A2P 10DLC
A2P 10DLC: What It Is, What It Costs, and Whether You Need It
The short answer
A2P 10DLC is the US carrier system that registers every business sending SMS from a regular 10-digit number. Since February 1, 2025, carriers block unregistered 10DLC traffic outright, so if you text prospects over SMS, you have to register. Expect roughly $40 to $90 up front, $2 to $10 per month per campaign, per-message carrier fees, and one to four weeks of review. Channels that don't use carrier SMS, like iMessage, sit outside it.
Key takeaways
- A2P: application-to-person, software sends texts to humans.
- Campaign registration requires brand vetting first, then campaign submission with samples and opt-in link.
- A2P 10DLC costs $46 one-time ($4.50 brand registration plus $41.50 campaign vetting), $1.50 to $10 a month per campaign, and a carrier surcharge on every message.
- One to four weeks end-to-end, three to six for full carrier approval.
- Before 10DLC, anyone could burn through numbers until deliverability collapsed.
- T-Mobile sets daily caps by trust score: unvetted 2,000/day, 25-49 score 10,000, 50-74 score 40,000, 75+ score 200,000.
Time to first message
What is A2P 10DLC?
A2P: application-to-person, software sends texts to humans. 10DLC: standard 10-digit phone number. A2P 10DLC is carrier approval system to verify the company behind automated texts.
- Brand and campaign register separately. Brand covers company name, EIN, address, website. Each campaign is priced and approved independently.
- Campaign Registry assigns 0-100 trust scores; carriers use scores to set sending limits.
- Brand: your company identity, verified against public records and your website
- Campaign: the use case, sample messages, and opt-in language
- Trust score: 0 to 100, set at vetting, drives everything downstream
- Throughput: how many messages per minute or per day the carriers let through
A2P 10DLC registration, 2026 version
Campaign registration requires brand vetting first, then campaign submission with samples and opt-in link. Reviewers verify consent.
- Fixable codes: consent, opt-in, website, identity, use case. Permanent rejections: SHAFT, cannabis, crypto, MLM, HTTP links.
- 2026 changes: Twilio granular rejection codes (Mar 23), API submissions need privacy/terms URLs (Jun 30). TCR rejects first problem; resubmit and fail on a different issue. Paperwork short, review long.
How much does A2P 10DLC cost in 2026?
A2P 10DLC costs $46 one-time ($4.50 brand registration plus $41.50 campaign vetting), $1.50 to $10 a month per campaign, and a carrier surcharge on every message.
- One-time: brand registration ($4.50) and campaign vetting ($41.50). Monthly fee per campaign. Carrier surcharges per SMS. T-Mobile added $0.0025/msg inbound (Jan 19, 2026). AT&T SMS +$0.0005, MMS +$0.0015 (Apr 1, 2026).
- At 50k SMS/month, carrier fees run $150-250 before provider rate. Tiers: standard $10/mo, sole proprietor $2, low volume $1.50.
TCR brand registration
- 2026 cost
- $4.50 one time
- Notes
- Raised from $4.00 on August 1, 2025
Standard brand vetting
- 2026 cost
- $41.50 one time
- Notes
- Optional on paper, required in practice for real volume
Campaign vetting
- 2026 cost
- $15.00 per campaign
- Notes
- Charged again for every additional campaign
Bundled setup via a provider
- 2026 cost
- $24.50 to $71.91 one time
- Notes
- Sole proprietor or low volume $24.50, high volume standard $71.91
Monthly campaign fee
- 2026 cost
- $1.50 to $10.00
- Notes
- Standard $10, sole proprietor $2, low volume mixed $1.50, charity $3
AT&T per SMS
- 2026 cost
- $0.0035 each way
- Notes
- Up from $0.003 on April 1, 2026
AT&T per MMS
- 2026 cost
- $0.009 each way
- Notes
- Up from $0.0075 on April 1, 2026
T-Mobile per SMS
- 2026 cost
- $0.0045 outbound, $0.0025 inbound
- Notes
- Raised January 19, 2026, when the inbound fee was also introduced
Verizon per SMS
- 2026 cost
- $0.005 outbound, no inbound fee
- Notes
- Raised May 1, 2026, then to $0.005 on October 1, 2026 (Twilio and Telgorithm, read 2 Oct 2026). MMS runs $0.0070
US Cellular per SMS
- 2026 cost
- $0.005
- Notes
- MMS $0.01, increased January 19, 2026
Those are our assumptions. The Blue Funnel Map runs the same arithmetic on the funnel you actually have, and you keep the map either way.
Run these numbers on your funnelHow long does A2P registration take?
One to four weeks end-to-end, three to six for full carrier approval. Brand: one to three days. Campaign: 24-72 hours if clean; three to fourteen days marketing-flavored. AT&T manual review adds two to four weeks.
- Delays from submission quality, not queue depth. Vague use cases, brand/public record mismatches, weak website backing stretch approval from three days to a month. Each rejection adds five to ten days.
Why registration exists
Why registration exists
Before 10DLC, anyone could burn through numbers until deliverability collapsed. Registration ties sending numbers to verified legal entities with EIN and address, makes bad actors traceable.
- T-Mobile Sev-0 penalties: $1k for snowshoeing, $2k for phishing, $10k for third content violation. Pass through to you. System filters fraud and slows legitimate teams a month.
A2P 10DLC caps your sending speed
A2P 10DLC caps your sending speed
T-Mobile sets daily caps by trust score: unvetted 2,000/day, 25-49 score 10,000, 50-74 score 40,000, 75+ score 200,000. AT&T uses transactions per minute limits.
- A five-rep team at 400 first-touches each reaches 2,000 daily before any follow-ups, hitting T-Mobile's cap on day one.
- Fix is vetting. Vetting takes weeks.
Can you send business texts with no A2P registration?
Can you send business texts with no A2P registration?
Yes, if not carrier SMS. iMessage over internet, never enters A2P pipeline. No brand, campaign, trust score, vetting queue, carrier surcharge, or T-Mobile daily ceiling.
- TCPA and consent still apply. Registration layer goes away, not the obligation to reach people who want to hear from you.
- Blue Reacher: $249/mo or $1,949/yr, unlimited iMessages paced 50 opted-in / 30 cold daily, RCS/SMS fallback, white-glove. Integrates GHL, HubSpot, Close, Salesforce, Pipedrive. $449 activation, waived annual.
- Full conversation features: media, voice memos, group messaging, typing indicators, read receipts, reactions
- Sending controls: scheduled sends, campaigns, availability checking, delivery states
- Compliance and plumbing: STOP auto-detection, webhooks, and an MCP server for agent workflows
- Affiliate program pays 15% lifetime
When you should register for A2P
When you should register for A2P
Transactional campaigns to opted-in customers include order confirmations, appointment reminders, two-factor codes, shipping updates. These get approved fastest, often within 24 hours.
- Register if you need short codes or if reaching all devices matters more than reply rate.
- A2P is built for messaging people who know you. Cold outreach gets treated as risk the system was designed to catch. Feel that in every review cycle.
TCPA applies to all channels
TCPA applies to all channels
Registration and legal exposure are separate. TCPA governs texting regardless of registration status. As of April 11, 2025, anyone can revoke consent with any reasonable stop message.
- No specific keyword required. Honor opt-outs within 10 days, not 30.
- 47 CFR 64.1200(a)(10) revoke-all replaced by FCC 26-67 (Sep 30, 2026). State rules (Florida, Oklahoma, Washington) stack on TCPA. Talk to counsel before any cold program.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need A2P 10DLC to send cold outbound B2B texts?
If those texts go out as SMS from a US 10-digit, yes. Carriers blocked unregistered 10DLC since Feb 1, 2025. Cold outbound is hardest to approve; reviewers require documented unbundled opt-in, reject purchased lists. iMessage bypasses this entirely.
What happens if I text without registering?
Blocked, not throttled. T-Mobile's Sev-0 penalties apply: $1k for snowshoeing/number-hopping, $2k for phishing, $10k for third content violation. Pass-through charges; your provider bills them.
Does iMessage require A2P 10DLC registration?
No. iMessage is an internet protocol, never touches carrier SMS, so The Campaign Registry has nothing to register: no brand, campaign, trust score, carrier surcharge, or daily ceiling. TCPA and opt-out obligations still apply. Registration layer goes away, not compliance.
How much does A2P 10DLC cost per month?
Recurring campaign fee: $10/mo standard, $2 sole proprietor, $1.50 low-volume, $3 charity, $5 emergency. Carrier surcharges: $0.003-$0.005 per SMS segment. At 50k segments/mo: $150-$250 carrier fees alone, before your provider's per-message rate.
Why do A2P campaigns get rejected?
Four fixable rejection causes: bad consent (pre-checks, bundled opt-in, no frequency), site problems (missing privacy/terms, login walls, dead URLs), ID mismatches (brand-EIN, personal email), weak use case (identical samples). Since June 30 2026: Twilio rejects without working privacy/terms.
Does my prospect need an iPhone to get a blue-bubble text?
For blue bubbles, recipients must be on iMessage. Blue Reacher falls back to RCS then SMS for Android, so messages still arrive but not blue. Most US B2B lists skew toward iPhone, which is why the channel converts better.
How long does A2P 10DLC approval take in 2026?
Brand registration takes one to three days; campaign review ranges 24 hours to two weeks depending on type, with AT&T adding up to four more weeks. Plan one to six weeks total for full carrier approval. Each rejection adds five to ten days.
What is a TCR trust score and why does it matter?
The Campaign Registry assigns brand scores 0-100; carriers use scores to set sending limits. Unvetted brands get 2,000/day on T-Mobile, 25-49 score gets 10,000, 50-74 gets 40,000, 75+ reaches 200,000. Standard vetting costs $41.50 and is required in practice.
How many texts can I send per day under A2P 10DLC?
Sending limits are brand-wide by trust score. T-Mobile caps unvetted brands at 2,000/day; a five-rep team at 400 first-touches each hits this before follow-ups. AT&T limits by transactions per minute (240-4,500 TPM by class). Raising caps requires vetting, which takes weeks.
What content can never get an A2P campaign approved?
SHAFT content (sex, hate, alcohol, firearms, tobacco), cannabis, prescription drugs, loans, gambling, crypto and MLM are permanent rejections. Public URL shorteners and plain HTTP links are also flagged as high risk.
Is A2P registration cheaper for sole proprietors?
Yes. Sole proprietor: $24.50 registration + $2/mo/campaign vs. $71.91 + $10/mo for high-volume standard (HighLevel, Aug 1 2025). Tradeoff: tightest sending limits, fits truly small operations.
When does registering for A2P make more sense than avoiding it?
Register for high-volume transactional to opted-in customers: order confirmations, appointment reminders, 2FA, shipping updates. Approves fast (often 24hrs); per-message fees trivial. Also register for short codes or when reaching every device/platform matters more than reply rate.
Do rejected A2P campaigns cost extra to resubmit?
Under HighLevel's bundled plan, resubmission has no extra fee, but each cycle burns 5-10 business days of send time. TCR rejects on first issue found, so fixed submissions can bounce for unstated problems. Real cost is calendar, not cash.
Skip the review queue, not the compliance
Your outbound is stuck behind a campaign review, and there's a version of it that never enters one. Book your Blue Funnel Map and we'll put your first blue-bubble conversation live this week, no A2P registration required.