Cold texting: is it legal, and what to do instead

A cold text is a message sent to someone who never agreed to hear from you. In the US it is usually a bad idea: texts count as calls under the TCPA, marketing texts generally need prior written consent, and carriers filter or suspend numbers that send them even when no lawsuit ever arrives.

This post covers why cold texting carries more risk than cold calling, what carriers check, and three ways to reach prospects by text without that risk. It also includes prospecting text examples written for leads who have opted in. This is a general explanation, not legal advice. If your business depends on outreach, a TCPA attorney is worth an hour of your time.

Why a cold text is riskier than a cold call

Most people assume a text is a lighter touch than a phone call. The law and the carriers see it the other way around.

The TCPA treats texts as calls

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act was written for phone calls, but courts and the FCC have long applied it to text messages. In general terms:

• Marketing texts sent with automated software usually need prior express written consent. That means a clear opt-in, tied to the specific phone number, that names your business.
• Informational texts, like reminders and confirmations, usually need prior express consent. Giving you a number for that purpose often counts.
• Statutory damages run $500 per text, and up to $1,500 per text if a court finds the violation willful.

Run the arithmetic on that last point. A 1,000-number cold list that gets two texts each is 2,000 potential violations. Nobody is going to collect on all of them, but plaintiffs' firms know the math, and some people go looking for unsolicited texts on purpose. Several states also have their own telemarketing laws, and some are stricter than the federal rule.

Cold calling is regulated, just differently

A salesperson dialing a cell phone by hand, one number at a time, sits under a different part of the rules. They still have to scrub the National Do Not Call Registry, honor internal do-not-call requests and respect calling hours, but a manual call usually lands outside the autodialer consent requirement that catches most texting software.

Any platform that sends texts in bulk, schedules them or fires them from a workflow looks a lot more like the automated systems the TCPA targets. That is why the usual professional pattern is cold contact by phone or mail, and texts only to people who opted in or replied. We follow that pattern, and we build Ready around it.

Carriers enforce their own rules on top

Leave the lawsuits aside and the carriers will still stop you. Business texting on ordinary 10-digit numbers runs over A2P 10DLC. Every campaign registration asks how recipients opt in, and carrier guidelines treat unsolicited messaging as a violation. When too many people report a number as spam or reply STOP, carriers filter its traffic, throttle it, or suspend the campaign. Our guide to what carriers actually check covers the review in detail, and this post on filtering after approval explains why a passed registration doesn't protect a number whose traffic draws complaints.

If you're an agency or a platform texting for other businesses, the question of who carries the liability gets messy fast. See who gets sued when a client's bad list gets texted.

Three compliant ways to start text conversations

The goal stays the same: reach a prospect on the channel they actually read. The difference is that the prospect agrees to it first.

1. Lead forms with a real consent line

Put a phone field and a checkbox on your web form, landing page or quote request. The disclosure should name your business, say they'll receive texts (marketing, if that's what you'll send), mention that message frequency varies and that message and data rates may apply, and tell them how to opt out (reply STOP). Keep the box unchecked by default, and don't make it a condition of buying.

Store the record on your side: the opt-in time, the exact wording they saw, and the page URL. Ready records the sender's attestation on every bulk send and every API send that sets consent_attested (who sent, to how many, when), but it doesn't store a per-contact consent record, so that piece stays with your form tool or database. (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.)

2. Call first, then text

This approach fits most sales teams. Call the prospect by hand, and if they're interested, ask: "Can I text you the details at this number?" A yes on the call, logged in your CRM with the date and the rep's name, starts a consented text thread for that conversation. For ongoing marketing texts, follow up with a written opt-in (a link to your form works).

The Ready Dialer handles the call half of this. It's click-to-call from the dial pad in the dashboard or GoHighLevel, with consented recording and transcripts, inbound calls that ring the open pad, and a Missed call card in the Inbox thread for each call you miss. It doesn't auto-dial. Every call is placed by a person, which fits this approach. It's billed at $0.025/min, and each started minute counts as a full minute.

3. Inbound text-to-join

Put a keyword on signage, packaging, ads or your website: "Text QUOTE to (555) 555-0123." When the prospect texts first, they started the conversation. Answer their request, and if you plan to send marketing later, confirm the opt-in in that first reply and keep the log yourself. As noted above, Ready doesn't create a per-contact consent record from a keyword reply.

Prospecting text examples for consented leads

Once someone has opted in, the texts that tend to work are short, specific and easy to answer. A few patterns, all written to fit one 160-character GSM-7 segment:

1. Form follow-up (within minutes):

"Hi Dana, it's Marcus at Northside Roofing. Got your quote request for Elm St. Is a quick inspection Thursday or Friday better? Reply STOP to opt out." (150 characters)

2. After a call:

"Thanks for the call, Priya. Here's the pricing sheet we discussed: [link]. Any questions, just reply here. - Sam, Ledgerly" (about 120 characters with a short link)

3. Text-to-join reply:

"Thanks for texting QUOTE! What type of project is it: kitchen, bath or other? Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help." (115 characters)

4. Gentle nudge (one, not five):

"Hi Dana, still want that inspection? I have Thursday at 2 PM open. Just reply YES and I'll book it." (99 characters)

5. Closing the loop:

"No worries if the timing's off, Dana. I'll close out your request for now. Reply anytime if you want to pick it back up." (120 characters)

A few rules carry across all of them. Identify the business in the first message. Ask one question. Keep emoji out of prospecting texts: one emoji switches the message to unicode, so a 140-character text becomes 3 segments instead of 1. Replies come from speed and relevance, not cleverness.

What it costs to text consented leads on Ready

Here is a worked example with stated assumptions: 400 web-form leads a month, each getting two 1-segment texts, with about 150 reply segments coming back. Ready bills replies like sent texts.

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.

The rate is $0.0075/segment Standard plus a $0.0045 carrier fee per segment.

Being honest about price: raw carrier APIs like Twilio (~$0.0083/segment) and GoHighLevel's LeadConnector (~$0.0083/msg) cost less per message than the Ready Standard rate. What you get for the difference is self-serve registration (most approvals take 2 to 7 days), plus the CRM, pipeline, automations, unified inbox and compliance tools on the same account. If you only need cheap segments and have engineers to build the rest, a CPaaS is a reasonable choice.

The guardrails Ready puts around texting leads

None of these make a sender lawsuit-proof. Compliance stays the sender's responsibility. They cut down the common ways teams get into trouble:

• STOP handling: an inbound STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE is honored and carried across every campaign, so the contact can't be texted again by accident.
• Quiet hours: sends are held outside permitted local hours for the recipient's area, and a held text is charged only when it actually sends. 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.
• TCPA and DNC litigator scrub: the standalone scrub is $0.005 per contact and checks known TCPA-litigator and DNC-complainer lists before a send.
• Refusals up front: opt-outs, numbers on your Ban list and known landlines are refused before sending and aren't charged.
• Consent attestation: an API send that sets consent_attested records your promise that the recipient agreed.

For platforms sending through the API, a single follow-up looks like this (see the messages docs):

POST https://api.tryready.com/v1/messages
X-API-Key: <key>
Idempotency-Key: 3f1c2a9e-7b4d-4e21-9c55-0a8d6f2b1e77

{"to": "+12125550199", "body": "Hi Dana, it's Marcus at Northside Roofing. Got your quote request. Thursday or Friday for an inspection?", "consent_attested": true}

The same rules apply whether you run a local service business, an ecommerce store, a SaaS product texting for its own customers, or a GoHighLevel agency.

The practical takeaway

Don't cold text. Cold call by hand if you prospect cold, and save texting for people who said yes, whether through a form, on a call or by texting you first. Record that consent on your side, identify yourself in every first message, and keep the texts short enough to answer from a lock screen.

If you want to try this on Ready, sign up and use your first 20 texts, which are free one-to-one sends, on real consented leads before you register. A card on file is required to send, and the free texts end once a registration is paid for.

FAQ

Is cold texting illegal? Not in every possible case, but sending marketing texts without prior express written consent creates real TCPA exposure of $500 to $1,500 per text, along with carrier filtering. For practical purposes, treat it as off-limits.

Can I text a lead who filled out a form? Yes, if the form had a clear text-consent disclosure naming your business and you kept a record of the opt-in. A phone number field with no disclosure is weaker ground.

Is it okay to text someone after a phone call? If they agreed during the call and you logged it, texting about that conversation is generally fine. Get a written opt-in before you send ongoing marketing.

Does registering for 10DLC make cold texting allowed? No. Registration tells carriers who you are and how people opt in. It doesn't create consent, and carriers can still filter or suspend a campaign over complaints.

Does a litigator scrub make cold texting safe? No. A scrub removes known high-risk numbers, which reduces risk on a consented list. It doesn't replace consent.