### [9 Best WordPress SMS Plugins for Instant Notifications [2026]](https://wpforms.com/best-wordpress-sms-plugins/)

**Published:** February 20, 2023
**Author:** Kacie Cooper

**Excerpt:** Do you want to send SMS notifications to and from your WordPress site? Utilizing SMS communication is a useful way to keep your site growing and operating smoothly.

You may use SMS contact to quickly and efficiently reach out to your website users, or you might set up SMS notifications to receive yourself, in order to keep an eye on your site's health.

And with a slew of WordPress plugins available to integrate with your site, you have all kinds of ways to send and receive SMS notifications.

In this article, I'll cover which WordPress SMS plugins we suggest so that you can start sending and receiving SMS notifications today.

**Content:**

Do you want to send SMS notifications to and from your WordPress site? Utilizing SMS communication is a useful way to keep your site growing and operating smoothly.

You may use SMS contact to quickly and efficiently reach out to your website users, or you might set up SMS notifications to receive yourself, in order to keep an eye on your site’s health.

And with a slew of WordPress plugins available to integrate with your site, you have all kinds of ways to send and receive SMS notifications.

In this article, I’ll cover which WordPress SMS plugins we suggest so that you can start sending and receiving SMS notifications today.

[Build Your WordPress Form Now](https://wpforms.com/pricing/)

- [9 Best WordPress SMS Plugins](#aioseo-9-best-wordpress-sms-plugins-6)
    - [1. WPForms](#1-wpforms)
    - [2. WP Mail SMTP](#2-wp-mail-smtp)
    - [3. Uncanny Automator](#3-uncanny-automator)
    - [4. Formidable Forms](#4-formidable-forms)
    - [5. BulkGate](#5-bulkgate)
    - [6. FunnelKit](#6-funnelkit)
    - [7. WP SMS](#7-wp-sms)
    - [8. Ultimate WP SMS](#8-ultimate-wp-sms)
    - [9. CartBoss](#9-cartboss)
    - [Bonus: MonsterInsights](#bonus-monsterinsights)
    - [Why Use a WordPress SMS Plugin?](#why-use-a-wordpress-sms-plugin)

## 9 Best WordPress SMS Plugins

Here’s a quick overview of the tools I’ll be discussing. Click on any of the names to jump right to that section.

SMS Plugin 📲Best For 🎯Free VersionStarting Price 💰[WPForms](#1-wpforms)Form-triggered SMS & WhatsAppYes (Lite)$99.50/yr (Plus)[WP Mail SMTP](#2-wp-mail-smtp)SMS alerts for email failuresYes (Lite)$49/yr (Pro)[Uncanny Automator](#3-uncanny-automator)No-code SMS automationYes$199/yr[Formidable Forms](#4-formidable-forms)SMS from advanced formsYes (Lite)$199.50/yr (Business)[BulkGate](#5-bulkgate)WooCommerce order SMSFree pluginPay per SMS[FunnelKit](#6-funnelkit)SMS marketing automationYes$99/yr[WP SMS](#7-wp-sms)Widest SMS gateway supportYes$59/yr[Ultimate WP SMS](#8-ultimate-wp-sms)SMS, MMS & voice messagesYes (Lite)$89/yr[CartBoss](#9-cartboss)WooCommerce cart recoveryFree trialPay per SMSA WordPress SMS plugin is a smart addition to your website, and we’ll walk you through our picks for the best plugins available.

### 1. [WPForms](https://wpforms.com)

[![The WPForms homepage](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/WPForms-Website.png)](https://wpforms.com/pricing/)WPForms is the drag-and-drop form builder I reach for first, and it’s what more than 6 million sites use to create contact, payment, and survey forms without touching code.

With the [Twilio addon](https://wpforms.com/features/twilio-addon/), it also fires off an SMS or WhatsApp message automatically as soon as someone submits a form. That turns a plain contact form into a two-way text channel.

You can text a confirmation to the person who filled it out, or send an alert to your own phone the moment a high-priority lead comes through.

#### My Experience

What I like most about the Twilio addon is how little it changes the way I already work. SMS shows up as just another notification on the form, so once Twilio is connected, I pick a phone field and write the message exactly like I’d write a confirmation email.

The **Send As** option lets me choose SMS or WhatsApp per notification, and I can route different messages to different numbers with conditional logic.

![Add a Twilio connection](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/select-send-as-field-twilio-1024x785.png)Because it lives inside the same builder, I never have to bolt on a separate tool to get [instant notifications](https://wpforms.com/features/instant-notifications/) to my phone. If chat apps are more your speed, the same setup lets you [send WordPress form entries to WhatsApp](https://wpforms.com/how-to-send-wordpress-form-entries-to-whatsapp/) without any extra plugins.

Plus, the WPForms plugin offers many of the forms you’d need already made for you as templates, which you can edit further to your liking or immediately use on your site. Twilio is the cherry on top in how it gives you another way to connect with your users.

![A Twilio contact form submission SMS notification](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/twilio-contact-form-notification.png)#### Feature Breakdown

- **SMS and WhatsApp messages:** trigger texts and WhatsApp notifications on form submission through Twilio.
- **Drag-and-drop builder:** build any form type and add the SMS notification in the same screen.
- **Conditional notifications:** send different texts to different recipients based on what users select.
- **2,100+ templates:** start from a prebuilt form instead of a blank page.
- **Works with every form:** contact, payment, survey, registration, and more can all send SMS.

#### How Much Does It Cost?

WPForms Lite is free, but the Twilio addon unlocks on the **Plus** plan, which starts at $99.50 per year (normally $199).

**My Verdict**

If you want SMS and WhatsApp alerts firing straight from your WordPress forms without stitching together separate tools, this is where I’d start. Setting up the [Twilio addon](https://wpforms.com/docs/twilio-addon/) takes a few minutes, and everything stays in one builder.

### 2. [WP Mail SMTP](https://wpmailsmtp.com/)

![WP Mail SMTP website](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/WPMailSMTP_site-e1676312124400.png)WP Mail SMTP’s main job is making sure your WordPress emails actually get delivered instead of landing in spam or vanishing. Its SMS angle is more specific, since it can text you the instant an important email fails to send.

For a store or membership site, that early warning is worth a lot. If your receipts or password resets quietly stop going out, an SMS alert lets you catch the problem before customers start emailing to complain.

#### My Experience

The feature that matters here is **Email Failure Alerts**, and SMS is one of the channels you can choose. When I set it up, I could send failure notices by email, SMS through Twilio, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, or a webhook, so the text alert is really one option inside a broader safety net.

What makes the SMS alert useful is that it’s tied to WP Mail SMTP’s email logging. You get the text that something broke, then you open the log to see exactly which email failed and why. It’s a monitoring tool more than a messaging tool, and that focus is the point.

#### Feature Breakdown

- **SMS failure alerts:** get a text through Twilio the moment an email fails to send.
- **Other alert channels:** also send failure notices to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, or a webhook.
- **Email logging:** see every email your site sends, with full delivery status.
- **14+ mailers:** connect SendLayer, Brevo, Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, and more.
- **Setup wizard:** configure deliverability without code.

#### How Much Does It Cost?

The free Lite version fixes email deliverability but doesn’t include failure alerts. To get SMS alerts, you need the **Pro** license, which starts at $49 per year (normally $99). As with the other Twilio-based tools here, the texts themselves are billed by Twilio on top of the license.

**My Verdict**

If your priority is knowing instantly when WordPress email breaks rather than running text campaigns, WP Mail SMTP is the one to install. It’s the best fit when SMS is your alarm system, not your marketing channel.

### 3. [Uncanny Automator](https://wpforms.com/refer/uncanny-automator/)

![Uncanny Automator website](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/UncannyAutomator_site-e1676312284128.png)Uncanny Automator is an automation plugin that connects the tools you already run on WordPress. You build “recipes” where a trigger in one plugin kicks off an action in another, and sending an SMS through Twilio is one of those actions.

That makes it a strong choice when a text is just one step in a bigger process. A new WooCommerce order, a finished course, or a WPForms submission can all set off an SMS without any custom code.

#### My Experience

What stands out to me about Automator is that it treats SMS as a building block rather than a feature you configure in isolation. I can chain a single trigger to several actions at once, so one form submission might add a user to a course, log a row in Google Sheets, and text my team, all in the same recipe.

Because it plugs into so many tools, it’s most powerful for people who want their whole site talking to itself. The trade-off is that you’re setting up automations, so there’s more thinking involved than with a plugin that just sends order texts without any setup.

#### Feature Breakdown

- **Twilio SMS action:** send a text as part of any recipe.
- **300+ integrations:** connect WPForms, WooCommerce, LMS plugins, Google Sheets, and more.
- **Multi-action recipes:** trigger several actions from one event.
- **No-code builder:** set up automations from your dashboard.
- **Free starter version:** test basic recipes before upgrading.

#### How Much Does It Cost?

Uncanny Automator has a free version on WordPress.org that covers basic recipes. Paid plans start at $199 per year for a single site on the legacy Automator plan, while the newer AI + Automation plans begin at $300 per year and add the Uncanny Agent features. You’ll also pay Twilio for the messages you send.

**My Verdict**

Pick Uncanny Automator if you want SMS to be one step in a larger automated workflow that ties your plugins together. It’s best for site owners who already think in terms of triggers and actions.

### 4. [Formidable Forms](https://wpforms.com/refer/formidable/)

![Formidable Forms website](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/FormidableForms_site-e1676312453766.png)Formidable Forms is a form builder aimed at more technical, data-heavy projects like calculators, directories, and applications. Like WPForms, it works with Twilio so you can send and receive SMS messages tied to your forms.

If you’re already building complex forms in Formidable, adding text messaging is a natural next step. You can text users after they submit, or have replies feed back into your form data.

#### My Experience

Formidable’s strength is the depth of its forms, so the SMS feature feels most at home when your form is doing something involved, like a quote calculator or a multi-step application. The Twilio integration handles both sending notifications and SMS voting, which is a nice touch for surveys and polls.

The thing I’d flag is the tier you need. The Twilio addon isn’t part of the cheaper plans, so this only makes sense if your project already justifies a higher-end form builder. For a simple contact form that texts you, it’s more than you need.

#### Feature Breakdown

- **Twilio SMS notifications:** send and receive texts connected to your forms.
- **SMS voting:** collect votes by text for polls and surveys.
- **Advanced and calculated forms:** build calculators, directories, and applications.
- **Formidable Views:** display submitted data on the front end.
- **Zapier and API access:** connect to thousands of other apps.

#### How Much Does It Cost?

Formidable has a free Lite version, and paid plans run from $39.50 per year (Basic) up to $299.50 per year (Elite). The catch for SMS is that the Twilio addon requires the **Business** plan, which is $199.50 per year (normally $399). Texts are billed separately through Twilio.

**My Verdict**

Formidable is worth it if you’re already building data-heavy forms and can step up to the Business plan for the Twilio addon. For straightforward SMS notifications, the picks above are a lighter lift.

### 5. [BulkGate](https://www.bulkgate.com/en/integrations/sms-plugin-for-woocommerce/)

![BulkGate website](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/BulkGate_site-e1676312591612.png)BulkGate is built for online stores that want to keep customers updated by text. It connects to your WooCommerce store and sends order-status messages, and you can write your own templates or use the prebuilt ones in a range of languages.

Its standout feature is two-way SMS. Customers can reply to your messages, which lets you answer questions and handle support right inside a text conversation.

#### My Experience

The part I appreciate about BulkGate is that it brings its own SMS gateway, so you don’t have to set up a separate Twilio account to get started. Order updates feel like the core use case, and the two-way messaging opens the door to actual back-and-forth with shoppers.

It’s a credit-based system, so you top up and spend as you send. That suits stores with uneven volume, since you’re never locked into a monthly fee during a slow month.

#### Feature Breakdown

- **WooCommerce order SMS:** automatically text customers about their order status.
- **Two-way messaging:** let customers reply and hold a conversation.
- **Template library:** use prebuilt messages in multiple languages.
- **Built-in gateway:** send without a separate Twilio account.
- **Unlimited credit validity:** credits you buy don’t expire.

#### How Much Does It Cost?

The plugin and your BulkGate account are free, and you pay only for the SMS messages you send. It’s true pay-as-you-go with no monthly fees, and US messages start around €0.0109 each, with a small setup fee of up to €2 depending on the sender type. Per-message rates vary by country.

**My Verdict**

BulkGate is a solid pick if you run WooCommerce and want order-status texts and customer replies without committing to a monthly plan. The pay-as-you-go pricing makes it easy to test.

### 6. [FunnelKit](https://funnelkit.com/?ref=xranks)

![FunnelKit website](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/FunnelKit_site-e1676312746444.png)FunnelKit Automations is a marketing automation and CRM tool for WordPress and WooCommerce. Alongside email, it can send SMS as part of automated sequences and one-off broadcasts.

The reason it lands here is that it treats texts as part of a marketing engine, not a single notification. You can follow up on an abandoned cart with an email and then a text, all from one automation.

#### My Experience

What I find useful about FunnelKit is the visual automation builder, where SMS sits next to email as just another step in a customer journey. It connects to providers like Twilio and BulkGate to deliver the messages, and it integrates with WPForms so a form submission can drop someone into a sequence.

This is overkill if all you want is a single order text. But if you’re already thinking about drip campaigns and cart recovery across channels, having SMS in the same flow as email saves a lot of juggling.

#### Feature Breakdown

- **SMS broadcasts and sequences:** send one-off texts or automated multi-step flows.
- **WooCommerce automations:** trigger messages from cart and order events.
- **Multi-channel journeys:** combine email and SMS in one automation.
- **Provider connections:** deliver texts through Twilio or BulkGate.
- **WPForms integration:** start automations from a form submission.

#### How Much Does It Cost?

FunnelKit Automations has a free version on WordPress.org to get you started. Paid FunnelKit plans begin at $99 per year (Basic, normally $129), and the full automation features land on the **Professional** plan at $249 per year. As with the others, you pay your SMS provider for the actual messages.

**My Verdict**

FunnelKit makes sense if you want SMS woven into broader marketing automations instead of sending one-off texts. It’s best once email and SMS campaigns are part of your plan.

### 7. [WP SMS](https://wp-sms-pro.com/)

![WP SMS website](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/WPSMS_site-e1676312897424.png)WP SMS, now rebranded as WSMS, is a plugin focused entirely on SMS communication to and from your WordPress site. Its calling card is gateway support, with Twilio, the WhatsApp Business API, and more than 250 other SMS gateways to choose from.

That breadth makes it a good fit if your local carrier or preferred provider isn’t on every plugin’s list. You can text subscribers, form users, and WooCommerce customers from one place.

#### My Experience

The gateway count is the real story with WP SMS, because it means you’re rarely stuck if a specific provider is the only one that works well in your country. I also like that it leans into SMS newsletters, so you can build a subscriber list and send updates by text the way you would by email.

It also handles one-time passwords and two-factor authentication, which most of the form-first tools here don’t. That makes it more of a dedicated SMS hub than a notification add-on.

#### Feature Breakdown

- **250+ gateways:** connect almost any SMS provider plus the WhatsApp Business API.
- **SMS newsletters:** build subscriber lists and send bulk texts.
- **OTP and 2FA:** add text-based login verification.
- **WooCommerce support:** notify customers about orders.
- **Free core plugin:** start sending with your own gateway.

#### How Much Does It Cost?

The core plugin is free on WordPress.org, with unlimited sending, and you only pay your chosen gateway for messages. The paid All-in-One plan adds advanced marketing tools and starts at $59 per year (introductory pricing), with single, 5-site, and unlimited options.

**My Verdict**

WP SMS has a place if you want a dedicated SMS hub with the maximum choice of gateways. It’s the pick when provider flexibility and features like OTP matter more than tight form integration.

### 8. [Ultimate WP SMS](https://ultimatewpsms.com/)

![The Ultimate WP SMS website](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/UltimateWPSMS.png)Ultimate WP SMS, formerly known as Joy of Text, is another plugin made specifically for messaging from WordPress. Where it stands apart is that it goes beyond plain texts to also send MMS and text-to-voice messages.

You also don’t need a separate form plugin to use it, since it includes its own UWS forms. That lets you collect subscribers and message them without adding another tool.

#### My Experience

The MMS and voice options are what make Ultimate WP SMS worth a look, because very few WordPress plugins handle those formats. If you need to send an image by MMS or a recorded voice message, this is one of the few that can.

It integrates with apps like WhatsApp and WooCommerce too, so it isn’t limited to its own forms. For most people the SMS features will do the job, but the extra message types are a genuine differentiator.

#### Feature Breakdown

- **SMS, MMS, and voice:** send texts, picture messages, and text-to-voice calls.
- **Built-in UWS forms:** collect subscribers without a separate form plugin.
- **Subscriber automation:** message new subscribers automatically.
- **WhatsApp and WooCommerce:** connect to popular apps and your store.
- **Free Lite version:** try the basics before upgrading.

#### How Much Does It Cost?

Ultimate WP SMS Lite is free. The Pro version is $89 per year for a single site, with multi-site licenses at $240 (3 sites), $375 (5 sites), and $700 (10 sites). You still pay your SMS gateway for the messages you send.

**My Verdict**

Ultimate WP SMS is worth a look if you specifically need MMS or voice messages alongside regular texts. For plain SMS, the dedicated options above cover the same ground.

### 9. [CartBoss](https://www.cartboss.io/)

![CartBoss website](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/CARTBOSS_site-e1676313221291.png)CartBoss is a WordPress plugin built for one job, recovering abandoned WooCommerce carts by text. It takes only a few minutes to connect to your store, and then it starts reaching out to shoppers who left without checking out.

The messages come pre-written and are translated into more than 30 languages, matched to each visitor by country. That removes most of the setup work that usually comes with a recovery campaign.

#### My Experience

CartBoss is the most focused tool on this list, and that’s its appeal. The recovery messages are already written and localized, so I’m not staring at a blank template trying to word a discount offer.

Because it’s so narrow, it isn’t the plugin to choose for general notifications or marketing. It does cart recovery, it does it quickly, and it tracks the conversions it drives so you can see what it earns back.

#### Feature Breakdown

- **Abandoned cart SMS:** automatically text shoppers who don’t check out.
- **Pre-written messages:** ready-made recovery texts you don’t have to write.
- **30+ languages:** messages localized and matched by country.
- **WooCommerce focus:** built specifically for online stores.
- **Conversion tracking:** see the revenue your texts recover.

#### How Much Does It Cost?

CartBoss is pay-as-you-go with no subscriptions and a free trial that doesn’t ask for a card. You pay per SMS, and rates depend on the destination country, for example around €0.028 in Canada or €0.148 in Germany. You only spend on the messages you send.

**My Verdict**

If your one goal is recovering abandoned WooCommerce carts by text, CartBoss is purpose-built for exactly that. The pre-written, localized messages make it the fastest way to launch a recovery campaign.

### Bonus: [MonsterInsights](https://www.monsterinsights.com/)

![MonsterInsights website](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/MonsterInsights_site-e1676313350787.png)MonsterInsights is on this list as a bit of an outlier, because it doesn’t send a single text. It’s the Google Analytics plugin that tells you whether the texts you send are working.

It uses Google Analytics to track the traffic and conversions coming from your SMS links. That makes it the companion piece to any of the senders above when you want proof your messages drive results.

#### My Experience

I think of MonsterInsights as the measurement layer for everything else here. When I tag an SMS link with campaign parameters, it shows up in the reports inside my WordPress dashboard, so I can see which texts brought visitors and which led to sales.

On its own it won’t message anyone, so it only earns its spot when paired with a real SMS tool. Used that way, it answers the question the other plugins can’t, which is whether your texts are actually paying off.

#### Feature Breakdown

- **Google Analytics in WordPress:** see your stats without leaving the dashboard.
- **Campaign tracking:** measure traffic from tagged SMS links.
- **eCommerce tracking:** tie conversions and revenue back to your texts.
- **Link attribution:** find out which messages drive clicks.
- **Free Lite version:** start tracking before upgrading.

#### How Much Does It Cost?

MonsterInsights has a free Lite version. Paid plans are $99.50 per year (Plus), $199.50 per year (Pro, 5 sites), and $399.50 per year (Agency, 25 sites), all at introductory pricing.

**My Verdict**

MonsterInsights is best used alongside any of the SMS plugins above when you want to measure whether your texts drive real clicks and sales. It’s the tracking piece, not the sender.

[Start Sending SMS From Your WordPress Forms](https://wpforms.com/pricing/)

### Why Use a WordPress SMS Plugin?

SMS is quick, direct, and hard to ignore, which makes it one of the best ways to reach the people who already interact with your site. The problem is connecting your WordPress site to the phones in your visitors’ pockets, and that’s exactly the gap an SMS plugin fills.

Once you’ve bridged that gap, you can do far more than fire off a single alert. You can confirm signups, send order updates, share [appointment reminder templates](https://wpforms.com/appointment-reminder-templates-email-sms/), recover abandoned carts, run text marketing campaigns, or add two-factor authentication to your login.

The right plugin depends on the job. If you want texts tied to your forms, a form builder with a Twilio addon is the simplest route. For store updates, a WooCommerce-focused tool fits better, and for campaigns, a marketing automation plugin will serve you best.

### FAQs About WordPress SMS Plugins

WordPress SMS plugins come up a lot when you’re trying to add text notifications or SMS marketing to your site. Here are quick answers to the questions I hear most about choosing and paying for one.

#### Does WordPress have built-in SMS?

No, WordPress core can’t send text messages on its own. You need an SMS plugin to connect your site to an SMS gateway like Twilio, which then delivers the texts.

#### How do I send SMS from a WordPress form?

The easiest way is to use WPForms with the Twilio addon. You connect your Twilio account, add a phone number field to your form, and set up an SMS notification that fires when the form is submitted.

#### Are WordPress SMS plugins free?

Many of them have free versions or free core plugins, but the text messages themselves almost always cost money. You pay an SMS gateway per message, and some plugins also charge for a premium license with advanced features.

#### How much do SMS plugins cost?

There are usually two costs to plan for. The plugin license can range from free to around $299 per year, and on top of that you pay per-message gateway fees, which are often just a few cents per text.

### Next, Send SMS Text Messages From Your WordPress Forms

Now that you’ve seen the options, the fastest way to start is with a tool you may already have. If you’re using WPForms, the Twilio addon lets you [get an SMS text message from your WordPress form](https://wpforms.com/how-to-get-an-sms-text-message-from-your-wordpress-form/) in just a few minutes.

For more ways to grow with your forms, take a look at our [power hacks to grow your business online](https://wpforms.com/wpforms-power-hacks-to-grow-your-business-online/), or browse the [best WhatsApp plugins for WordPress](https://wpforms.com/best-whatsapp-plugins-for-wordpress/) if chat apps are a better fit for your audience.

[Build Your WordPress Form and Send SMS Now](https://wpforms.com/pricing/)

Ready to build your form? Get started today with the easiest WordPress form builder plugin. [WPForms Pro](https://wpforms.com/pricing) includes lots of free templates and offers a 14-day money-back guarantee.

If this article helped you out, please follow us on [Facebook](https://facebook.com/wpforms) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/easywpforms) for more free WordPress tutorials and guides.

**Categories:** Marketing

**Tags:** SMS plugins, WordPress plugins, WPForms

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