Most business owners pick a phone number for calls and assume it can text. Often it can't, at least not reliably. A number that rings fine on inbound calls can still have its outbound texts filtered by carriers, because texting from software runs under a separate set of carrier rules. Whether your texts arrive depends on how the number was registered, not on whether it was free, local or bundled with your phone system.
This post compares the three number types owners usually choose from: local, toll-free and VoIP. It covers how each gets registered for texting, which ones hold up at volume, and what a real month costs. We make Ready, so we explain how our local numbers work. We also say where another setup is the better fit.
The three number types, in plain terms
Local numbers (10DLC)
A local number has a normal area code, like 212 or 512. When a business sends texts from one through software, carriers call it A2P 10DLC: application-to-person messaging on a 10-digit long code. To send at any real volume, the business registers a brand (who you are) and a campaign (what you send and how people opted in). Our 10DLC explainer covers the background.
Local numbers suit businesses whose customers live nearby. A text from a familiar area code looks like it came from a neighbor, not a call center.
Toll-free numbers (8XX)
Toll-free numbers (800, 833, 888 and the rest) can text too. They go through a separate toll-free verification process instead of 10DLC brand and campaign registration. They suit national brands and support lines where a local area code doesn't matter. Some recipients' phones or carriers treat toll-free texts with more suspicion. We covered why in why toll-free and short code texts get blocked.
Ready's sending is built around registered local numbers and the blue line, described below. Ready does not sell toll-free numbers yet. If toll-free is central to your plan, use a provider that offers it.
VoIP numbers
"VoIP" describes how calls are carried, not a separate number category for texting purposes. A VoIP number from RingCentral, Zoom, Nextiva or a softphone app is usually a local 10DLC number or a toll-free number underneath. Carriers apply the same texting rules to it. Your phone system provider still has to register you, and each one handles that differently. Our guide to 10DLC registration on Zoom, RingCentral, Nextiva and GoTo walks through each.
The common trap is assuming your VoIP number texts fine because a few one-off messages went through. Small one-to-one volume often slips by. Appointment reminders to 800 people usually do not.
Side-by-side comparison
| Local (10DLC) | Toll-free | VoIP line | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Looks like | Area code your customers know | 8XX, national | Whatever it is underneath (usually local) |
| Registration for texting | Brand + campaign (A2P 10DLC) | Toll-free verification | Same as its underlying type, done by your provider |
| Best for | Local businesses, appointment and service texts, two-way conversations | National support lines, brands with no local tie | Teams already living in a phone system |
| Volume limits | Per-second rate plus T-Mobile daily cap by trust score | Set through verification | Inherits the underlying type's limits |
| Main risk | Unregistered sends get filtered | Recipient-side suspicion of 8XX | Provider registration is slow, missing or vague |
For a deeper look that also covers short codes and RCS, see 10DLC vs toll-free vs long code vs RCS.
How registration actually works on a local number
On Ready, brand and campaign registration happen in the app. There is no setup fee. You pay the first month when you submit:
- At submit: $25 (the first month)
- Monthly after that: $25/mo for registration + $2/mo per number
- Timing: most approvals take 2 to 7 days
You can start before approval. An account can send up to 500 texts a month before it registers, at its normal per-text rate. After that it has to register. If you buy a number before registering, it sends on Ready's shared registration at the same rate while your own registration is in review. To send, you add a card and get a number, which is $2 a month with the first month charged when you get it.
The first 20 texts are free. They are one-to-one sends; a campaign is paid from the first text. The free texts end as soon as you pay for a registration, so use them to test before you register.
Registration is where most owners get stuck. Common causes of rejection are a sample message that reads like spam, a use case that doesn't match what you actually send, or a website with no privacy policy. These posts cover the fixes:
Which number handles texting at volume
"Volume" here means two separate limits, and both are approximate because carriers don't publish an official rate card.
Per-second rate. A fresh standard campaign with no vetting runs at roughly 1 to 4 segments per second. Higher use-case tiers run at tens of segments per second, roughly 10 to 75.
Daily cap. T-Mobile caps a brand per day based on its trust score: about 2,000, 10,000, 40,000, 100,000 or 200,000 messages a day, lowest score first. AT&T throttles per second and per minute instead of setting a hard daily cap.
Here is what that means in practice. Assume a rate of 2 segments per second. At that rate:
- 1,000 single-segment reminders take about 500 seconds, a little over 8 minutes.
- A 3,000-contact send exceeds the lowest T-Mobile tier if a large share of the list is on T-Mobile.
For most local businesses texting reminders and replies, standard registration is plenty. Brand vetting ($79 Standard / $179 Enhanced, one-time) raises your trust score. It only moves your daily cap if the higher score crosses into the next tier, and it doesn't change the per-second rate. Our post on whether 10DLC brand vetting is worth $79 works through when it pays off.
Several local numbers, one campaign
Businesses that serve more than one metro often want a number in each area code. Ready texts each contact from your number closest to their area code (local presence). Every number still sits on your one registered 10DLC campaign, so this chooses among registered numbers rather than getting around registration. It's on by default because a familiar area code is more likely to get read. That's the reasoning behind it, not a measured lift we can quote.
What a month actually costs
Ready's Standard rate is $0.0075 per segment plus a $0.0045 carrier fee. Inbound replies bill the same way as sent texts.
How segments are counted:
- One segment is 160 plain characters.
- Longer texts split into 153-character parts.
- An emoji drops a segment to 70 characters, or 67 per part in a multipart text.
- Ready swaps curly quotes, long dashes and ellipses for plain ones before sending, so those never push you into a smaller segment.
Worked example (assumptions stated). A dental office sends 2,000 appointment reminders a month. Each is 140 plain characters, with no emoji, so each is 1 segment. The office gets about 600 single-segment replies. It uses one local number.
- Messages: 2,600 segments × $0.0075, plus 2,600 × $0.0045 in pass-through carrier fees.
- Registration: $25 for registration + $2 number.
Ready's all-in prices per segment include the carrier fee but not screening: Scrub lists and Number validation, the two switches in Settings under Compliance, each add $0.003 per segment when switched on, shown as screening on your bill, and both are off by default. Unless you turn the opt-out footer off, the first text to each contact, and one again from time to time, also gets "Reply STOP to opt out" and your business name if the message does not already have them, so a text close to the segment limit can bill one more segment.
Now add one emoji to every reminder. Each 140-character text becomes 3 segments instead of 1. The reminders alone go from 2,000 to 6,000 segments, which triples that part of the bill. Our guide to reducing SMS costs covers more of these traps.
An honest note on price. Raw carrier APIs like Twilio, at around $0.0083 per segment, cost less per segment than our Standard rate. If you have developers and only need a pipe, that's a reasonable choice. What Ready includes is the rest of the stack:
- in-app registration
- automatic STOP handling that applies across every campaign
- quiet-hours holds based on the recipient's area
- optional litigator and DNC scrubbing
- an inbox, bulk campaigns and templates
- a native GoHighLevel integration
For a broader comparison of tools, see best text messaging service for business.
The blue line option
There's a fourth option that isn't a number type at all. A Ready blue line sends your texts as iMessage, so on iPhones they show up blue with your business name and photo. It needs no 10DLC registration, so you can text as soon as the line is set up.
Cost: $99 a month per line plus 6 cents a segment. Replies to the blue line are also 6 cents a segment.
Limits:
- Each line can start up to 50 new conversations a day.
- Before someone replies, you can send them up to 2 texts, and photos only after they reply.
- Campaigns and drip campaigns go out from regular numbers, not the blue line.
- Texts to Android phones go from your regular number at the regular price if you already had a number; if the blue line came with its green number, your account's texts bill at 6 cents a segment once you register.
The blue line fits one-to-one conversations, not mass sends. Details are in the blue line guide.
Compliance doesn't change with the number type
Whichever number you pick, the same rules apply:
- Text people who opted in. Cold outreach belongs on the phone or in the mail.
- Honor STOP immediately. Ready handles this automatically.
- Respect quiet hours. Ready holds sends outside permitted local hours. Campaigns, drip campaigns and automations wait up to 24 hours for the window; a one-to-one or API text is held only if the window opens within 6 hours, otherwise it is refused and must be resent; a one-to-one reply to someone who texted you in the last 24 hours goes out at any hour.
- Keep your own consent records. Ready records your attestation each time you send a campaign (and each API send that attests consent): who sent, to how many, and when. It does not store each recipient's opt-in time, wording or source page. Your store or signup form has to keep that. (A contact who signs up on a Ready-hosted opt-in page is the exception: Ready stores that sign-up, with the time, IP address and exact wording, and support@tryready.com can send you a copy.)
These tools reduce risk; they don't make you immune. Compliance stays the sender's responsibility.
Picking your number
- Local customers and two-way service texts: a local number on a registered 10DLC campaign. Add numbers in the other area codes you serve; Ready texts each contact from the closest one.
- National support line, area code irrelevant: toll-free with verification. Confirm your provider supports it end to end.
- Already on a VoIP phone system: find out exactly how your provider registers texting before you rely on it for reminders.
- High-value one-to-one conversations with iPhone users: a blue line alongside a regular number.
To try a local number, sign up, use your 20 free one-to-one texts to test, then submit registration from the app. If you're unsure which use case to pick, read our 10DLC cost breakdown and the use-case guide first. Choosing the right use case up front avoids a resubmission later.