How much does 10DLC registration cost? Every fee explained, and how Sharrk makes registration simple
By Sharrk Team · October 15, 2026
With Sharrk, 10DLC registration costs a one-time $5 brand registration fee and a one-time $20 campaign vetting fee, plus the carriers' small monthly campaign fee, and Mako, Sharrk's AI assistant, walks you through every step. If you register on your own through a texting provider instead of with Sharrk, Twilio's published rates come to about $20 to $61 one-time (brand registration, optional brand vetting and campaign vetting) plus a monthly campaign fee of $1.50 to $10, and carriers add a fraction of a cent per text.
This post covers how Sharrk handles registration, then breaks down each fee, what you need to register, how long approval takes and why campaigns get rejected. It is general information, not legal advice.
How Sharrk handles texting registration
Sharrk's AI text agents, Strikes and Hunts text from your Sharrk business number, and Sharrk makes registration part of getting set up:
- Guided A2P 10DLC registration. Mako walks you through the consent attestation and the texting registration step by step.
- Simple carrier fees. A one-time $5 brand registration and a one-time $20 campaign vetting fee, plus the carriers' small monthly campaign fee. You pay them only if you apply for texting.
- Fast to start. A Sharrk phone number takes seconds, and texting registration usually takes a few days.
- Compliance built in once you're live. Opt-outs (STOP) are honored automatically, and outreach respects quiet hours and the contact's timezone.
- More unlocks after approval. To protect you and your leads, AI outbound calling, voicemail drops and lead scraping unlock after you sign the consent attestation and your texting registration is approved.
Mako builds the rest while you wait
You don't have to sit idle during approval. With Sharrk Free you can build and test unlimited AI voice and text agents with Mako in your browser, no card needed. Tell Mako, "text every new lead in 30 seconds and follow up until they book," and it builds the text agent and the follow-up Strike, shows you every step and waits for your OK.
Texts use credits from your plan, and the pricing page lists what each action costs. Sharrk Core is $99/month with every feature live, 1 phone number and 47,500 credits a month.
What is 10DLC, and why does unregistered texting get blocked?
10DLC stands for "10-digit long code": a regular local phone number used to send business texts from software (called A2P, application-to-person). US carriers require every business that texts this way to register a brand (who you are) and a campaign (what you send and how people opted in) with The Campaign Registry (TCR), usually through your texting provider.
Twilio's documentation says that "Anyone sending SMS/MMS messages over a 10DLC number from an application to the US must register for A2P 10DLC." If you skip it, the texts don't go out: Twilio's error 30034 says it "blocks messages to U.S. numbers when you send from a +1 10DLC number that is not associated with an approved A2P 10DLC Campaign."
If your lead follow-up depends on texting, an unregistered number means those messages simply never arrive. That matters a lot when speed to lead is the reason you text in the first place, which is why Sharrk puts registration right into setup.
How much does 10DLC registration cost?
On Sharrk, it's the one-time $5 brand fee and $20 campaign vetting fee above, plus the carriers' small monthly campaign fee. For reference, the fees below are the amounts Twilio lists for A2P 10DLC. Telnyx and Vonage publish essentially the same TCR-based amounts. All were checked on October 15, 2026.
| Fee | Amount (Twilio) | When you pay |
|---|---|---|
| Brand registration | $4.50 | One-time, per brand |
| Standard brand vetting (secondary vetting) | $41.50 | One-time, Standard brands only |
| Campaign vetting | $15 | Per campaign review, non-refundable |
| Brand vetting appeal | $11 | Per appeal, only if you appeal |
| Authentication Plus | $12.50 | Per request, public for-profit brands only |
| Monthly campaign fee | $1.50 to $10 | Every month the campaign is active |
Twilio's monthly campaign fees by type:
| Campaign type | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Low-volume mixed | $1.50 |
| Sole proprietor | $2 |
| Charity / 501(c)(3) nonprofit | $3 |
| Emergency services | $5 |
| Standard use cases (marketing, mixed, customer care, notifications and others) | $10 |
Telnyx and Vonage also list a $30 monthly fee for the "Agents and Franchises" use case.
What a small business pays up front at Twilio's rates
| Your setup | One-time cost at Twilio rates | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Sole proprietor (no EIN) | $4.50 + $15 = $19.50 | $2 |
| Low-volume standard brand | $4.50 + $15 = $19.50 | $1.50 to $10 |
| Standard brand | $4.50 + $41.50 + $15 = $61 | $1.50 to $10 |
One catch: campaign vetting can be charged more than once. Telnyx notes your campaign "may be submitted for review multiple times," and Vonage says each new vetting event is charged again. A rejected and resubmitted campaign costs another $15 each time at Twilio's rates, so it pays to get it right the first time, and on Sharrk, Mako walks you through each step.
Provider fees can run higher than the pass-through amounts
Not every provider passes these fees through at cost. Bandwidth's published fee table, for example, lists $9 for brand registration, $20 a month for a standard campaign and $3 a month for a low-volume campaign (checked October 15, 2026).
What do carriers charge per text?
After registration, carriers add a small surcharge per message segment. Telnyx lists these for registered traffic:
| Carrier | Per SMS segment | Per MMS |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T | $0.003 sent (received free) | $0.009 sent |
| T-Mobile (incl. Sprint) | $0.003 sent and received | $0.01 sent and received |
| Verizon | $0.0045 sent (received free) | $0.007 sent |
| US Cellular | $0.005 sent (received free) | $0.01 sent |
Vonage lists slightly different Verizon and AT&T MMS figures. Twilio notes that the carrier fee applies to each segment of a long message, and that T-Mobile also charges on inbound texts. Vonage lists higher per-message fees for unregistered ("gray route") traffic. On Sharrk, texts simply use credits from your plan.
Which brand type should you register as?
- Sole proprietor: for a sole proprietorship without an EIN. Twilio says a sole proprietorship that does have an EIN should register as Low-Volume or Standard instead. You verify with a one-time passcode sent to a real US or Canadian mobile number. Limits: one campaign per brand and 1,000 messages a day to T-Mobile.
- Low-volume standard: a business with an EIN that sends modest volume. Up to 2,000 messages a day to T-Mobile.
- Standard: adds the $41.50 brand vetting at Twilio and can reach higher T-Mobile daily limits depending on your trust score.
How do you register for 10DLC?
On Sharrk, Mako walks you through the registration step by step. Here's what the process involves:
- Gather your business details. For a Standard or Low-Volume brand: your EIN, the exact legal name on your IRS EIN letter (CP 575), business address, a working website related to your business name, and a business email (Twilio says personal or free email addresses fail).
- Register your brand and pay the brand fee.
- Write your campaign. Twilio asks for a description of who sends what to whom and why (at least 40 characters), 2 to 5 sample messages that name your business, and a description of how people opt in.
- Publish your privacy policy and terms. If people opt in on your website, the links must be public.
- Set up opt-out and help replies. The opt-out reply must confirm that no further messages will be sent.
- Submit for campaign vetting and pay the vetting fee.
- Attach your phone numbers to the approved campaign and start texting.
How long does 10DLC approval take?
On Sharrk, texting registration usually takes a few days. Twilio says campaign registration "currently takes up to 5 business days for standard use cases," and to contact support if vetting is still pending after 10 days. A rejection restarts that clock, so getting it right the first time saves both time and a repeat vetting fee.
Why do 10DLC campaigns get rejected?
Twilio's rejection guide groups the reasons into categories. The ones small businesses hit most often:
- Missing privacy policy or terms links, or links that don't load.
- Consent problems: opt-in boxes that are pre-checked, missing consent language, or marketing and informational consent bundled together when they must be separate.
- No opt-out instructions in the call to action, or a broken opt-out or help reply.
- Website problems: an invalid URL, a site behind a login, or a page that is only a form with no business context.
- Details that don't match: sample messages that don't fit the use case, a vague description, or a business name that doesn't match the legal name.
- Public link shorteners or http:// links in sample messages.
- Wrong brand type: a registered legal entity applying as a sole proprietor.
- Prohibited content, such as cannabis or certain loan marketing, which Twilio says is generally not eligible for resubmission.
Get texting with Sharrk
Start free and Mako will build your first AI agent from your website in minutes, no card needed. When you're ready to go live, Mako walks you through registration. Prefer a walkthrough? Book a demo and we'll go through registration with you.
Once texting is live, see how AI lead follow-up works and how an AI text agent differs from a chatbot.
Sources
- Twilio: Pricing and Fees for A2P 10DLC Service (checked October 15, 2026)
- Twilio: A2P 10DLC Campaign Vetting FAQ (checked October 15, 2026)
- Twilio Docs: A2P 10DLC Brand Registration (checked October 15, 2026)
- Twilio Docs: Gather the Required Business Information (checked October 15, 2026)
- Twilio Docs: Error 30034, message from an unregistered number (checked October 15, 2026)
- Twilio: Why was my A2P 10DLC campaign registration rejected? (checked October 15, 2026)
- Telnyx: 10DLC fees and charges (checked October 15, 2026)
- Vonage: 10DLC Pricing and Fees (checked October 15, 2026)
- Bandwidth: 10DLC fees (checked October 15, 2026)
Related on Sharrk: Is it legal to call leads with an AI voice? · Speed-to-lead follow-up · Old-lead reactivation · Sharrk's AI answering service · Pricing
Frequently asked questions
How much does 10DLC registration cost?
With Sharrk, it's a one-time $5 brand registration and a one-time $20 campaign vetting fee, plus the carriers' small monthly campaign fee, and Mako walks you through it. At Twilio's published rates it costs about $19.50 to $61 one-time plus $1.50 to $10 a month per campaign: a $4.50 brand fee, a $15 campaign vetting fee and, for Standard brands, $41.50 brand vetting. Carriers also add a fraction of a cent per text.
Is the 10DLC campaign vetting fee refundable?
No. Twilio says the $15 campaign vetting fee is non-refundable, and Telnyx and Vonage note that each new review of a resubmitted campaign is charged again.
How long does 10DLC approval take?
On Sharrk, texting registration usually takes a few days. Twilio says campaign registration currently takes up to 5 business days for standard use cases, and to contact support if vetting is still pending after 10 days. A rejection means resubmitting and waiting again.
Can I text customers before my 10DLC registration is approved?
Not from a 10DLC number. Twilio blocks texts to US numbers sent from a 10DLC number that isn't tied to an approved A2P 10DLC campaign (error 30034). On Sharrk, you can build and test your AI text agent with Mako in the browser while you wait.
Do I need an EIN to register for 10DLC?
No, a sole proprietorship without an EIN can register as a Sole Proprietor brand using a one-time passcode sent to a real mobile number. Twilio says a business that has an EIN should register as a Low-Volume or Standard brand instead.
What does Sharrk charge for texting registration?
Sharrk's carrier texting fees are a one-time $5 brand registration and a one-time $20 campaign vetting fee, plus the carriers' small monthly campaign fee, charged only if you apply for texting. Mako walks you through the consent attestation and registration.