Connext

4 min read

GroupMe is ending free SMS — here's the next best option

  • messaging
  • sms
Photo: Vanessa Loring / Pexels

GroupMe worked for years because it did one thing well: a free group chat that reached everyone. People who had the app got messages in the app. People who didn't — a parent with a flip phone, a coach who never installed it, the one holdout in every group — still got the same messages as a plain text. Nobody had to be talked into anything.

That's the part that just broke. With SMS gone, GroupMe only reaches people who install the app and stay logged in. Everyone else silently drops out of the conversation. For a team, a class, a congregation, or a small business, that's not a minor feature change — it's the whole reason you picked it.

If you need a replacement that keeps the free-messaging feel and reaches the people who won't install anything, here's how to think about it.

What you actually lost

It helps to name the two things GroupMe was quietly doing for you:

  • Free messaging for people on the app. In-app messages cost nothing to send.
  • SMS for everyone else, so the group never fragmented into "app people" and "left-out people."

Any real replacement has to do both. An app-only tool gives you the first and quietly abandons the second — which is exactly the gap you're trying to close.

Keep free in-app messaging, pay only for the texts

Connext works the same way GroupMe used to, on purpose. Anyone who installs the Connext app sends and receives messages in the group for free — those don't cost you anything. You're only billed when a message actually goes out as an SMS to someone who isn't on the app.

So the math is simple: the more of your group that's on the app, the less you pay, and nobody gets left out either way. You're never paying for the mobile-app messages — only for the SMS that reach the people a text is the only way to reach.

The lowest rates, and no monthly fee

There's no subscription, no per-seat charge, and no plan to pick. You pay as you go, in real US dollars:

  • 1.5¢ per SMS segment pay-as-you-go.
  • 1¢ per segment once you're sending at volume — the lower rate kicks in automatically, with nothing to upgrade or negotiate.

No "credits," no bundles to decode, no monthly bill for a service you didn't use that month. If you have a light month, you pay for a light month. You can work out your own number on the pricing calculator.

Setup takes minutes, not a migration

Getting started is closer to signing up for GroupMe than standing up a phone system:

  1. Get your number. A dedicated number comes with the account, and we handle the carrier setup for you — you don't provision anything.
  2. Bring your people over. Import a CSV or add contacts by hand, sorted into whatever groups you already use.
  3. Send. Message the group from the app, the web composer, or even by texting a command from your own phone — no smartphone required to run it.

Control the group: announcement mode or open chat

You won't lose GroupMe's admin controls by switching — you'll gain more of them. Connext lets you decide how each group behaves:

  • Admin mode — only admins post, everyone else just receives. Perfect for closures, schedules, and announcements where you don't want 40 "thanks!" replies burying the message.
  • Group chat mode — open two-way conversation when you actually want the back-and-forth.

You can also scope people with roles and permissions so some users can send, some can only reply, and some are limited to a single group. It's the control GroupMe never gave the person actually running the group.

The bonus features GroupMe never had

Because Connext is built for organizations, not just casual chats, you also get:

  • One shared inbox — texts, replies, voicemail, and email in one two-way thread, so any authorized teammate can pick up a conversation and nothing lives on a personal phone.
  • Voice that reaches landlines — an undeliverable text can automatically become a phone call that reads your message aloud, so even non-texters hear it.
  • Polls and surveys — RSVPs, headcounts, and votes by text, with results you can export.
  • Automation rules — auto-replies, scheduled and recurring sends, and routing based on what a message says.
  • Personalization, link tracking, MMS, and a full REST API when you're ready for them.
  • Automatic STOP handling and opt-out compliance, built in.

Making the switch

  • Export your GroupMe contacts and import them into Connext.
  • Have your regulars install the Connext app so their messages stay free.
  • Set each group to admin mode or open chat, depending on how it's used.
  • Send your first message and let the people who aren't on the app get it as a text — the way it always should have worked.

GroupMe removed the one thing that made it reach everyone. Connext puts it back — free in-app messaging, SMS for the rest, pay-as-you-go with no monthly fee, and the group controls you never had. See how it works.