plus $10 a month for a local number and a one-time $4 carrier registration, with extra credits at 5.5 cents each. One SMS uses one credit and one MMS three. SimpleTexting puts US carrier fees at about $0.0025 per message.

Plan	Per SMS	Platform fee	Source
Postscript Starter	$0.009 + carrier fees	$0, $49 monthly minimum	Postscript pricing
Postscript Growth	$0.008 + carrier fees	$100/mo	Postscript pricing
Postscript Professional	$0.007 + carrier fees	$500/mo	Postscript pricing
SimpleTexting, 500 credits	about $0.058 per included credit (our arithmetic); extra credits $0.055	$29/mo + $10 local number	SimpleTexting pricing

The two vendors serve different buyers. Postscript bills per message on top of a platform fee or minimum, so its rate is low and the minimum spend sets the floor. SimpleTexting sells monthly credit bundles with unlimited contacts, so the per-text price is higher but the bill stays predictable at low volume.

MarketingShot data: a Shopify store with 10,000 subscribers, texting at Postscript's median cadence of 1.91 messages a month, sends 19,100 SMS and pays about $234.93 a month on Postscript Starter, carrier fees included, our arithmetic on printed rates. At Postscript's median revenue per message, the same sends would be credited with about $18,718 in revenue, so the messaging bill is roughly 1.3% of attributed revenue. On Growth the same month costs $315.83, and on Professional $696.73, so the paid plans only make sense for the features, not the rate cut, at this volume.

For the full fee breakdown by provider, see our SMS marketing cost guide, the single-vendor Postscript pricing and SimpleTexting pricing pages, and the best SMS marketing software ranking.

Why do subscribers opt out of SMS?

Frequency is the main trigger. 55% of consumers name messaging too often as their top reason for opting out, followed by spam-like content at 21% and irrelevant messages at 13%, according to SimpleTexting.

The platform data agrees on what a safe pace looks like. Postscript's median store sends 1.91 messages per subscriber a month and keeps 93.13% of new subscribers after 30 days; the 75th percentile sends 3.84 and the 90th 6.65. On the business side, 45% of SimpleTexting's respondents report an unsubscribe rate of 2% or lower.

Compliance is the other cost of getting it wrong. Businesses name opt-in management (24%) and the cost of carrier verification and A2P fees (23%) as their biggest compliance challenges, so registration time belongs in any launch plan.

How are businesses using AI in SMS marketing?

71% of businesses say AI has improved their SMS marketing results, and 27% say it improved them significantly, in SimpleTexting's 2026 survey. The most common uses are writing message copy (38%), conversational two-way messaging (34%) and optimizing send timing and frequency (34%).

Consumers have noticed. 58% say they texted with an AI chatbot in the past year, and 68% want to be able to reach a human when they need one. A text program that adds an AI agent should keep a clear path to a person, because that is the first thing customers ask for.

If you want SMS and email numbers like these in your inbox, MarketingShot is a daily brief for marketers; join 36,000+ readers at marketingshot.com. For the email side of the same programs, see our email marketing statistics, and for tool picks, the Klaviyo review, Omnisend review, Postscript review and SimpleTexting review. Directory pages: SimpleTexting, Attentive and Klaviyo on Toolradar.

How we compiled this

Consumer and business survey figures come from SimpleTexting's 2026 SMS marketing report, based on two US surveys of 1,000 consumers and 400 business owners and digital marketing managers, fielded January 7 to 8, 2026. Platform benchmarks come from Postscript's 2026 SMS benchmarks, built from more than 17,000 Shopify stores on data from January 1 to December 15, 2025, reported by percentile. Both were read on October 28, 2026.

Per-message prices come from the Postscript and SimpleTexting pricing pages, read the same day; the per-credit cost and the 10,000-subscriber scenario are our arithmetic on those printed prices and Postscript's median cadence and revenue per message. Toolradar figures come from its SMS marketing statistics page, computed on October 28, 2026. Sourcing and corrections rules are in the editorial policy.

FAQ

What are the key SMS marketing statistics for 2026?

85.6% of US consumers are opted in to business texts and 75.3% of businesses use SMS marketing, per SimpleTexting's January 2026 survey. In Postscript's 2026 benchmarks of 17,000+ Shopify stores, the median store earns $0.98 per message, and campaign click rates for the middle half of stores stay in single digits.

What is the average SMS click-through rate?

On platform data, the middle half of Shopify stores on Postscript see campaign click rates of 2.87% to 8.01%, and abandoned cart texts 9.53% to 17.28%. Businesses report higher figures about themselves: 66.2% told SimpleTexting their average is 20% or more.

How much does it cost to send one SMS?

Postscript prints $0.007 to $0.009 per SMS depending on the plan, plus carrier fees it averages at $0.0033 per US message. SimpleTexting's 500-credit plan costs $29 a month, about 5.8 cents per credit by our arithmetic, plus $10 a month for a local number.

How many SMS messages should a brand send per month?

Postscript's median store sends 1.91 messages per subscriber a month and keeps 93.13% of new subscribers after 30 days. Consumers lean the same way: half prefer a text every other week and 37% once a week, and 55% of opt-outs blame sending too often.

Is SMS marketing growing in 2026?

Yes. SimpleTexting reports that 75.3% of businesses use SMS marketing in 2026, up from 66% a year earlier, and 65.4% plan to increase their texting budget. Consumer opt-in also edged up from the 84% it measured in 2025.

What is a good SMS unsubscribe rate?

For campaigns, Postscript's middle half of stores run 0.33% to 0.88% per message. Popup messages, sent right after sign-up, run higher at 1.25% to 4.03%, so expect the first text to lose the most subscribers.

Cite this: MarketingShot, "SMS Marketing Statistics 2026: Opt-In, Click Rates and Cost per Message", November 2026. Sources: SimpleTexting, Postscript, Toolradar.

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