Yes. Because Thryve is able to offer the most competitive price on text messages, we do count incoming messages against the amount you purchased.

The best way to figure out how many messages you need is by taking your average weekly attendance and multiplying it by 5 (or just use our calculator above).

We have found that on average churches like to engage with each member of their congregation about 5 times per month. So, if you have 1,000 people in average weekly attendance, you would want to multiply that by 5, which means you would want to purchase 5,000 text messages for $60/month.

We give every church their own 10-digit toll free phone number. That way, you don't have to share keywords with other churches. All texts go back and forth through this one phone number, so it’s helpful to encourage your congregation to save it in their phone as your church name.

See below for information on short codes.

The short answer: government restrictions. Lately, local phone numbers have been increasingly protected to reduce spam. This means that using local phone numbers do not allow you to use Thryve (or any texting system) in the way you would really want to. For example:

1) Local phone numbers must be a landline and cannot be a Google voice or cell phone.
2) Mass texts, or Broadcasts, can only be sent to up to 50 people at a time.
3) You cannot exceed more than 500 messages per day.

For these reasons, Thryve sets each church up with their dedicated toll-free number or short code number (see below for short codes).

All Thryve accounts receive a toll-free, 10-digit phone number. For churches who prefer to use a 5 or 6 digit phone number (short code), we can help you by contacting info@getthryve.com.

Here is some important information about short codes:
Standard short codes are available to purchase for $500/month and Vanity short codes (highly desired numbers) are available to purchase for $1,000/month. These prices come directly from the SMS providers and are not set by Thryve.

The process for applying for a short code can take up to 8 weeks, but do not fear! Our team will help you navigate the process at no charge to you.

If you exceed your selected plan's message credits plus any existing rollover credits, your account will automatically receive more credits so that your people can continue connecting with you. Additional credits are added in groups of 500 and are billed at 1.4 cents per message ($7/per 500 credits).

Every 160 characters (or 70 characters if you have an emoji) is counted as 1 text message credit according to all SMS providers. These are counted per message sent. For example, if you send a message of 250 characters to a single person, you will use 2 credits.