I have texted off-market owners since 2020, back when a couple of softwares did it and there were no rules. There is no texting software that fits everyone. There is one that fits your situation. Six years in, I have paid for all of these. Here is which is which.
The short version
Smarter Contact
Switch markets freely, counties or states. Follow up with a lead as many times as you want. Good dialer, workflow automation, and they ship updates constantly instead of coasting. If you are spending Launch Control money anyway, spend it here.
Launch Control
The best delivery and response rates and the nicest UI in the space. Worth it only if you never expand markets and never re-run old lists, because both of those hit hard limits and extra fees here.
Lead Sherpa
Top-3 tracer in every skip tracing test I have run, multiple years in a row, with decent texting attached and free traces when you sign up. Two jobs, one platform.
BatchLeads
The texting stopped improving years ago, but if your data, tracing, and dialer already live here, one platform beats three logins. That convenience is the only reason left, and it is a real one.
REI Reply or XLeads
Cheap because you do the work. Budget days, not hours, for setup, and know that carrier blocking is the complaint I hear most from people running these.
BatchLeads
Batch invented this space and was my first texting platform. Then they moved their investment elsewhere, the texting stopped getting updates, and the market moved past them. Use it only if your data, tracing, or dialer already live in Batch, where one platform beats three logins. Otherwise skip it. How Batch's tracing held up against SkipMatrix is in my guru software test.
The GoHighLevel family: REI Reply, XLeads, GoHighLevel
These three are the same thing. XLeads and REI Reply are white-labeled GoHighLevel, something I confirmed firsthand in the guru software test. The facts:
- Considerably cheaper than everything below
- Not user friendly; setup is days, not hours
- Carrier blocking is the complaint I hear most from people running them
If money is tight and you genuinely like building software-shaped things, they give you the most freedom to tinker. The limitations are still there. You just find them yourself.
Lead Sherpa
The premium option when I started. Then TCPA compliance hit the industry and they shut texting down entirely for a while, running as a skip tracing company. The texting is recently back, priced below Smarter Contact and Launch Control, above the GHL family, with a Twilio setup you do yourself.
The real reason to pick it is not the texting. Their skip tracing has finished top-3 in my tests multiple years running, and signup includes free traces. Tracing and texting in one place, where the tracing is excellent and the texting is decent: this is that platform.
Launch Control
Six years of signing up, quitting, and signing back up. Love-hate.
- The love: great delivery rate, great response rate, the best UI in the space
- The hate: limits. Follow-ups are capped per list, and I still re-market lists from six years ago. New markets cost $400+ a month on plans that even allow them, for what amounts to new phone numbers.
There is a county where I run land marketing twice a year, every year. Cap my touches and you have capped my business. One market, light follow-up: solid choice. Expanding and following up like I do: a nightmare exactly when your business grows.
Smarter Contact
Everything Launch Control cannot do. Realistically, most people today choose between these two. The premium price buys the absence of walls:
- Any market, any state, numbers as you need them
- Unlimited follow-ups
- Good dialer, plus the workflow automation the GHL family sells as its identity
- They never stopped updating, the exact failure that sank Batch, running in reverse
Spending Launch Control money anyway? Spend it here. And if next year they stop being good, I will make that video too.
Pricing
| Tool | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Smarter Contact * | $199 / $399 / $499 per month billed quarterly, plus 2 to 3 cents per text; bundled-text tiers $799 to $1,799/mo; 7-day trial | Most wholesalers: any market, unlimited follow-ups |
| Launch Control | $497 / $797 / $1,497 / $2,297 per month for 12,500 to 90,000 messages; texts and numbers included | One market, no expansion plans, best-in-class response rate |
| Lead Sherpa | Pricing not published; sits below Smarter Contact and Launch Control, above the GHL family; bring your own Twilio | Skip tracing first, texting second, one platform |
| BatchLeads | Plans roughly $71 to $449/mo; skip tracing bundled on current plans | Already using Batch for data or dialing |
| REI Reply | $99/mo plus Twilio usage per message and phone number | Tight budget, willing to build it yourself |
| XLeads | $97 / $199 / $249 per month; annual billing drops those to $81 / $159 / $229 | Same tinkerer profile, wholesaling-flavored packaging |
| GoHighLevel | $97 Starter, $297 Unlimited, $497 Pro; 14-day trial | The base platform the other two are built on |
Pricing verified August 11, 2026. Pricing changes. Check the vendor's site before buying.
* Affiliate link.
This isn't for you if
- You want the cheapest possible way to text. That is the GoHighLevel family, and it charges you in setup time and carrier blocks instead of dollars.
- You work one market, never revisit old lists, and want the best response rate in the prettiest software. That is Launch Control, not Smarter Contact.
- You mostly need skip tracing and texting is a side dish. Lead Sherpa gives you a top-3 tracer with decent texting attached.
Bottom line
Six years of platforms and the one constant is that the winners keep updating. Pick for your situation, not for a brand. Where every one of these lands in my overall rankings is in the tier list. If Smarter Contact fits your situation, my link and code RAUPH get you $200 off any plan, new signups or upgrades.
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