Powered By Text

What Powered By Text does

Powered By Text (PBT), formerly Ministry By Text, is a privately held SMS and MMS marketing platform company founded in 2019 and headquartered in McKinney, Texas. The company sells a subscription-based text messaging platform to churches, nonprofits, ministries, broadcast media organizations, educational institutions, and foundations, with a stated focus on "purpose-driven" organizations. Core product capabilities include mass texting, two-way texting, multimedia messaging (MMS) including in-app video capture via an MMS Recorder, unlimited keyword-driven subscriber groups, automated and drip messaging, and TCPA compliance tooling with automatic opt-out handling. Customers can choose between dedicated 5-digit short codes (requiring a 30-45 day carrier approval process) or verified 10-digit long codes, with the short-code plans including a dedicated account strategist. The platform integrates natively with major nonprofit and church CRMs and management systems including Virtuous, Planning Center, HubSpot, Rock RMS, TouchPoint, and Zapier, and exposes a public API covering SMS, MMS, RCS, voice, fax, and email channels.

The business model is primarily subscription-based recurring revenue with usage-based overage fees on messaging volume and pass-through costs for additional 5-digit numbers ($600 each). Published plans start at $210 per month, with annual billing available. Distribution is sales-led through a three-step consultation process (form intake, discovery meeting, tailored strategy build), supplemented by consulting-firm referral partners such as Dunham+Company. The company claims a two-decade SMS marketing blueprint and reports customer outcomes including 98% SMS open rates, 30% subscriber growth, 3x clickthrough versus email or social, and donation ROI outcomes up to 30:1. Ownership is concentrated with co-founders Mike Cantrell (COO) and Danny Cantrell, with no disclosed external funding, and the firm is professionally led by a CRO, CFO, and SVP of Products.

Strategic positioning centers on carrier-grade compliance credibility (Premier Short Code Status with the US Short Code Registry, SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and CCPA attestations) and high-touch white-glove service, differentiating from generic mass-texting SaaS through vertical specialization and integrated CRM workflows. The rebrand from Ministry By Text to Powered By Text in September 2023, combined with a steady cadence of CRM integrations and feature launches through 2025, indicates an active push to broaden beyond the original religious-organization niche into the wider purpose-driven organization market.

Name

Powered By Text

Legal name

Powered By Text, LLC

Website

https://poweredbytext.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Powered By Text is a subscription-based SMS and MMS marketing platform serving churches, nonprofits, ministries, broadcast media, education, and foundations, offering mass texting, two-way messaging, compliance tooling, and CRM integrations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

SMS Marketing Software

NAICS

Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

SMS/MMS & Messaging Marketing Services (Text, RCS, WhatsApp/OTT) (MPAAAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

SMS/RCS Messaging Platforms (BPAMACAF)

Keywords

• SMS marketing platform
• Text message marketing
• Nonprofit texting software
• MMS marketing tools
• Church communication software

Headquarters

HQ city

Mckinney

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription Plans: Monthly subscription-based pricing with multiple plan tiers starting at $210/month. Plans include designated message limits, with overage charges at per-message rates. Annual billing available without penalty. Additional 5-digit numbers for multi-campus organizations priced at $600/each.
2. Message Overage Fees: When partners exceed their monthly message limit, they are billed at their plan's additional message credit rate. No service interruption occurs when overages are incurred.
3. Short Code Provisioning: Dedicated 5-digit short codes are leased and provisioned on behalf of partners, included in short code plans with automatic renewal.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Powered By Text provides a subscription-based SMS and MMS marketing platform that lets organizations send mass texts, run two-way conversations, automate drip and event messages, and manage opt-in keywords and segmented groups. The offering includes dedicated 5-digit short code or verified 10-digit long code options, built-in TCPA compliance tools, CRM and church management integrations, and dedicated account strategist support. Plans start at $210 per month and are sold primarily to churches, nonprofits, ministries, broadcast media, education institutions, and foundations in the United States.

Product overview

Powered By Text is an SMS marketing platform designed for churches, nonprofits, ministries, broadcast media, education, and foundations. The platform consists of a core SMS Marketing Platform that enables mass texting, MMS, two-way texting, and automated messaging through features including Unlimited Keywords & Groups, Texting Compliance tools, and Dedicated Short Code or Verified 10-Digit Number options. Plans start at $210/month and include dedicated strategist support. The company, formerly known as Ministry By Text (MBT), has over two decades of industry experience serving purpose-driven organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SMS Marketing Platform subscription Subscription-based SMS and MMS marketing platform offering mass texting, two-way texting, automated messaging, MMS with video support, unlimited keywords and groups, dedicated short code or verified long code number options, and TCPA compliance tooling. Sold to churches, nonprofits, ministries, broadcast media, education, and foundations in the United States, with plans starting at $210 per month and dedicated account strategist support included on short code plans.

Quantifiable outcome

• 98% SMS open rate vs. <20% for email and social media
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• VirtuouscoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration partnership allowing Virtuous CRM users to connect their accounts with Powered By Text for seamless donor management and communication workflows.
• Planning CentercoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with Planning Center church management software enabling churches to connect their accounts and leverage SMS marketing within existing church operations.
• HubSpotcoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration allowing HubSpot users to connect their accounts to Powered By Text, opening up coordinated marketing automation and SMS capabilities.
• Rock RMScoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with Rock RMS church management system enabling churches to utilize SMS marketing within their existing church software ecosystem.
• TouchPointcoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with TouchPoint church management software for coordinated communication and SMS marketing capabilities.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Twilio: Public, horizontal communications platform offering SMS, MMS, and voice APIs plus marketing/compliance tooling. Comparable because it underpins many SMS marketing use cases, though it sells developer-grade APIs rather than a vertical SaaS experience like PBT.

Direct peers

• Attentive: Venture-backed SMS marketing platform focused on e-commerce and consumer brands. Closely comparable as an end-to-end SMS marketing SaaS with compliance, segmentation, and two-way messaging; differs mainly in ICP (commerce vs faith/nonprofit).
• Postscript: SMS marketing platform purpose-built for Shopify merchants. Comparable in core product (SMS/MMS campaigns, segmentation, automation) and pricing tier structure; differs in vertical (retail vs nonprofit/church).
• SimpleTexting: SMB-focused SMS marketing platform with mass texting, MMS, keywords, and two-way conversations. Closely comparable feature set and pricing model to PBT, serving a similarly broad small-customer base.
• EZ Texting: Long-standing SMS marketing platform targeting SMBs and nonprofits with keywords, mass texting, and short/long codes. Direct competitor to PBT in feature parity and customer type, particularly for the nonprofit segment.
• TextMagic: SMS marketing and notifications platform with API, two-way messaging, and segmentation. Comparable as a multi-tenant SMS SaaS serving SMBs and nonprofits with similar compliance and automation features.
• TextUs: SMS and messaging platform targeted at sales, recruiting, and customer engagement teams. Comparable core SMS/MMS capabilities and SaaS delivery; differs in ICP focus on sales rather than nonprofit/church.
• Clearstream: Church-focused text messaging and communication software for ministries and faith-based organizations. Closest direct vertical peer to PBT, competing in the same church/nonprofit SMS niche with keyword-based campaigns and short-code provisioning.

Emerging players

• Subsplash: Engagement platform for churches offering apps, giving, and messaging functionality including SMS. Comparable as a church-tech platform with overlapping communication features, though SMS is one module within a broader engagement suite.
• CallHub: Voice, SMS, and robocalling platform used by nonprofits and political campaigns for outreach. Comparable as a messaging platform serving nonprofit and advocacy use cases with similar compliance and mass-messaging features.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PoweredByText
• Facebookfacebook.com/poweredbytext
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/powered-by-text

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Powered By Text