If your business sends text messages to US customers from a regular 10-digit phone number, you have to register that traffic under A2P 10DLC before carriers will deliver it. Registration happens in two parts: you register your brand (who is sending) and then your campaign (what you send, how people opt in and how they opt out). Both records live in The Campaign Registry (TCR), and you reach TCR through your messaging provider, not directly.
The fees are small, usually under $70 to get started and $1.50 to $10 a month per campaign on Twilio. The real costs are time and rejections. Campaign vetting on Twilio takes up to five business days for standard use cases, and a sloppy opt-in description or missing privacy policy can send you back to the start. Unregistered traffic is not filtered or throttled anymore: it is blocked outright.
This guide walks through how approval works in 2026, what it costs, how throughput and trust scores are set, why campaigns get rejected and when a toll-free number or short code is the better choice. All fees and limits below were checked against Twilio’s documentation as of October 2026.
A2P stands for application-to-person: messages sent by software rather than typed by a person on a phone. 10DLC means 10-digit long code, the standard local phone number format in the US. Put together, A2P 10DLC is the carrier framework for business texting over local numbers.
Twilio’s A2P 10DLC documentation is blunt about scope: any application that sends SMS or MMS from a 10DLC number to US recipients must register, including individuals and hobbyists. That includes reminders, passcodes, promotions and two-way support threads. Toll-free numbers and short codes sit outside 10DLC and have their own approval processes, covered later in this guide.
There are three ways to register on Twilio, depending on who you are:
Direct brand: a business sending its own messages. You need a business tax ID such as a US EIN, not a Social Security number.
ISV: a software company that embeds Twilio in its product and registers brands and campaigns on behalf of its customers, typically through Twilio’s ISV API.
Sole proprietor: individuals, students, hobbyists and very small operators without a tax ID, with tight volume limits.
How Brand And Campaign Registration Works
The Campaign Registry is the central database behind 10DLC. It verifies brands and Campaign Service Providers (CSPs) before they can send on the 10DLC channel, and it keeps a record tying every campaign to a known sender and a declared message type. Brands cannot register with TCR on their own. A CSP, such as Twilio, submits the records for them.
On Twilio, the flow looks like this:
Create a business profile in Trust Hub with your legal name, EIN, address, website and an authorized contact. These details must match IRS records exactly.
Register the brand. Twilio submits it to TCR. Standard brands also go through secondary vetting, which produces the trust score that sets your throughput.
Register a campaign under the brand. You pick a use case, describe the messages, explain every opt-in method, give sample messages and set opt-out and help replies.
Wait for manual vetting. Every campaign is reviewed by a person before approval.
Attach numbers to the approved campaign through a Messaging Service, then start sending.
Choosing A Campaign Use Case
Use cases fall into three groups. Standard use cases cover the bulk of business traffic, such as marketing, customer care, account notifications, delivery notifications, two-factor authentication and mixed traffic. Low-Volume Mixed is for senders under 2,000 segments a day on T-Mobile who want a lower monthly fee in exchange for lower throughput. Special use cases include charities, emergency services, K-12 education, political messaging, proxy (masked) numbers and agent or franchise networks, each with its own rules. Pick the narrowest use case that honestly fits your traffic.
Sole Proprietor, Low-Volume Standard And Standard Brands
Twilio offers three brand types. The choice drives your fees, how many campaigns you can run and how much you can send.
Brand Type
Who It Fits
Campaigns
Daily Volume (T-Mobile)
Tax ID
Sole Proprietor
Individuals, hobbyists, very small operators
1 campaign, 1 number
1,000 segments (about 3,000 across US carriers)
Not required
Low-Volume Standard
Businesses sending small volumes
Up to 5 (more with a business reason)
2,000 segments (about 6,000 across US carriers)
Required
Standard
Most businesses and ISV customers
Up to 5 (more with a business reason)
2,000 up to unlimited, based on trust score
Required
Low-Volume Standard skips secondary vetting, which saves money but leaves the brand with a trust score of zero and the lowest throughput tier. If you expect to grow, register as Standard from the start. Each tax ID can register up to five Standard or Low-Volume Standard brands; extra brands can register, but their campaigns may be rejected unless you justify them.
A2P 10DLC Fees In 2026
Twilio passes through TCR and vetting fees, plus monthly campaign fees and per-message carrier fees. Several of these rose on August 1, 2025. The current numbers, from Twilio’s A2P 10DLC fees article as of October 2026:
Fee
Amount
When It Applies
Brand registration
$4.50 one-time
Every brand type
Secondary vetting
$41.50 one-time
Standard brands only (so a Standard brand totals $46)
Vetting appeal
$11 per request
After a Standard brand vetting result you dispute
Authentication Plus
$12.50 per retry
Public, for-profit brands
Campaign vetting
$15 one-time, non-refundable
Every campaign submitted
Monthly campaign fee
$2 (sole proprietor), $1.50 (low-volume mixed), $10 (most standard use cases)
Each active campaign
Special use case monthly fee
$3 (charity/501(c)(3)), $5 (emergency services)
Each active special campaign
Political vetting
$66 to $96 per year
Political campaigns
Carrier Fees On Every Message
On top of Twilio’s US SMS rate ($0.0083 per segment outbound as of October 2026), carriers charge a pass-through fee per message. Twilio’s US SMS pricing page lists long code carrier fees of $0.0035 per outbound SMS for AT&T, $0.0045 for T-Mobile, $0.005 for Verizon and US Cellular, and $0.0042 for other carriers. MMS carrier fees are higher, from $0.007 to $0.01 per message. T-Mobile and some others also charge on inbound messages. In practice, carrier fees can add 40 to 60 percent to the base per-segment price, so model them in any budget.
A Worked Example
A dental group registers one Standard brand ($46) and one appointment reminder campaign ($15 vetting, $10 a month). Year one registration and campaign fees come to $46 + $15 + $120 = $181, before a single message. If it sends 10,000 single-segment reminders a month, base messaging is about $83 plus roughly $40 to $50 in carrier fees, depending on its patients’ carrier mix.
Throughput, Trust Scores And Daily Caps
Throughput is how fast you can send, measured in message segments per second (MPS). For Standard brands it depends on the trust score assigned during secondary vetting. TCR runs a reputation algorithm on company details and the vetting partner returns a score from 0 to 100. According to Twilio’s throughput and trust score article, the tiers for standard campaigns are:
Trust Score
Total SMS MPS (Major US Networks)
Per Carrier SMS MPS
75 to 100
225
75 each on AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon
50 to 74
120
40 each
1 to 49
12
4 each
0 (Low-Volume Standard)
12
4 each
Low-Volume Mixed (any score)
3.75
1.25 each
Sole Proprietor
2.25
Fixed, plus 1,000 per day on T-Mobile
Trust scores are static: they do not rise as your sending history improves. If your score is low because your address does not match your EIN record, fix the data and request a re-vet (the $11 appeal) rather than waiting. Also, Twilio applies an account-level rate limit across all campaigns. Three campaigns approved at 75 MPS each do not give you 225 MPS if your account cap is lower; extra messages queue. T-Mobile also enforces daily caps separate from MPS, which is why a Standard brand with a low score can hit a ceiling well before the end of a busy day.
Common Rejection Reasons And How To Fix Them
Campaign rejections come with error codes, and the same handful show up again and again. Twilio’s rejection guide groups them into issues you can fix and resubmit, and content that is simply not allowed. The fixable ones:
Weak opt-in description. Reviewers need to see every way a person agrees to receive texts. Link the web form, or host an image of a paper or login-gated form. The SMS checkbox must be unchecked by default, separate from your terms and must not block use of your service.
Missing consent disclosures. Next to the checkbox, state the message type, expected frequency, that message and data rates may apply, and how to reply STOP.
Marketing bundled with transactional consent. If you send promotions, collect a separate promotional opt-in, or state clearly that you only send transactional messages.
Privacy policy problems. Your policy must be public, linked in the message flow and state that mobile information will not be shared with third parties for marketing.
Website problems. A site that is down, behind a login, under construction or just a lead form with no company information will fail. Add company details, contact information and a mention of the SMS program.
Poor sample messages. Samples should look like real messages, include your brand name, show variables in brackets and avoid public URL shorteners such as bit.ly.
Opt-out and help gaps. Define STOP and HELP keywords and replies. The help reply needs your brand name and a phone number or email.
Identity mismatches. Personal email domains, a contact who is not an authorized representative, or a DBA that does not match registration all trigger rejections.
Some content can never be approved on 10DLC: cannabis, prescription drugs, payday loans, third-party debt collection, gambling, sweepstakes, crypto, credit repair, multi-level marketing and SHAFT content (sex, hate, alcohol, firearms, tobacco and vape). Resubmitting will not help.
One money tip: editing and resubmitting a rejected campaign does not trigger another $15 vetting fee, but deleting and recreating it does. Fix rejected campaigns in place.
How Long Approval Takes
Plan on one to two weeks end to end for a clean submission, and longer if you get a rejection:
Business profile and brand: brand registration with TCR is usually quick once your Trust Hub profile is approved. Secondary vetting for Standard brands adds time, and mismatched data is the main source of delay.
Campaign vetting: Twilio states it currently takes up to five business days for standard use cases. If a campaign is still in progress after ten days, contact support.
Rejection loop: each fix and resubmission restarts the review clock, so one rejection can double your timeline.
Do not plan to send while you wait. Since September 1, 2023, Twilio has fully blocked messages from US 10DLC numbers that are not tied to an approved campaign, and campaigns still marked “In Progress” are included in that block. Blocked messages fail with error 30034 and are still charged Twilio’s messaging rate. If a launch date is fixed, start registration at least three weeks ahead.
10DLC vs Toll-Free vs Short Code
Factor
10DLC
Toll-Free
Short Code
Approval process
TCR brand and campaign registration
Toll-free verification
Short code application with carrier review
Typical approval time
Up to 5 business days for campaign vetting
About 3 to 5 business days
About 4 to 8 weeks of carrier review after payment
Default throughput
Up to 225 MPS based on trust score
3 MPS by default, higher available
100 MPS by default
Number cost (Twilio, Oct 2026)
$1.15 per month for a local number
$2.15 per month
$1,000 per month random, $1,500 vanity, billed quarterly
Local presence
Yes, local area code
No
No, 5 or 6 digits
Voice calls on same number
Yes
Yes
No
Best for
Most business texting, two-way conversations, local brands
National brands, support lines, faster setup without TCR
High-volume marketing and time-critical alerts
Toll-free verification is a sensible alternative when you do not want to manage TCR registration, or when your traffic is national rather than local. Unverified toll-free traffic has been blocked since January 31, 2024, so verification is not optional. Short codes only make sense at large volumes.
Outside help pays off when you are an ISV registering hundreds of client brands, when you have been rejected more than once, or when messaging is wired into a larger build such as a contact center or CRM integration. Our guide on how to choose a Twilio partner covers what to ask, and our list of top Twilio API integration agencies is a good shortlist.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Register Directly With The Campaign Registry?
No. Brands cannot register with TCR themselves. A Campaign Service Provider such as Twilio submits your brand and campaign records on your behalf, which is why you register inside your messaging provider’s console.
How Much Does A2P 10DLC Registration Cost On Twilio?
As of October 2026, a Standard brand costs $46 one-time ($4.50 registration plus $41.50 secondary vetting), each campaign costs $15 to vet and most standard campaigns cost $10 a month. Per-message carrier fees apply on top of Twilio’s messaging rates.
Can I Send Texts While My Campaign Is Pending?
No. Messages from 10DLC numbers not linked to an approved campaign are blocked with error 30034, and campaigns still in progress count as unapproved. Blocked messages are still billed at Twilio’s messaging rate.
Will My Trust Score Improve Over Time?
Not on its own. Twilio states trust scores are static. If yours is low because of a data mismatch, correct your business details and request a vetting appeal, which costs $11 per request.
Do I Need 10DLC Registration For Texts To Canada?
A2P 10DLC is a US framework. Twilio’s unregistered traffic block covers messages to the US and its territories, not Canada-bound traffic. Toll-free verification, by contrast, applies to both US and Canadian traffic.
Conclusion
A2P 10DLC registration is cheap and, done carefully, fast. Register a Standard brand with data that matches your IRS records exactly, choose the narrowest honest use case, document every opt-in path and publish a compliant privacy policy before you submit. Start at least three weeks before any launch, fix rejections in place and pick toll-free or a short code when your volume or use case calls for it.
