10DLC Registration: Cost, Timeline, and Why Campaigns Get Rejected

A2P 10DLC registration is how a US business gets permission to text customers from a regular 10-digit number through software. You register a brand (your business) and a campaign (what you text about) through your texting provider, which submits both to The Campaign Registry (TCR). TCR and the carriers set most of the fees, and providers pass them through, and some charge more than TCR’s list price, so the same registration costs different amounts at different providers.

If you’re new to 10DLC, start with our overview, What is 10DLC?. This guide goes deeper on fees, timelines, limits and rejection fixes. Every figure comes from TCR’s fee schedule or the provider’s own pages, checked on November 4, 2026.

What 10DLC registration costs

At Twilio, a Low Volume Standard brand with a low-volume mixed campaign costs $21 to set up ($4.50 brand + $15 vetting + $1.50 first month), then $1.50 a month. A Standard brand with a standard campaign costs $71 ($46 brand with vetting + $15 + $10), then $10 a month. Carrier fees of a fraction of a cent are added to every text segment.

Two billing details catch people out. Telnyx bills campaign fees three months at a time at the start, and Bandwidth has a 3-month commitment on every non-political campaign. T-Mobile also charges for inbound texts: $0.0025 per segment at Twilio and $0.003 at Telnyx.

For example, 5,000 one-segment texts a month from a Standard campaign at Twilio add $17.50 (all AT&T) to $25 (all Verizon) in carrier fees, on top of Twilio’s own $0.0083 per segment ($41.50) and the $10 campaign fee. Emoji and long texts add segments; our free text message checker counts them before you send.

What you need to register a brand

You need your exact legal business name and EIN, business type and industry, a working website, a business address and an authorized contact (name, title, phone and business email). Twilio says to copy the name exactly as it appears on your IRS CP 575 EIN letter, not a W-2 or W-9. If you’ve lost the letter, ask the IRS for a 147C letter. Public companies also give their stock exchange and ticker.

Pick the brand type that matches your volume:

• Standard ($46 at Twilio, vetting included): for more than 6,000 messages a day, with limits set by your trust score.
• Low Volume Standard ($4.50 at Twilio): for fewer than 6,000 a day, with multiple use cases and numbers but the lowest throughput.
• Sole Proprietor ($4.50 at Twilio): only for a business without an EIN. One campaign, one number, 1,000 segments a day to T-Mobile. A sole proprietorship that has an EIN must register as Standard or Low Volume.

Twilio allows up to five Standard or Low Volume brands per tax ID; past that, campaigns may be rejected without a clear business reason.

Brand vetting and trust score

Brand vetting is a third-party check of your business, $41.50 at TCR list price, that gives you a trust score from 0 to 100. The score sets your sending speed and your daily T-Mobile cap. Vetting is optional: a Low Volume Standard brand skips it and gets the lowest limits.

Twilio names two common causes of a low score: registration details that don’t match your EIN record, such as a different address, and a small business footprint. Scores don’t change on their own. To appeal at Twilio, include your IRS EIN letter. TCR lists $11 for an appeal and $5 for a failed vet; Bandwidth charges $22 and $10.

Campaign registration and use cases

A campaign needs a use case, a description, an opt-in description with proof, 2 to 5 sample messages, a privacy policy and terms. Most use cases cost $10 a month, low-volume mixed $1.50 and sole proprietor $2, plus $15 vetting per campaign.

• Standard use cases include customer care, account and delivery notifications, marketing, 2FA and mixed. Twilio notes that mixed means higher cost and lower throughput than a single declared use case.
• Low-volume mixed combines use cases, limited to 2,000 segments a day to T-Mobile and the lowest throughput, whatever your score.
• Special use cases such as charity ($3) and emergency ($5) have their own fees, and some need extra carrier approval.

Twilio’s onboarding guide says the description must answer who sends, who receives and why, and must match your brand and samples. Samples should name your brand, use brackets for variables like [Name], and at least one should include “Reply STOP to unsubscribe”.

How long 10DLC registration takes

Expect a week or more at Twilio. Twilio says TCR typically reviews a brand within minutes, but a brand sent to manual review takes 7 business days or more. Campaign vetting takes up to 5 business days for standard use cases, and Twilio asks you to contact support after 10 days. Sole proprietor campaigns are usually decided within hours to days.

Before that, Twilio’s Customer Profile approval can take 72 hours or more, though you can start the brand step while it’s pending. Telnyx’s and Bandwidth’s fee pages don’t publish review times, so ask your provider. Each rejection adds another review, so register before you schedule your first campaign.

Throughput and daily limits by trust score

Your trust score sets your messages per second (MPS) to each carrier and your daily cap toward T-Mobile. A score of 75 to 100 gets 75 MPS per major carrier and 200,000 segments a day to T-Mobile; a score below 25 gets 4 MPS and 2,000 a day. Twilio’s published figures:

Telnyx publishes matching AT&T tiers per minute: 4,500, 2,400 and 240 SMS for the three score bands. The T-Mobile cap counts every brand under your EIN across all providers, resets at midnight Pacific, and texts over it fail with Twilio error 30023.

Why campaigns get rejected, and how to fix each one

Twilio’s guide says most rejections happen in the message flow, the description of how people opt in. The rest are mostly missing privacy-policy language, samples that don’t match the use case, mismatched brand details and public link shorteners. Each rejection carries an error code:

Content, spam, high-risk and disallowed-content rejections (30883, 30884, 30885, 30897) can’t be resubmitted as they are; contact your provider if you think one is wrong. For the rest, Twilio recommends editing the rejected campaign rather than deleting it, and charges its vetting fee once per campaign. Telnyx charges $15 per review and may send a campaign to review more than once, so ask before you resubmit.

What happens to unregistered texts

They’re blocked, not slowed down. Twilio blocks texts to US numbers from any 10DLC number that isn’t attached to an approved campaign (error 30034), and Telnyx says unregistered 10DLC traffic has been blocked since February 3, 2025.

To text before approval, Twilio suggests a sender outside 10DLC, such as a toll-free number or short code. Don’t work around registration: Telnyx lists pass-through T-Mobile fines of $1,000 per violation for evasion such as snowshoeing (spreading traffic across numbers to dodge filters), and $10,000 per repeat content violation.

How this works when you text from a CRM

You register with the provider that owns your number, not with the CRM. Conduyt sends texts through your own Twilio or Project Blue account: you complete any registration there, then use the registered number in Conduyt, and the provider bills you for numbers, texts and carrier fees.

• Twilio: register your brand and campaign in your Twilio account, attach the number, then connect it through our Twilio integration.
• Project Blue: it sells dedicated lines for one-to-one conversations, and its site says bulk or automated blasts aren’t allowed on its iMessage lines and belong on its registered A2P SMS product. Ask Project Blue what applies to your line. See our Project Blue integration.
• One cap per EIN: registering the same business on several platforms doesn’t raise the T-Mobile daily cap; they share it.

When a carrier refuses a text, Conduyt shows it as Not delivered with the reason in plain English and the carrier code, and opt-outs are recorded on the contact (see CRM text messaging). For consent and quiet-hours rules, see our SMS compliance guide. Conduyt is $299 or $499 a month with unlimited users and contacts, and the 20-day trial needs no card. See pricing.

Frequently asked questions

How much does 10DLC registration cost?

At Twilio (checked November 4, 2026), $21 to $71 to start, then $1.50 to $10 a month per campaign, plus carrier fees of $0.0035 to $0.005 per segment. Bandwidth charges $9 per brand, $83 for vetting and $20 a month for a standard campaign.

How long does 10DLC registration take?

A week or more. Twilio says brand review typically takes minutes (7 business days or more if manual) and campaign vetting up to 5 business days for standard use cases.

Is brand vetting required for 10DLC?

No. A Low Volume Standard brand skips vetting but gets the lowest throughput and 2,000 segments a day to T-Mobile. Vetting costs $41.50 at TCR list price and gives a trust score that can raise those limits.

What is a low-volume mixed 10DLC campaign?

A campaign that combines use cases, such as customer care and notifications, for $1.50 a month. It’s limited to 2,000 segments a day to T-Mobile and the lowest sending speed.

Can I register for 10DLC without an EIN?

Yes, as a Sole Proprietor brand: $4.50 plus $2 a month at Twilio, with one campaign, one number and 1,000 segments a day to T-Mobile. A business with an EIN must register as Standard or Low Volume Standard.

What happens if I text from an unregistered 10DLC number?

The text is blocked. Twilio returns error 30034, and Telnyx says unregistered traffic has been blocked since February 3, 2025.

Do I pay the vetting fee again if my campaign is rejected?

It depends on the provider. Twilio charges its $15 fee once per campaign and doesn’t refund it; Telnyx charges $15 per review.

How fast can I send once registered?

At Twilio, a trust score of 75 to 100 gets 75 messages per second per major carrier, 50 to 74 gets 40, and below 50 gets 4. Low-volume mixed campaigns get 1.25.

Sources

Checked on November 4, 2026. Fees and limits change, so confirm with your provider before you register.

• The Campaign Registry: TCR Fees and Pricing (updated 8/13/26)
• Twilio: Pricing and fees for A2P 10DLC
• Twilio: A2P 10DLC Campaign Vetting FAQ
• Twilio: US SMS pricing and carrier fees
• Twilio Docs: Programmable Messaging and A2P 10DLC
• Twilio Docs: Gather the required business information
• Twilio Docs: Direct Standard and Low-Volume Standard registration
• Twilio: Message throughput and trust scores
• Twilio: T-Mobile daily message limits
• Twilio: A2P 10DLC Campaign Onboarding Guide
• Twilio: A2P 10DLC campaign registration rejected
• Twilio: Error 30922 (resubmission and vetting fee)
• Twilio: Error 30034, message from an unregistered number
• Telnyx: 10DLC fees and charges
• Telnyx: 10DLC FAQ
• Bandwidth: 10DLC fees
• CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices (May 2023)
• Project Blue

Related: What is 10DLC? and SMS compliance guide.