Grapevine
You send one text. Everyone in your class, team or crew gets it on their phone, with no app and no account. When they reply, the answer comes back to you, not to everybody.
Try Grapevine Set up a group in a couple of minutes at grapevine.chat.
Who it's for
Anyone who has to tell a group of people something, often, at the last minute, and is tired of the reply-all storm.
The drum or dance teacher
Fifteen students, one text, and nobody finds out at a locked door. Replies come back to you, not to the whole class. I run my own Wednesday drum class on it.
The youth coach
Parents don't download an app or make an account. They get a text from the team's number, and their own numbers stay private from the other families.
The dance organizer
A weekly reminder reaches the regulars who never open the newsletter. Anyone can reply to ask a question, and only the organizers see it.
The volunteer coordinator
Change of plans in seconds, to people who said yes to hearing from you. Everyone who replies lands in one inbox, so you can count heads.
The small crew
No group chat where one reply-all buzzes twelve phones. The boss broadcasts, the crew answers the boss.
Why it works
It's just a text message
Works on every phone, including the flip phone your oldest student swears by. Nothing to install, nothing to forget a password to.
You stay in charge of the conversation
In announcement mode, you broadcast and members reply only to you. Turn it off and the group can talk to each other.
People choose to join
You add a phone number; the person replies YES to join and STOP to leave. Nobody gets texts they didn't agree to.
Phone numbers stay private
Messages come from the group's number, so members never see each other's numbers.
Send from anywhere
Write from the website, or just text the group's number from your own phone.
A record of what you said
Every message is saved with its delivery status, so "I never got that" has an answer.
What it costs
Starter $5.99/month
One group, up to 25 people, 300 texts a month. A single class or team.
Basic $29/month
Three groups, up to 50 people each, 1,000 texts a month, your own number. Extra texts 3¢ each.
Premium $79/month
Ten groups, up to 100 people each, 3,000 texts a month, your own number. Extra texts 2¢ each.
Grapevine is built and run by Zelephony, my company. Texts go through Twilio on a registered business texting campaign.