A short code is like a telephone number but designed for sending and receiving SMS messages. In the US and Canada, they are typically 5 or 6 digits long.

📌 This in-depth article provides more information on short codes.

Whether a short code is right for you depends on several factors. We put together this article to help you decide whether a short code makes sense for your organization.

Accounts that decide to provision a short code mainly use it to capture leads with keywords and web-form opt-ins.

However, AT&T recently announced that they've banned shared short codes (more on that here), so we typically recommend toll-free numbers as your best long-term solution.

Due to new industry restrictions put on short codes, if you plan on importing contacts or want to add individual contacts manually, our Toll-Free service is the best fit. The same can be said if you're going to create integrations using our API or Zapier connection. 

All new SimpleTexting accounts are set up with a toll-free number, which can be used for mass texting and 2-way messaging.
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In general, toll-free is becoming the preferred medium for text marketing. The scope of service is nearly identical to what a short code provides. 

In short, selecting toll-free options puts you in line with the preferred solution for mobile carriers around the country.

If you’d still like to use a short code, start a conversation with our onboarding team by clicking the blue chat bubble in the corner of your screen. Our team will ask you a few questions and help you explore your options around provisioning a dedicated short code.