Short code vs long code
A short code is a 5 or 6 digit number leased from the U.S. Short Code Registry; a long code is an ordinary 10 digit number, which US carriers deliver business texts from only once it is registered as 10DLC. Toll-free is the third type. On the published figures, the first year of number and registration fees runs from $6.00 to $25.80 on toll-free and $28.50 to $179.80 on 10DLC to $6,000.00 to $14,500.00 on a short code. At 2,000 texts a day sent inside four hours, all three types carry the volume, and only a short code cannot be live in under four weeks.
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Which US number type fits your sending
2,000 texts inside four hours is 0.14 texts a second.
- Toll-free number Fits First year of number and registration fees: $6.00 to $25.80; carrier fees at your volume $2,555.00 to $3,650.00 a year where published
- 10DLC (a registered long code) Fits First year of number and registration fees: $28.50 to $179.80; carrier fees at your volume $2,190.00 to $3,650.00 a year where published
- Short code Fits only at the fastest published approval: SlickText states 4 to 5 weeks, the registry two to four weeks of carrier approval after the lease, and other providers 6 to 16 weeks First year of number and registration fees: $6,000.00 to $14,500.00
| 10DLC | Toll-free | Short code | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A 10 digit number registered for business texting at The Campaign Registry | An 8xx number verified for texting | A 5 or 6 digit number leased from the U.S. Short Code Registry |
| Number a month | $0.50 to $1.15 among 5 gateways (read 21 September 2026) | $0.50 to $2.15 among 6 gateways pricing toll-free by its own rate (read 14 October 2026) | $500 random or $1,000 chosen, registry lease paid 3, 6 or 12 months ahead (read 28 September 2026) |
| Registration | Brand $4.5 once (low volume) or $46 with vetting; campaign $1.5 to $30 a month | Toll-free verification, $0 at Twilio and Telnyx | Provider setup fees from none to $2,500 |
| Time to approval, as stated | Infobip: same day to 24 hours; Twilio: under one week to campaign approval; Trumpia: 4 to 7 business days; Textmagic: 2 to 7 business days; Notifyre: 1 to 2 weeks; Kudosity: ETA 14 weeks | SlickText: often the same day, typically under 48 hours; ClickSend: usually 1 to 7 business days; Twilio: approximately 3 to 5 business days; Avochato: normally around 4 weeks; CallHub: 3 to 5 business days, while 10DLC approval waits | U.S. Short Code Registry: two to four weeks of carrier approval after the lease; SlickText: 4 to 5 weeks; Plivo: 6 to 8 weeks; Twilio: 8 to 12 weeks; Kudosity: 3 to 4 months; Clickatell: up to 16 weeks |
| Published throughput | Twilio: up to 225 messages a second per campaign; Podium: 3 segments a second and 2,000 T-Mobile messages a day on its base tier; 4 to 75 a second and 2,000 to 200,000 T-Mobile messages a day on its high volume tier, by carrier trust score; Podium: high volume tier | Trumpia: up to 150 messages a second on toll-free, 300 on a short code | Twilio: 100 or more messages a second; Trumpia: up to 300 messages a second; Sinch: 500 messages a second; Telnyx: up to 100 message parts a second on its product page; 1,000 a second in its developer documentation |
| Carrier fees per text | $0.003 to $0.005 a text | $0.0035 to $0.005 a text | Not priced by type on the pages read |
| First year, number and registration | $28.50 to $179.80 | $6.00 to $25.80 | $6,000.00 to $14,500.00 |
The first year is twelve months of number and registration fees on the published figures, low to high: a low volume brand at $4.5 once, a low volume mixed campaign at $1.5 a month and a long code at $0.50 a month up to a standard brand with vetting at $46 once, a standard campaign at $10 a month and a long code at $1.15 a month on 10DLC; verification at $0 and a toll-free number at $0.50 a month up to verification at $0 and a toll-free number at $2.15 a month on toll-free; a random code leased from the registry at $500 a month, paid 3, 6 or 12 months ahead, with no provider setup fee up to a code you choose at $1000 a month plus the highest published provider setup fee of $2,500 on a short code. Message rates sit on top and differ by provider, not by type.
What a short code and a long code are
A short code is leased, not bought, from the U.S. Short Code Registry, administered by CTIA. The registry leases a code you choose for $1,000 a month and a random code for $500 a month, for 3, 6 or 12 months, the whole lease paid before the code is activated and non-refundable (usshortcodes.com, read September 28, 2026).
A long code is a standard 10 digit US phone number. Carriers deliver business texts from it only in its registered application to person form, 10DLC, with the brand and each campaign registered at The Campaign Registry first. TCR's schedule, read September 21, 2026, prices a low volume brand at $4.50 once and a standard brand with secondary vetting at $46 in all, with campaigns from $1.50 a month to $30 for agents and franchises. Carrier fees on registered 10DLC run $0.003 to $0.005 a text at Bandwidth, Twilio and Telnyx; Bandwidth publishes $0.01 to $0.012 a text on unregistered traffic.
Toll-free is the third US number type. Verification is free at Twilio and Telnyx, and among the 6 gateways that price toll-free by its own rate the number costs $0.50 a month at Bird up to $2.15 at Twilio, read October 14, 2026.
How 10DLC, toll-free and short codes compare
Throughput separates the three types on their published ceilings. Twilio states 10DLC numbers reach "up to 225 messages per second per campaign" (read September 9, 2026). Trumpia states its toll-free numbers "can handle up to ... 150 messages per second", and Telnyx developer documentation puts a short code at 1,000 a second.
Approval time separates them further. Infobip states brand registration "typically completes the same day", with campaign approval a few hours to 24 hours; Twilio estimates under one week for campaign approval. Toll-free verification runs from SlickText's typically under 48 hours to Avochato's normally around 4 weeks. Short code approval after the lease takes two to four weeks at the registry, and providers state longer: SlickText 4 to 5 weeks, Twilio 8 to 12 weeks, Clickatell up to 16 weeks.
Cost over the first year, fees only, runs from $6.00 to $25.80 on toll-free and $28.50 to $179.80 on 10DLC to $6,000.00 to $14,500.00 on a short code. Among the 16 scored providers that publish a short code price, setup fees run from none to $2,500 at SimpleTexting, with Telnyx at $500 and Plivo at $1,500 on its Enterprise plan, which carries a $1,000 a month minimum. Long code number fees among the 5 gateways that publish one run from $0.50 a month at Bird and Plivo to $1.15 at Twilio.
How to choose between a short code and a long code
Start from your date and your volume. At 2,000 texts a day sent inside four hours, the load is 0.14 texts a second, below every published ceiling, so the fitting type is decided by lead time and cost, not throughput. With the first send four weeks away, 10DLC and toll-free both fit and a short code sits at the fastest published approval.
Work the three inputs in order. Texts a day and the window they must go out in give the texts a second, which you check against each type's published ceiling. Weeks until the first send rule out any type whose published approval runs longer. The twelve months of number and registration fees then prices each surviving type, cheapest fit first. The SMS gateway prices page carries the per message rates beside these fees.
Short code vs long code questions
Is 10DLC the same as a long code?
A long code is the 10 digit number itself. 10DLC is that number registered at The Campaign Registry, the form US carriers deliver business texts from. An unregistered long code carries higher carrier fees.
Can I text from toll-free while 10DLC or a short code is approved?
Yes. CallHub states toll-free approval takes 3 to 5 business days and does not require Campaign Verify or an EIN, so toll-free texting carries the traffic while you wait.
Can I send from my business name instead of a number?
Bird's page says not in the United States. Bird states its alphanumeric sender is one-way and supported in other countries only; its US page says "Brand-name senders unsupported" and directs you to 10DLC or verified toll-free.
What happens on an unregistered long code?
Bandwidth publishes $0.01 to $0.012 a text in unregistered carrier fees, against $0.003 to $0.005 on registered 10DLC. 10DLC registration covers the brand and campaign filing.
Does marketing need a short code?
No. Twilio states you can provision toll-free numbers for scalable transactional alerts or dedicated short codes for high volume mass marketing; the SMS short code page prices a lease.