Choosing the right bulk SMS provider in Australia can feel overwhelming — there are dozens of options, and the pricing structures vary wildly. Some charge monthly fees, some don't. Some include a dedicated number, most charge extra. Some expire your credits, others don't.
We've done the hard work for you. We've evaluated six of the most widely used SMS platforms available to Australian businesses in 2026: Mobile Message, Burst SMS (Kudosity), MessageMedia (Sinch), Klaviyo, Twilio, and ClickSend. For each, we cover the platform overview, real pricing, honest pros and cons, and who it's best suited for.
Published prices as at August 2026, in AUD excluding GST. Full reviews of each provider follow below.
| Provider | Lowest per SMS | Monthly Fees | Free Trial | Free Dedicated Number | Credit Expiry | Zapier | AU Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile Message ⭐ | 1.6¢ first purchase 2¢ standard (1M+) |
None | 50 free SMS | ✓ First number free | Never | ✓ | ✓ Melbourne |
| Burst SMS (Kudosity) | 2.9¢ (enterprise) | None (PAYG) | 14-day trial | ✗ From $19/mo | 365 days | ✓ | ✓ Syd & Melb |
| MessageMedia (Sinch) | ~5.9¢ (on $789/mo plan) | $45–$789 | 25 free SMS | ✗ From $115/mo plan | Monthly (included SMS) | ✓ | ✓ Melbourne |
| Klaviyo | ~5.5¢ (US 3.6¢, 4 credits/SMS) | From US$20/mo (mandatory) | Free plan (250 contacts) | ✗ Branded sender ID only | Monthly, no rollover | ✓ | ✗ Not advertised |
| Twilio | ~7.1¢ (150k+, AUD) | None | ~US$15 credit | ✗ ~$10–11/mo | N/A (PAYG) | Via API | ✗ US-based |
| ClickSend | 5.7¢ ($10k+ top-up) | None (PAYG) | Free trial credit | ✗ $19/mo | 12 months inactivity | ✓ | ✓ Melbourne |
We weighted independent public reviews heavily, since they show how a provider actually performs rather than how it markets itself. Where possible we've noted each provider's public review volume and rating so you can verify track record for yourself.
The six platforms here were chosen because together they cover the main ways Australian businesses buy SMS: dedicated bulk SMS platforms, enterprise messaging, e-commerce marketing suites, developer API platforms, and front-office customer messaging. We evaluated more providers than the six reviewed in depth, and the ones we left out are listed further down the page.
Alongside that, we assessed each platform across six criteria that matter most to Australian businesses:
Because we're both the publisher and the first-placed provider, the claims we make about Mobile Message point to sources we don't control. Here they are in one place, current as at July 2026:
The most reliable check is your own test. Most providers here offer free trial credits, so you can run a small campaign through two or three of them and compare delivery speed, reporting, and support responsiveness before committing a large contact list.
Australian-built · Lowest pricing · Free dedicated number · Strong integrations
Mobile Message is a Melbourne-based bulk SMS platform built for Australian businesses of every size — from small senders firing off a few hundred messages, to developers integrating SMS into their applications, to enterprise customers running multi-million-message campaigns. The platform focuses on doing one thing exceptionally well: delivering SMS messages to Australian mobile numbers quickly and reliably, at any volume.
Mobile Message is a well established provider, used by over 7,000 Australian businesses, from sole traders through to national brands.
It's also not run by newcomers. Mobile Message was founded in 2024 by Lee Gaywood, who has spent 20+ years in the Australian SMS industry, having previously founded and sold another established Australian SMS provider. That brings two decades of Australian carrier relationships, deliverability, and compliance experience to the business.
What genuinely sets Mobile Message apart is the pricing model. Every first purchase is a flat 1.6¢ per SMS regardless of volume — whether you buy 500 credits or 1,000,000. There are no monthly fees, no setup fees, no charges for inbound SMS, and credits never expire. A free dedicated virtual number is included after your first purchase, which is a feature most competitors charge $19+ per month for.
The platform includes a clean, intuitive web dashboard for composing and sending bulk campaigns, managing contacts via spreadsheet upload, scheduling messages, and tracking delivery in real time. Two-way messaging is included at no extra cost via your dedicated number.
For businesses that need to connect SMS to their existing systems, Mobile Message offers a REST API with comprehensive documentation, webhooks for delivery receipts and inbound messages, batch sending of up to 10,000 messages per request, and direct Australian carrier routes. (There's no SMPP — Mobile Message uses REST, which integrates more cleanly with modern tech stacks.) Beyond the API, Mobile Message includes a Zapier integration (connecting to 7,000+ apps), a Make (Integromat) integration, and direct integrations with platforms including Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, WordPress/WooCommerce, 3CX, Planning Center, aXcelerate, and Yeastar PBX. The Salesforce, HubSpot, and Shopify integrations work natively without requiring Zapier as a middleman — the HubSpot app is listed on the HubSpot App Marketplace, and the free Shopify app on the Shopify App Store sends automated order, shipping, and abandoned cart SMS straight from your store. A unique offering is a ChatGPT custom GPT for personalised API integration assistance — particularly useful for developers setting up custom workflows.
All messages are sent over direct Australian carrier connections, with all customer data stored in Australia. Mobile Message is a member of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman scheme and holds both participating and certified status under ACMA's SMS Sender ID Register.
Mobile Message is also an ACMA Certified Provider for the Australian Sender ID Register (in force since 1 July 2026), meaning they can fast-track sender ID registration applications for their customers. Mobile Message Pty Ltd appears on ACMA's list of approved telcos and message providers as a certified and originating telco.
On the social-proof front, Mobile Message has over 1,500 reviews across independent platforms, as at July 2026: a 5.0 star average from 1,205 reviews on Reviews.io, 4.9 stars from 273 reviews on ProductReview.com.au, and 4.9 stars on Google. You can read a selection on our reviews page, but the platform links are the independent record.
| Volume | First Purchase* | Standard Price |
|---|---|---|
| 500+ | 1.6¢ | 4¢ |
| 1,000+ | 1.6¢ | 3.5¢ |
| 10,000+ | 1.6¢ | 3¢ |
| 100,000+ | 1.6¢ | 2.5¢ |
| 1,000,000+ | 1.6¢ | 2¢ |
* The first-purchase price is available for 30 days from signup. All prices AUD excl. GST. 50 free SMS credits on signup. No credit card required to start. See full pricing details.
Sending 100,000+ SMS per month? Contact us for negotiated pricing — rates can go as low as 1.6¢ per SMS, saving thousands of dollars per month versus other providers.
Dedicated number: First number FREE (after first purchase). Additional numbers $100/year each.
Australian-owned · Enterprise-ready · Conversational AI · ISO 27001 certified
Burst SMS has rebranded to Kudosity, though the burstsms.com.au domain still operates. It's one of Australia's longest-running SMS providers, founded in 2008, and has evolved into a full messaging platform with SMS, MMS, conversational AI, and rich messaging capabilities.
Kudosity's strength is its feature depth beyond basic bulk SMS. The platform offers a conversational inbox, keyword-triggered auto-responses, MMS support, and — notably — conversational AI capabilities for automated two-way SMS interactions. It holds ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II certifications, making it the most security-credentialed provider in this comparison. These are genuine differentiators for buyers with specific feature or compliance requirements, though they come at a significantly higher per-message cost than Mobile Message at every volume tier.
The integration ecosystem is strong, with direct connectors for Salesforce, Oracle Eloqua, Oracle Responsys, Zoho, ActiveCampaign, Shopify, Zendesk, Keap, Autopilot, and JobAdder. Connector platforms include Zapier, Make, and Workato. The API supports REST and SMPP protocols.
| Plan | Per SMS | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Starter (PAYG) | 7.9¢ | No lock-in contract, no setup fees |
| Business | 5.9¢ | 100,000+ messages/month, priority support |
| Enterprise | From 4.9¢ (down to 2.9¢) | Custom pricing, dedicated onboarding, 99.9% SLA |
All prices AUD excl. GST. See Kudosity pricing.
Dedicated number: From $19/month (verify current pricing with Kudosity). Gold numbers: $149/month. Shared numbers: free.
Enterprise-grade · 85+ integrations · Multi-channel messaging · Global reach
MessageMedia, now operating under the Sinch MessageMedia brand following Sinch's acquisition, is one of Australia's largest and most established messaging platforms. Its pitch is breadth of native CRM and e-commerce connectors, though it comes at a significantly higher cost than Mobile Message at every volume.
The standout feature is the integration ecosystem — MessageMedia claims 85+ integrations including Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics 365, NetSuite, Adobe Campaign, Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Mailchimp, and Klaviyo. The platform also supports multi-channel messaging across SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram from a unified inbox.
The trade-off is cost. MessageMedia uses a subscription model with monthly fees ranging from $45 to $789, and per-message costs are significantly higher than pay-as-you-go alternatives. We've also published a detailed head-to-head comparison of Sinch MessageMedia and Mobile Message covering contracts, sending caps, and true monthly costs.
| Plan | Monthly Fee | Included SMS | Additional Users |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basics | $45 | 570 | 1 user |
| Conversations | $115 | 1,600 | 3 users |
| Pro | $279 | 4,000 | 5 users |
| Pro Plus | $439 | 7,300 | 10 users |
| Advanced | $789 | 13,500 | 20 users |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom |
All prices AUD excl. GST. 1% credit card surcharge applies. 14-day free trial with 25 SMS credits, no card required. See MessageMedia pricing.
Dedicated number: Available from the Conversations plan ($115/month) upward.
B2C marketing platform · Email + SMS · E-commerce focus · US-headquartered (USD-billed)
Klaviyo is a B2C marketing and CRM platform rather than a standalone SMS sender. SMS is one channel alongside email, RCS, WhatsApp, mobile push, and social ads, all wrapped around a customer-data platform with reviews, analytics, and AI agents. The focus is firmly on e-commerce and retail, and it runs a localised Australian site with 350+ prebuilt integrations including Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, Wix, and Salesforce Commerce Cloud. It's a genuinely strong tool — but a different category to a focused bulk SMS provider, and priced accordingly.
Klaviyo's pricing has two layers. First, a mandatory monthly subscription billed on your number of active profiles (contacts), not messages sent — so the fee applies even in a month you send little or nothing. To send marketing SMS at all you must be on a paid Email + SMS plan, starting around AUD $54/month (US$35) at the 251–500 contact tier and rising as your list grows. Second, every SMS sits on top of that subscription as credits: each Australian SMS consumes 4 credits, working out to roughly 5.5¢ AUD (US 3.6¢) per message at 1,000/month, and more per message at smaller volumes. Credits renew monthly and do not roll over — anything unused is forfeited each cycle. MMS isn't available to Australian numbers, though a free branded sender ID is included.
Using Klaviyo's own estimator, the floor to send 1,000 SMS to Australia is about US$65/month (~AUD $100) — a mandatory US$20 email plan plus US$45 of messages — roughly 6x what the same 1,000 messages cost through Mobile Message. Because the subscription is contact-based, that figure only climbs as your list grows. The net effect is three cost layers (subscription + per-SMS + monthly credit forfeiture) where Mobile Message has a single per-message charge.
Two layers, both required to send marketing SMS:
Klaviyo bills in USD; AUD figures are approximate and move with the exchange rate. Credits renew monthly and don't roll over. See Klaviyo pricing.
Dedicated number: Not offered in the two-way sense. Klaviyo includes a free branded/alphanumeric sender ID for one-way Australian marketing SMS, not a standalone Australian number for replies and conversations.
Developer-first · API powerhouse · Global infrastructure · Best for international SMS
Twilio is the world's most well-known communications API platform. For development teams that need to send SMS to multiple countries, it's the natural choice — you can access carrier infrastructure in 190+ countries under a single API, with world-class documentation and SDKs in every major language.
However, Twilio is not built for business users. There is no web dashboard for composing and sending campaigns. Everything requires code. If you don't have development resources, Twilio is not the right choice. And if you're only sending SMS to Australian numbers, Mobile Message's API offers a simpler, significantly cheaper alternative — Twilio's effective per-message cost to Australian numbers is several times higher than Mobile Message's published rates.
Pricing is in USD and charged per message segment, which makes direct comparison more complex for Australian businesses. Twilio also uses progressive tiered pricing — you pay each tier's rate on the messages within that tier, not a single flat rate. This means you always pay the most expensive rate (US$0.0515) on your first 20,000 messages each month, with lower rates only applying beyond that. For example, sending 25,000 messages costs the full rate on the first 20,000 and the discounted rate on only the remaining 5,000. Additional features like link tracking and message scheduling (the "Engagement Suite") cost an extra US$0.015 per message.
| Monthly Volume | Outbound (USD) | Approx. AUD Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| First 20,000 | US$0.0515/segment | ~7.7–8.2¢ |
| 20,001–75,000 | US$0.0505/segment | ~7.6–8.0¢ |
| 75,001–150,000 | US$0.0484/segment | ~7.3–7.7¢ |
| 150,001+ | US$0.0474/segment | ~7.1–7.5¢ |
Prices in USD per segment. AUD equivalent at approximate exchange rates. Inbound: US$0.0075/segment. Failed message processing fee: US$0.001/message. See Twilio pricing.
Dedicated number: US$6.50/month (~AUD $10–11/month).
Sinch-owned (Swedish) · Pay-as-you-go · Wide connector marketplace · Global reach
ClickSend is a Perth-founded platform now headquartered in Melbourne. Originally Australian-owned, it was acquired by Sinch (the same Swedish-headquartered company that owns MessageMedia), making it part of a larger corporate group rather than an independent Australian business.
ClickSend historically offered multi-channel communication — SMS, email, voice, fax, and postal mail — from a single dashboard. Since the Sinch acquisition the platform has narrowed its focus, and the product line-up it now promotes is SMS, MMS, and rich messaging.
Pricing is purely pay-as-you-go with volume-tiered rates and no monthly fees or contracts, so you top up a balance and draw it down. That is the same model Mobile Message uses, but at a higher price at every tier. ClickSend's entry rate of 7.2¢ is 1.8x Mobile Message's 4¢ standard entry rate, and its cheapest published tier of 5.7¢ still sits above Mobile Message's standard rates, even though reaching it takes a $10,000 up-front top-up.
The integration ecosystem is a genuine strength. ClickSend lists hundreds of integration partners covering the major CRM, helpdesk, and automation platforms, alongside SDKs in ten programming languages and a stated 99.95% uptime SLA. For connecting SMS to mainstream business tools, though, Mobile Message reaches 7,000+ apps through Zapier and 2,000+ through Make, so the practical difference shows up mainly in ClickSend's niche connectors such as Microsoft Power Automate and GoHighLevel.
| Plan | Per SMS | Minimum Top-Up |
|---|---|---|
| Boost | 7.2¢ | $20 |
| Growth | 6.7¢ | $500 |
| Scale | 6.2¢ | $3,000 |
| Enterprise | 5.7¢ | $10,000 |
All prices AUD excl. GST. Tiers are based on top-up amount. Current promotion: 50% extra free on first top-up. See ClickSend pricing.
Dedicated number: $19/month, with no setup fee. Inbound SMS is free.
We also looked at a number of other SMS providers serving the Australian market, including SMSGlobal, Esendex, touchSMS, DirectSMS, Notifyre, SMS Everyone, Vonage, Plivo, and Infobip. Each was left out of the detailed comparison for one or more of the same few reasons: they're owned by the same company as a provider already included, their published pricing isn't competitive with the providers we did include, their public review track record is weaker, or they aren't as well established or well regarded for Australian bulk SMS. The verification steps in this article work just as well for evaluating any of them.
Per-message pricing only tells part of the story. Here's what you'd actually pay to send 1,000 standard SMS messages per month, including platform fees and a dedicated number:
| Provider | Per-SMS Cost (1k msgs) | Monthly/Number Fees | Total Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile Message | $16 first purchase / $35 standard (3.5¢) | $0 (free number) | $16–$35 |
| ClickSend | $72 (at 7.2¢ Boost rate) | $19 (dedicated number) | $91 |
| Twilio | ~$82 (at ~8.2¢ AUD equiv.) | ~$11 (number rental) | ~$93 |
| Kudosity | $79 (at 7.9¢ PAYG) | $19 (dedicated number) | $98 |
| Klaviyo | ~$69 (US$45, ~5.5¢ ea.) | ~$31 (US$20 email plan, mandatory) | ~$100 |
| MessageMedia | $115 (plan fee, 1,600 SMS included) | Included from $115/mo plan | $115 |
Mobile Message shows both its first-purchase rate and its standard 1,000-credit rate; all other providers use standard/PAYG rates. Klaviyo bills in USD, so AUD figures are approximate and move with the exchange rate, and its total is the estimator floor (a mandatory US$20 email plan plus US$45 of messages) that rises with list size. ClickSend's rate is its entry Boost tier; lower rates need a $500 to $10,000 up-front top-up. MessageMedia requires a minimum $115/month plan for a dedicated number. Prices exclude GST.
The "best" bulk SMS provider depends entirely on your specific situation. Here's a quick guide:
For most Australian businesses sending to Australian numbers, Mobile Message is the best-value choice — and on price specifically, it has the lowest published rates of the providers compared at every volume tier, whether you look at its first-purchase price or its standard rates. It pairs the lowest per-message pricing with the most transparent fee structure and the features the large majority of senders actually use, without the monthly cost of the enterprise platforms.
At 1.6¢ per SMS on the first purchase and 2¢ to 4¢ standard with no monthly fees, no credit expiry, a free dedicated number, a native HubSpot integration, and connections to thousands of apps via Zapier and Make, no other provider comes close on value. Every competitor charges more per message, and most add monthly fees, number rental charges, or credit expiry on top.
The pricing gap speaks for itself, and it widens at higher volumes. Sending 10,000 SMS through Mobile Message costs $160 on the first purchase, or $300 at the standard 3¢ rate. The same volume through Kudosity's PAYG plan is $790, more than double Mobile Message's standard rate and nearly five times its first-purchase price, and a marketing platform like Klaviyo layers a mandatory monthly subscription on top of its per-message rate before you send a single text. The gap grows into the hundreds of thousands of dollars for enterprise-volume senders, where Mobile Message's standard volume pricing of 2¢ per SMS remains the lowest published rate in this comparison.
It's also worth noting how many of these providers are foreign-owned: MessageMedia and ClickSend are both owned by Swedish company Sinch, while Twilio and Klaviyo are US-headquartered and bill in US dollars. Mobile Message is independently Australian-owned, with Melbourne-based support, transparent AUD pricing, and data stored entirely in Australia.
The only scenarios where a different provider makes sense are narrow: you want a full e-commerce email + SMS marketing suite tied to customer data (Klaviyo), a particular niche integration from a large marketplace or international sending on pay-as-you-go terms (ClickSend), a native Oracle connector (Kudosity), a native Microsoft Dynamics 365 or NetSuite connector (MessageMedia), or you need to send SMS across many countries under a single API (Twilio). For everything else — including small business sending, developer API integration for Australian SMS, and enterprise-scale Australian campaigns — Mobile Message is the right choice.
Mobile Message currently offers the lowest per-message pricing at 1.6¢ per SMS on your first purchase, made within 30 days of signup, regardless of volume. Standard rates start at 4¢ for 500+ credits and drop to 2¢ at 1,000,000+ credits. There are no monthly fees, and credits never expire.
Not necessarily — you can send from an alphanumeric sender ID (your business name) on most platforms. However, a dedicated number is essential if you want to receive replies and have two-way conversations. Mobile Message includes a free dedicated number; most competitors charge $19+ per month.
ACMA requires all alphanumeric sender IDs used for SMS in Australia to be registered on the SMS Sender ID Register. Unregistered sender IDs are labelled "Unverified" on recipients' phones. Mobile Message is an ACMA Certified Provider and can fast-track registration for customers.
This varies by provider. Mobile Message credits never expire. Kudosity forfeits credits not used within 365 days of being credited. ClickSend's balance expires after 12 months with no sends or top-ups. Klaviyo's SMS credits renew monthly and don't roll over, so anything unused is forfeited each cycle. MessageMedia includes credits in monthly plans that don't roll over. Check each provider's policy before purchasing large credit volumes.
Yes. Most Australian SMS providers support alphanumeric sender IDs, which display your business name (up to 11 characters) instead of a phone number. This is a one-way feature — recipients cannot reply to an alphanumeric sender ID. Mobile Message includes this feature at no extra cost.
Mobile Message offers native Salesforce, HubSpot, and Shopify integrations that work directly without middleware. The free Shopify app sends automated order, shipping, and abandoned cart SMS straight from your store. Beyond those, it integrates with 7,000+ apps via Zapier and 2,000+ apps via Make (Integromat). Direct integrations also include WordPress/WooCommerce, 3CX, Planning Center, aXcelerate, and Yeastar PBX. A REST API is available for custom integrations, with a ChatGPT custom GPT available for personalised API assistance.
For Australian businesses sending SMS to Australian numbers, Mobile Message's REST API is the best choice — significantly cheaper than Twilio (from 1.6¢ on a first purchase and 2¢ to 4¢ standard, versus ~8¢ per message), with webhooks, batch sending of up to 10,000 messages per request, and direct Australian carrier routes. Twilio is the right choice if you need to send SMS across many countries under a single API.
Yes, provided you comply with the Spam Act 2003. This requires three things: consent (express or inferred) from the recipient, identification (your business must be identified in the message), and an unsubscribe facility (recipients must be able to opt out). All providers in this comparison offer built-in opt-out management tools.
Start with 50 free SMS credits. No credit card required. Get a free dedicated number with your first purchase.