Rally Corp vs TextNow

Rally Corp is a nonprofit texting platform that runs mass, two-way and peer-to-peer texting at scale, with keywords, automation and text-to-give. Volunteers can answer questions and address concerns in two-way exchanges. Teams can upload and segment contacts, prepare scripts with customizable fields, brief volunteers, launch campaigns, and monitor responses. Managers can invite, train, and oversee volunteer texters through a dashboard with role-based permissions. Live reporting tracks messages sent, responses, volunteer activity, engagement, and sentiment. Campaign tools include automatic opt-out handling, consent tracking, and TCPA compliance features. Rally presents the service for nonprofit fundraising, volunteer mobilization, advocacy, awareness, and supporter engagement. Volunteers can text from desktop, tablet, or their own smartphone; the product lists Android, iOS, and web platforms. Integrations include donor and CRM systems, Zapier, and a RESTful API. Starter costs $99 a month, billed monthly, and includes 1,000 monthly credits and one user. Growth costs $199 a month, billed monthly, with 2,500 monthly credits and three users. SMS uses one credit per segment up to 160 characters; MMS uses two credits. Rally says the service is not designed for spam-based mass texting or rented lists.

TextNow is a VoIP service for calls and texts to U.S. and Canadian numbers, with international long-distance calling available through purchased credits. Its ad-supported free service provides a phone number and unlimited North American calling and texting over Wi-Fi or a carrier data plan. The Free Plan costs nothing and includes unlimited talk and text plus 5G data for select apps; it requires an active TextNow SIM. With an active SIM, users can also get wireless coverage and free data for listed essential apps away from Wi-Fi. Those apps must first be downloaded over Wi-Fi. The service works on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows, and account details, messages, and call history are accessible across Android, iOS, and web. The Unlimited Plan costs $35.99 a month, with unlimited data and up to 10GB at up to 5G speeds before speeds drop to 2G. Ad-Free+ removes ads and adds features including number locking, call forwarding, voicemail transcription, and unlimited photo and video history.