SMS sending software: a comparison for local shops

SMS sending software lets a shop owner write a message once and send it to hundreds of customers from a computer or a phone, with an unsubscribe notice, delivery tracking and a clear invoice. Specialist platforms sell credits between €0.034 and €0.066 excluding VAT per text depending on volume. Tools built for local businesses also help build the contact list and record consent.

This comparison covers six tools available in France, including ours. We publish Ma Belle Note, so we judged it against the same criteria as the others, limits included. All prices are the public rates shown on each provider's official page on 24 September 2026, for texts sent to French mobiles. They change often: check them before you buy.

How do you choose SMS sending software?

Good SMS sending software for a shop is judged on five criteria: the real price per message at your volume, the minimum purchase, automatic unsubscribe handling, how you build your customer list and how long it takes to launch a campaign. The headline per-message price usually applies only to very large volumes.

1. Price at your volume. A local shop rarely sends more than a few thousand texts a month. Read the row of the price list that matches that volume, not the "from" price.
2. Minimum purchase. Some packs start at 1,000 texts, others at 100. For a first campaign of 300 messages, that matters.
3. Compliance. The STOP notice, opt-out processing and sending hours should all be automatic.
4. Contact list. An SMS platform expects a ready-made file. If you do not have one, you need a way to collect numbers with customers' consent.
5. Time spent. Writing, targeting, scheduling, tracking: a tool that feels too technical ends up unused.

Price comparison per text message

Price gaps between platforms stay small at low volumes. The table below shows, for each provider, the price of the smallest public pack and the lowest price displayed, in euros excluding VAT for one text sent in France.

Sources, checked on 24 September 2026: Spot-Hit charges €0.059 excluding VAT from 100 to 10,000 texts and gives 100 credits at sign-up (Spot-Hit price list); SMSFactor sells its smallest 1,000-text pack at €0.066 each, €66 in total (SMSFactor price list); sms-proxima charges €0.052 from 250 to 2,499 credits (sms-proxima price list); OVHcloud sells 100 texts at €0.06 and 10,000 at €0.054, with 20 free credits for new customers (OVHcloud SMS Pro); AllMySMS displays €0.045 per text and requires at least €250 a month on monthly billing (AllMySMS price list).

The six tools in detail

Each profile follows the same order: what the tool does, its strengths, its limits and the business it suits.

Ma Belle Note

What it is. An app for local businesses that brings together Google review management, loyalty and SMS campaigns. Numbers come from your customer base, filled with consent through the QR code and the loyalty wheel, or imported.

Strengths. You write the message, target your base and schedule the send; the STOP notice and permitted sending hours are handled automatically, and the cost is shown before you confirm. A text costs €0.06 excluding VAT per segment on Standard, €0.05 on Pro with 100 free segments every month (pricing). Free 7-day trial, no credit card.

Limits. It is not a standalone SMS platform: the subscription (€29 or €49 excluding VAT a month per location) also covers reviews and loyalty. If you only want to text an existing file, a prepaid credit platform will cost less.

Best for. The shop that does not yet have a customer file and wants to build one, then bring customers back, in the same tool as its Google reviews.

Spot-Hit

What it is. A French multichannel platform: SMS, RCS, email and voice messages.

Strengths. Clear public price list, tiers from 100 texts, 100 free credits to test. The price drops to €0.054 above 10,000 texts.

Limits. A general-purpose tool built for every sector: you bring your own contact list and manage its consent.

Best for. The shop owner who already has a file and wants to try SMS with no commitment.

SMSFactor

What it is. A French SMS platform with prepaid packs and monthly plans for large volumes.

Strengths. Steep volume discounts, down to €0.04 per text for 500,000 messages, plus monthly plans for regular senders.

Limits. The smallest pack is 1,000 texts, €66 excluding VAT: a lot for a first campaign to a few hundred customers.

Best for. A retail chain or a business with a large file that sends a lot.

sms-proxima

What it is. A subscription-free SMS platform where, according to the provider, purchased credits never expire.

Strengths. One of the lowest entry prices in this list (€0.052 from 250 credits), with no commitment.

Limits. A pure sending tool: no contact collection and no loyalty features.

Best for. The shop that sends a few campaigns a year and wants to pay as little as possible.

OVHcloud SMS

What it is. The SMS Pro offer of a French hosting company, sold in prepaid packs.

Strengths. A small 100-text pack at €6 excluding VAT, ideal for testing, and 20 free credits for new customers.

Limits. A technical offer, built first for notifications and developers: the campaign interface is less guided than a marketing tool.

Best for. The tech-savvy shop owner or an existing OVHcloud customer.

AllMySMS

What it is. An SMS and voice message platform for professionals.

Strengths. Displayed price of €0.045 per text, with STOP handling included according to the provider.

Limits. Monthly billing requires at least €250 excluding VAT a month: only for large senders.

Best for. A company that sends regular, large volumes.

How much does a 500-text campaign cost?

For a campaign of 500 single-segment texts, the cost of the messages ranges from €26 to €66 excluding VAT depending on the platform, based on the public price lists checked on 24 September 2026. The gap comes mostly from the minimum purchase, not the unit price.

These calculations use the prices from the lists cited above. A message longer than 160 characters counts as several texts: reread it before sending. For short message ideas that bring customers back, see our promotional SMS examples.

Which rules should the software help you follow?

A promotional text sent to an individual requires their prior consent and must offer a simple way to unsubscribe. The software should therefore add the unsubscribe notice, process STOP replies without any action from you and block sends outside the hours accepted by the industry.

The CNIL states that advertising by text message is only allowed if people gave their consent before being contacted, and that each message must let them easily refuse further messages (CNIL, commercial prospecting by SMS). On timing, the af2m 2026 code of conduct allows promotional sends between 8 am and 9:30 pm, recommends Monday to Saturday and advises against Sundays and public holidays (af2m Business Messaging code of conduct 2026).

Do people still read text messages in 2026?

Personal texting is falling fast, which leaves more room for messages from shops. In the fourth quarter of 2025, a French mobile customer sent 59 texts a month on average, down from 250 at the 2016 peak, and the number of texts sent fell 31% in a year (Arcep, Q4 2025 observatory). Private conversations have moved to messaging apps.

Meanwhile, businesses sent 15.26 billion messages in France in 2025, including 6.2 billion promotional ones, and retail accounts for 31% of them (af2m SMS marketing barometer). Texting remains a channel where a neighbourhood shop talks directly to its customers, with no algorithm in between.

Standalone SMS platform or all-in-one tool?

A standalone SMS platform suits you if you already have a file of consenting customers and simply want to send at the best price. An all-in-one tool makes sense when the hard part is elsewhere: getting the numbers, keeping consent up to date and linking campaigns to your reviews and loyalty.

1. 1
   You already have a consenting file

   Pick a prepaid credit platform with no subscription and a small minimum purchase. Test with the free credits before you pay.

2. 2
   You have no file yet

   Start by collecting numbers in store, with each customer's explicit consent, for example through a QR code or a loyalty game. A tool that links this collection to sending avoids exports and duplicates.

3. 3
   You also manage your Google reviews

   A tool that combines reviews, customer base and SMS saves time every day. Compare its subscription with the time spent juggling several services, not just with the price of a text.

To choose a review management tool alongside it, our comparison of review software for restaurants uses the same method.