The GroupMe SMS alternative
Group chat that works on every phone.
Even flip phones. No apps, no internet — your group gets one number, and whatever you text to it reaches everyone.
Try it freeCancel anytime.
Coming from GroupMe?
GroupMe's SMS mode — the part that let people take part by plain text, with no app and no smartphone — is going away. Klal Chat does that one job, and does it properly.
What you keep
- One number for the group. Anyone texts it, everyone gets it.
- No app, no account, no internet, no smartphone.
- Works on flip phones and filtered phones.
- Every message shows who sent it, and anyone can reply.
What changed
- Carriers charge for every text and require registered numbers now — free group texting isn't coming back.
- So one admin pays a flat monthly price for the group. Members pay us nothing.
- No per-member fees and no overage bills. Run out of credits and the chat simply pauses until you top up.
Your group gets a number
Create a chat and we give it a dedicated phone number. Members save it once, like any contact.
Anyone texts it
A member texts the number, and everyone else receives it as a normal SMS: "Moshe: Mincha at 7:15".
You manage it from the web
The admin adds or removes members, watches the credit meter, and handles billing on a simple website. Members never need it.
Which plan do we need?
Tell us the two things you already know. 1 credit = 1 text to 1 person.
You want the 2,500-credit plan — $30/month.15 people × a few posts a day ≈ 1,800 credits a month.
Every plan includes one dedicated text number for the group. Running low? Top up any plan: +1,000 credits for $12 — they roll over and never expire. Groups over 120 people: contact us.
Questions people ask
How do credits work?
Every text we deliver costs one credit. When someone posts to a 20-person chat, 19 people receive it — that post uses 20 credits (one per member, counting the sender). Your plan refills every month, and you can top up any time: $12 for 1,000 extra credits. Top-up credits never expire.
What about long messages, or Hebrew?
A normal text (up to ~160 English characters) is one message segment. Longer posts, or posts with Hebrew or Yiddish letters (which use a different SMS encoding, ~70 characters), can count as two segments — costing two credits per member. Posts are capped at two segments; anything longer is politely rejected.
What happens when we run out?
The chat pauses until your plan refills — anyone who texts gets a polite note saying when. The admin can add a $12 top-up in one click, or turn on auto-recharge with a monthly maximum. There are never overage charges: nothing is billed unless you bought it, and admins keep a small emergency reserve for urgent announcements.
How does joining work? Is it opt-in?
Always. When an admin adds someone, they get one invitation text and join only if they reply YES. Alternatively, anyone can text JOIN + your group's code to the group number to join themselves. Anyone can leave at any time by texting #exit, or STOP to block all messages.
What do STOP and HELP do?
Texting STOP to any of our numbers immediately stops all messages from that number — a carrier-level standard we honor strictly. Texting HELP returns our contact information. Texting #help inside a chat lists the member commands.
Do members pay anything?
Not to us. The chat's admin pays one flat monthly price. Members' regular message & data rates from their own phone plan may apply, like any SMS.
Groups bigger than 120 people? Contact us.