The fees, and who charges them
The Campaign Registry charges a one-time brand registration fee ($4.50 for a business with an EIN, $4 for a sole proprietor at the time of checking) and a monthly fee per campaign that depends on the campaign type: $10 for standard use cases such as marketing, mixed and customer care, $1.50 for the low-volume mixed type and $2 for sole proprietor. Carriers charge a $15 review fee each time a campaign is submitted, including resubmissions after a rejection, which is one reason to get the submission right the first time.
Brand vetting is optional for Standard brands but in practice necessary: the vetting score sets your daily throughput, and an unvetted brand gets the lowest tier. Standard vetting through TCR's partner is $41.50. Low-volume Standard brands skip vetting in exchange for a daily cap, and sole proprietors cannot be vetted.
On top of that, every outbound segment carries a carrier pass-through surcharge: $0.0035 on AT&T, $0.0045 on T-Mobile and $0.005 on Verizon and US Cellular at the time of checking. Your provider adds its own per-segment price and usually a monthly fee per number. Some providers also add a markup to the registry fees. All of this is in 10DLC fees and pricing explained, with the date the figures were last verified.
Choosing the brand type
| Brand type | Who it is for | One-time | Campaign fee | Throughput |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sole Proprietor | Individuals without an EIN | $4 + $15 review | $2 per month | About 1,000 segments a day, one number, one campaign |
| Low-volume Standard | Businesses under about 2,000 segments a day | $4.50 + $15 review | $1.50 per month (low-volume mixed) | Capped, no vetting needed |
| Standard | Businesses that need full throughput | $4.50 + $41.50 vetting + $15 review | $10 per month per campaign | Set by the vetting score, up to tens of thousands a day |
Most small businesses sending reminders and the occasional promotion fit Low-volume Standard. Agencies, franchises and anyone sending thousands of messages a day need Standard with vetting. Sole Proprietor is only for people without an EIN and comes with tight limits.
Where the money actually goes
Registration fees get the attention, but at any real volume messaging dominates. In the worked example above, registration is $61 once and the campaign fee is $10 a month, while segments cost $75.60 a month. Double the volume and the registration share halves. The two levers that matter are the segment count per message and the provider price per segment. Trimming a template from two segments to one cuts the messaging bill in half; the segment calculator shows exactly where a message tips over.
The carrier surcharge is the same for every provider because it is passed through from the carriers. The default is a blended figure weighted toward the three national carriers; if most of your recipients are on one network, use that carrier's rate from the table in the fees guide.
What the estimate leaves out
- Inbound message fees. Some carriers now charge for replies, and providers often charge for inbound segments.
- MMS, which has its own carrier fees (roughly double the SMS rate) and provider pricing.
- Provider markups on registry fees, platform subscriptions and per-seat fees.
- Resubmission fees. Each rejected campaign costs another $15 review fee, so a clean first submission saves money as well as time.
- Taxes and regulatory fees added to telecom invoices.
Treat the result as a planning figure for comparing brand types, volumes and providers, not as a quote. Every default is editable, and the "Fees last checked" date under the result tells you when the figures were verified.
Avoiding the fees you do not need
Register one campaign for a mixed use case rather than one per message type if your messages are all for the same business and audience; each extra campaign is another review fee and another monthly fee. Get the website and consent flow right before submitting, so you pay the review fee once; the website compliance checker covers what reviewers look at. And if you are below the low-volume cap, do not pay for vetting you cannot use.