Starting to lose track of your business text messages? It might be time to consider an SMS forwarding app. This is the easiest way to send messages to separate devices so you can get the full context of conversations without feeling glued to your desk.
The bad news is not all SMS forwarding apps make sense for business owners. The good news is we’ve done the heavy lifting for you.
This guide compares the eight best SMS forwarding apps so you can find an option that works for you. We list their prices, features, and limitations so you know what to expect before signing on the dotted line.
Comparing the best SMS forwarding apps
Before we dive into the best forwarding apps, take a look at how they compare side by side:
Provider | Starting price | Free calling to US & Canada | SMS/MMS to US & Canada | Shared phone numbers | Additional phone numbers | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OpenPhone | $15 per user per month | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | $5 per number per month | |
mysms | Starts with a free plan | X | Other mysms users only | X | X | |
SMS Auto Forwarder | Starts with a free plan | X | X | X | X | |
Forward SMS | $5.99 per month | X | ✓ | X | X | |
MightyText | Starts with a free plan | X | X | X | X | |
SMS Forwarder | $1.99 per month | X | X | X | X | |
Pushbullet | Starts with a free plan | X | Only supports Android phones | X | X | |
PhoneLeash | $14.95 per month (business use) | X | ✓ | X | X |
Let’s start with one of the highest-rated SMS forwarding apps according to G2:
1. OpenPhone: Best app for small businesses and growing teams
Pros
- SMS and MMS support
- Available on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and the web
- Shared phone numbers for sharing calls and text messages
- Texting automations like auto-replies, scheduled texts, and snippets
- Forward texts to other numbers, Slack, Gmail, and more
Cons
- No verification through two-factor authentication*
*Nearly all virtual phone numbers share this problem. For safety reasons, companies like Facebook, Uber, and Google rarely let you authenticate accounts through a virtual phone number.
OpenPhone is a VoIP provider for small and growing businesses. On every plan, you can forward SMS and MMS messages — including videos, photos, files, and GIFs — from anywhere with an internet connection. You can also forward texts from multiple devices, whether you own an Android, iPhone, PC, Mac, or tablet.
You can also use shared numbers as a superior alternative to SMS forwarding. With shared numbers, you can easily add multiple team members to the same number so everyone can send and receive texts as a team.
OpenPhone’s shared numbers let you easily split responsibility for phone calls and responding to customer texts. For example, you can effortlessly tag teammates in internal threads to get their attention. Plus, your team has access to all customer conversations in one unified inbox, which makes it easy to leave comments, ask questions, and get suggested next steps.
If you need to access text messages elsewhere, you can automatically forward text messages to Slack and email.
You can also tap into OpenPhone’s automations to save more time on repetitive tasks. For example:
- Create auto-replies so you can instantly respond to missed calls, texts, and voicemails.
- Send scheduled texts to go out at specific times from whatever device you’re using.
- Save snippets (pre-written text templates) to help you answer frequently asked questions, which can save hours for your team.
- Automatically log text messages and calls in your CRM using the OpenPhone HubSpot or Salesforce integrations.
Want to try out even more automations? You’re welcome to use OpenPhone’s Zapier integration. This lets you create Zaps that automatically send texts based on specific triggers so you don’t have to spend the time forwarding individual texts.
See some of OpenPhone’s best features in action by signing up for a seven-day free trial.
Key features of OpenPhone
- Call recording
- Compatible with local, toll-free, and vanity numbers
- Make free calls and texts to anyone in the US and Canada
- API available for custom text triggers
- 7,000+ third-party integrations with our Zapier integration
- Internal threads and mentions
- Ring groups
OpenPhone pricing
- Starter: $15 per user per month for free calls and texts in the US and Canada, shared phone numbers, snippets, scheduled texts, auto-replies, basic call forwarding, email integration to forward calls and texts, Slack and Zapier integrations, and more
- Business: $23 per user per month for CRM integrations (HubSpot and Salesforce), advanced call forwarding, automatic call recording, AI call summaries, phone menus, custom ring orders, analytics, and live chat support
- Enterprise: Custom price per user per month for priority support, a dedicated account manager, and audit logs
2. mysms: Best for forwarding texts to customers in different countries
Pros
- Available for multiple devices
- Call syncing for desktop, web, tablets, and a second smartphone (iOS and Android)
Cons
- Text forwarding on Android only
- Business texting features require an upgrade (including text scheduling)
- No fast customer support without paying for Premium
mysms is a messaging app that lets you send, receive, and forward texts on your computer, tablet, and smartphone. It’s also available in 180 countries, so you can send and receive SMS messages from anywhere.
The mysms free plan offers basic texting features, including sending notifications to your computer and your smartphone if you receive a text — but it doesn’t work on iOS phones.
This, unfortunately, is just the beginning of mysms’s limitations. For example, you also need to use an existing phone number for forwarding, which means you’ll need to pay another carrier if you want a business number.
You also have to worry about ‘premium’ features. While the base plan of mysms is 100% free, you need to pay $9.99 per user per year for basic features like:
- Scheduling text messages
- Sending texts from your computer without the descriptor ‘sent via mysms.com’
- Fast customer service in case anything goes wrong
- The ability to archive your texts in Dropbox, Evernote, and Google Drive for future reference
Need a forwarding app that’s compatible with iOS? You’ll need to search for a mysms alternative.
Key features of mysms
- Multi-device support
- Back up and restore messages (requires upgrade)
- Text archiving (for Evernote, Dropbox, and Google Drive) (requires upgrade)
- SMS inbox exporting (requires upgrade)
- Scheduled texts (requires upgrade)
mysms pricing
- Basic Plan: $0 per user per month for phone, tablet, and computer forwarding, plus basic messaging features (including SMS and MMS support)
- Premium: $9.99 per user per year for SMS backups, call notifications on computers and tablets, scheduled SMS, full message histories, and fast customer support
3. SMS Auto Forwarder: Best SMS forwarding app for forwarding texts to emails or URLs
Pros
- Free plan available
- Forward texts to any email address or URL
Cons
- Android app only
- No shared numbers for collaboration
- Can’t forward texts to another phone number
SMS Auto Forwarder can forward text messages to any URL or email address from your Android device. You can create rules for how you want to forward text messages, for example, only texts from a specific phone number.
But don’t let the name ‘auto forwarder’ confuse you: you can’t use this app to automatically forward text messages from SMS to SMS. Plus, MMS forwarding isn’t supported at all, which means there’s no way to push images, videos, or documents to other devices or numbers.
While you can get a free plan for SMS Auto Forwarder, you’re limited to forwarding just 50 messages per month without upgrading. Want to forward texts to multiple devices or contact support if things go wrong? You’ll need to upgrade your plan to the highest tier — a pricey $22 per user per month.
Key features of SMS Auto Forwarder
- Forward texts to Microsoft Teams
- Unlimited forwarding rules
- Forward texts to API endpoints
- Forward from multiple devices (requires upgrade)
- Priority support (requires upgrade)
SMS Auto Forwarder pricing
- Free Plan: $0 per user per month for up to 50 messages per month, unlimited forward rules, forward to email, and forward to SMS
- Lite Plan: $1.30 per user per month for all the features available in the free plan and up to 750 messages per month
- Pro Plan: $4.99 per user per month for all the features available in the free plan and up to 7,500 messages per month
- Super Plan: $12 per user per month for all the features available in the free plan and up to 65,000 messages per month
- Elite Plan: $22 per user per month for up to 150,000 messages per month, multiple devices, and priority support
4. Forward SMS: Best standalone app for iPhones and iPads
Pros
- Text forwarding for iPhones and iPads
- Easy one-minute setup process
Cons
- No advanced text features (snippets, auto-replies, etc.)
- No scheduling for forwarded texts
- No storage of SMS messages
Forward SMS helps you do exactly what you’d think: forward texts from your iPhone and iPad to Microsoft Teams, Discord, email, or Slack. It’s simple, fast, and easy to set up, especially compared to other forwarding alternatives. It also lets you forward unlimited messages, so you don’t need to worry about exhausting a limit.
Just keep in mind that you get what you pay for — and while Forward SMS is cheap, it isn’t robust. It doesn’t store any of your messages in the cloud or let you create snippets (pre-saved messages) or auto-replies. You can’t even schedule a time to forward texts so nothing falls through the cracks.
On the hunt for a more robust forwarding app? You’re better off looking for a full VoIP system.
Key features of Forward SMS
- Forward phone notifications in real time
- Unlimited message forwarding
- Dark mode support
- Bulk SMS forwarding
- Set basic rules and conditions
Forward SMS pricing
Forward SMS doesn’t publicly disclose its pricing. However, we received the following information after contacting support:
“Our default pricing is $5.99 per month charged yearly at $71.99. We offer a seven-day trial so you can try it out before committing.”
5. MightyText: Best for personal use on Androids
Pros
- Works with any existing Android number
- Call notifications and phone battery alerts
Cons
- Requires an Android device
- 15 text limit without upgrading
- Advanced features like scheduled texts require an upgrade
MightyText is a texting app that lets you forward texts using your Android phone number. You can instantly and securely forward videos and photos from your phone, desktop, laptop, or tablet.
With MightyText, you can tap into a few advanced features, such as scheduled texts and battery alerts. Unfortunately, you have to be willing to upgrade for the best possible features, including an ad-free experience.
Other drawbacks include:
- Upgrading to access snippets
- No way to place signatures on your texts without purchasing a plan
- Free users have a limit of 15 texts per month, plus the cost of your mobile provider
Since free texting in the US and Canada is common for SMS forwarding apps and VoIP providers, most growing businesses should consider a MightyText alternative instead.
Key features of MightyText
- Text from Gmail
- Photo and video syncing
- Call notifications on computers
- 15 text messages per month (unlimited requires upgrade)
- Text from any device
MightyText pricing
- Free: $0 per month for 15 text messages per month for PowerView (managing multiple text messages simultaneously), call notifications, and phone battery alerts
- Pro: $7.49 per month paid annually (or $11.99 per month paid monthly) for unlimited messages, message templates, add-free experiences, and email synchronization
6. SMS Forwarder: Best forwarding app for synchronizing between multiple devices
Pros
- Supports Dual SIM setting
- Supports forwarding from phone numbers, emails, Telegram, URLs, and more
Cons
- Several bugs and glitches
- Requires an existing personal phone number
- No data encryption
Not to be confused with SMS Auto Forwarder, SMS Forwarder was designed to sync multiple devices and create a unified view of your texts. This legacy app was released in 2012 and has been downloaded more than a million times.
With SMS Forwarder, you can forward messages from any phone number, email, Telegram, URL, or Push Service ID. It also supports a Dual SIM setting, which makes it easier to keep personal and business calls separate.
Unfortunately, you can’t receive messages from a device that doesn’t have SMS Forwarder installed. This means there’s no way to quickly forward messages from devices that aren’t compatible with the app.
Another limitation? No data encryption — which is bad news for businesses dealing with sensitive information.
But the biggest limitation of SMS Forwarder is the myriad of bugs and glitches. It might be frustrating to go through the entire setup process only to realize your messages aren’t going through.
Take a look at these user reviews:
- “New update removed all my settings and filters and didn’t notify me at all. So it just stopped working.”
- “The minute I set up SMS forwarding, it started sending nonstop test messages to the forwarded number, and it used up so much balance! The only way I could stop it was to uninstall the app. Terrible.”
Key features of SMS Forwarder
- Push Service ID
- Supports Dual SIM setting
- Sync multiple devices
- Message body conditions
- Compatible with PC, phone, and tablet
SMS Forwarder pricing
SMS Forwarder’s prices depend on where you live. You can expect a range of $1.99 to $29.99 per item, although there’s a one-week free trial, so you can test the app before buying.
7. Pushbullet: Best for WhatsApp forwarding
Pros
- SMS, Kik, and WhatsApp support
- Supports multiple devices and channels
Cons
- Can only send text messages through Android phones
- Android-only support
- Unlimited messages requires an upgrade
Pushbullet is an app that lets you send, receive, and forward texts on Firefox, Chrome, Android, and Windows PCs. You can also forward more than just SMS messages: the app offers support for WhatsApp and Kik.
One of Pushbullet’s biggest differentiators is its API, which lets developers build on the Pushbullet infrastructure. The app also offers end-to-end encryption, so you can rest easy knowing your information is safe.
This, unfortunately, is where Pushbullet’s features end. You’ll also notice several frustrating limitations if you look closer at its support docs.
For example:
- If you want to have more than 2 GB of storage space, you need to upgrade to the Pro plan (starting at $39.99 per year)
- You can only send messages up to 25 MB, or you’ll have to pay extra to send files up to 1 GB
- You can only send 100 messages a month unless you upgrade
Considering these are basic features most businesses get in a VoIP platform, it might make more sense to purchase an all-in-one phone system instead of a freemium app.
Key features of Pushbullet
- API access
- Optional end-to-end encryption
- Forwarded link and file support
- 2 GB storage (100 GB requires upgrade)
- Support for native SMS, WhatsApp, Kik, and more
Pushbullet pricing
- Pushbullet Pro: $3.33 paid yearly (or $4.99 paid monthly) for universal copy/paste, unlimited forwarded text messages, mirrored notification action support, and 100 GB of storage space
8. PhoneLeash: Best SMS forwarding app for email
Pros
- 30-day free trial
- Install directly (Google Play Store not required)
Cons
- Android support only
- Expensive business licenses
- No way to forward to multiple destinations simultaneously
PhoneLeash was designed to let you automatically forward texts and WhatsApp messages to other phone numbers and email addresses. You can choose which messages to forward based on keywords and even forward group chats if you need to keep context in one place.
Unlike some SMS forwarding apps, PhoneLeash offers a 30-day all-access free trial. After that, if you’re a business, be prepared to pay $19.95 per month for a max of five PhoneLeash installations.
Another limitation: PhoneLeash is for Android devices only. You can’t install this app on iPhones or other Apple devices.
And keep in mind you can’t forward texts to multiple destinations simultaneously, which makes it much harder to keep your whole team in the loop.
Key features of PhoneLeash
- Reply to texts from email
- Forward OTPs and MFA codes
- Remove signature blocks in replies
- Personal and business tiers offered
- SMS, MMS, and WhatsApp forwarding
PhoneLeash pricing
PhoneLeash has two different pricing plans:
- Individual/personal-use pricing: $6.95 per month paid monthly or $4.95 per month when paid in six-month increments ($29.70) for using its features for your own personal use and not your business
- Commercial business-use pricing: $19.95 per month paid monthly or $14.95 per month paid in six-month increments ($89.70) for using its features to operate your business, for example, customer support and team monitoring
How we chose the best apps for SMS forwarding
We chose the best SMS forwarding apps based on six factors:
- Cost: Does the price you pay match the value you get? Keep in mind your budget.
- Functionality: How much can you do with the app besides forwarding text messages? You might need to send auto-replies and scheduled texts to customers.
- Ease of use: Is the step-by-step forwarding workflow easy and intuitive? You might end up spending a lot of time getting up and running.
- Availability on multiple platforms: Is the forwarding app available on iOS and Android? Your team members may use different devices to have customer conversations.
- Reliability: Do you know for sure your messages are getting forwarded? It’s important to make sure no customer falls through the cracks.
- Support: How quickly can you contact support if you run into snafus?
Text your customers smarter with OpenPhone
SMS forwarding apps are a good option to keep your text conversations in sync across multiple devices. But if you’re looking to collaborate with a team to build strong customer relationships, these apps fall short.
VoIP apps, on the other hand, can help you with all your business communications, not just the ones you have over text. You can easily set up forwarding rules, manage incoming SMS, and build better relationships with your customers.
With OpenPhone, you can easily forward incoming texts to the tools and devices you’re already using. You can push them to Slack channels, notify team email inboxes, or tap into our API to send texts based on certain triggers.
You could also use shared phone numbers as a simpler alternative to SMS forwarding. Everyone who’s a member of the number can see the same texts in a single shared inbox, then read the entire conversation history so they’ve got complete context and never do the same work twice.
Try OpenPhone free with a seven-day trial.
FAQs
SMS forwarding apps redirect texts from one phone number to another or to platforms like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and email.
You will need to download the app and follow its step-by-step instructions. This will include customization options like specifying which phone numbers to forward texts from and choosing the destination number or platform for these messages.
You can ensure that customer texts reach the correct rep without any incorrect information, like the wrong date or time of an appointment, which can happen when you manually write a new message. If you go on vacation and don’t want any customers to fall through the cracks while you’re gone, forwarding their texts will ensure they can still get in touch with your business.
That mostly depends on your SMS provider. With OpenPhone, your texts are encrypted in transit. Your data at rest is also protected by our AES-bit 256 encryption.
Many SMS forwarding apps don’t offer backups for texts, so you’re required to download each one for safekeeping. If you use OpenPhone, though, your texts get stored indefinitely unless you cancel your account — and even then, you have up to 14 days to recover your messages.
You can forward texts to email with OpenPhone’s Slack and email integrations. That way, everyone on your team can get context on their preferred channels and prioritize daily tasks based on the messages received.
OpenPhone is the best SMS auto-forwarding app for growing teams and businesses. You can send incoming text messages to as many numbers as you need, including local, toll-free, and vanity phone numbers.
Some SMS forwarding apps require you to link multiple phones by downloading the app on each device. Others like OpenPhone make it much simpler: you can manage text forwarding from a single web, mobile, or desktop app.
Yes, you can forward text messages from iOS devices to Android devices, but only with third-party apps. With OpenPhone, you can send and receive text messages on the devices you already own, including your tablet, laptop, desktop, and Android/iOS phone(s).
Simply create an account with OpenPhone and then follow these five steps:
1. Go to the desktop, web, or mobile app.
2. Select the chat bubble.
3. Enter the phone number in the To field.
4. Type your message.
5. Hit Send.
That’s it!