---
title: "Ministry Scheduler Pro SMS Cost: $0.02 Sent or Received"
description: "Ministry Scheduler Pro bills SMS at $0.02 sent or received. YES/NO confirm bills both ways. License scales with volunteer count. $9/mo for scheduled reminders."
canonical_url: https://volunteerreminder.com/alternatives/ministry-scheduler-pro
md_url: https://volunteerreminder.com/alternatives/ministry-scheduler-pro.md
last_updated: 2026-09-17
---
# What texting volunteers through Ministry Scheduler Pro actually costs

Ministry Scheduler Pro is a real church scheduler. If a church already built its Sunday-ministry setup there, stay on it. VolunteerReminder is not trying to replace that.

Optional SMS is **$0.02 per message sent or received**. That is on their [pricing page](https://ministryschedulerpro.com/pricing), fetched September 17, 2026. Texting is available in the U.S. and Canada only. That is on their [Plus Edition page](https://ministryschedulerpro.com/plus-edition), fetched September 17, 2026. Texting is a prepaid balance: 100 free starter messages, then an email prompt when the balance drops to $5. That is in their [text-messaging billing help article](https://rotundasoftware.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/217634457-How-does-billing-for-text-messaging-work), fetched September 17, 2026. The license is a separate charge. At the smallest band, up to 100 volunteers, Online Edition is **$50 a month** and Plus Edition is **$65 a month**, read off their pricing page on September 17, 2026. Their dropdown, labeled "Show pricing for," runs in 100-volunteer bands from up to 100 through up to 2,000. 100 is the smallest band, so a 40-volunteer church pays the hundred-volunteer price.

The "or received" part is the one that surprises people. A reminder plus a YES reply is two charges. Do that all year and it is not a rounding error. Some coordinators send fewer texts to keep the bill down, which kind of defeats the point.

<!-- VERIFY: https://ministryschedulerpro.com/pricing leftover re-fetched 2026-09-18 (HTTP 200) — no dollar drift vs 2026-09-17 / 2026-09-16 / 2026-09-15 / 2026-09-14. Static HTML still hides printed license dollars ("$ / month"). Embedded pricingData still {"online":{"base":5000,"increment":1500},"plus":{"base":6500,"increment":2000}} (cents). Default "up to 100" is therefore still $50 Online / $65 Plus ($300 / $390 opening six months; $600 / $780 annual renewal). Dropdown still labeled "Show pricing for" with 20 bands (100 through 2,000 in 100-volunteer steps). FAQ still "Optional SMS features are billed separately at $0.02 per SMS message sent or received." Capterra / Software Advice still 403. Do not add a worked 40-volunteer SMS spreadsheet. Do not call the control a slider. Do not invent other band prices. Do not bake the August promo. Do not import Capterra historical ranges. CLEARED 2026-09-15: reader-facing copy names the dropdown labeled "Show pricing for" and the 100-volunteer bands through 2,000. -->

<!-- VERIFY: CLEARED 2026-09-17. Leftover re-fetched 2026-09-18 from ministryschedulerpro.com/plus-edition (HTTP 200) — no claim drift vs 2026-09-17 / 2026-09-16 / 2026-09-15. "Note: text messaging available in the U.S. and Canada only" is primary-verified (the note appears twice near the $0.02 sent-or-received blurbs). The $0.02 rate is on the same page and already cited from /pricing. Do not re-attribute the US/Canada geography claim to /pricing — that page states the rate without a geography. -->

<!-- VERIFY: CLEARED 2026-09-17. Prepaid SMS mechanics leftover re-fetched 2026-09-18 from rotundasoftware.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/217634457-How-does-billing-for-text-messaging-work via the public Help Center API (https://rotundasoftware.zendesk.com/api/v2/help_center/en-us/articles/217634457.json) — no claim/dollar drift vs 2026-09-17 / 2026-09-16 / 2026-09-15. HTML help page Cloudflare 403; API HTTP 200, no auth. Article updated 2026-07-24, body last edited 2025-06-12. Verbatim and load-bearing: "Optional SMS/text message features are billed separately at $0.02 per SMS sent or received." / "There are no monthly fees or setup costs, and we'll give you 100 free text messages so you can try out these features at no cost!" / "When the $2 balance runs out, you can replenish your account to continue using the SMS features." / "You have the choice to replenish your account automatically or to be sent an email to manually add more money to the account when your account gets down to $5." $5 is the LOW-BALANCE NOTIFICATION / email-prompt threshold, NOT a minimum top-up and NOT a "$5 floor." Do not write "$5 floor." The same article mentions "two hours before their scheduled services"; that is NOT the keeper — do not restore a two-hour default reminder lead time. /plus-edition configurable days/hours is the keeper (PR 249). US/Canada geography stays cited from /plus-edition (PR 248), not this article. Reader-facing prepaid sentence matches live /alternatives/volunteer-scheduler-pro: "Texting is a prepaid balance: 100 free starter messages, then an email prompt when the balance drops to $5." -->

<!-- VERIFY: CLEARED 2026-09-11. Registry FAQ "What does $0.02 sent or received actually mean?" now cites the same Zendesk billing article as this body (plain URL in the answer, sibling style after PR 257). -->

## Online vs Plus

**Online** lists: flexible scheduling tools, mobile and web based scheduling, online access for volunteers, sub requests, automatic reminders, service notes and resources, and text messages. Their [Plus-edition feature table](https://ministryschedulerpro.com/plus-edition) also puts enrollment forms, announcements, rosters, mailing labels, and attendance tracking on Online — a church does not need Plus to print sign-in sheets, track no-shows and substitutes, or run historical reports.

**Plus** adds: online access for leaders, custom fields, a sign-in kiosk, ministry folders, group scheduling, scheduled announcements, disaster recovery, and API access. The kiosk is the paperless check-in extra, not the attendance feature itself.

SMS is extra on both. After the initial purchase, the subscription **renews annually**. The initial purchase has a **six-month unconditional money-back guarantee**. If it is not the right fit, they refund the initial payment in full if you reach out within six months.

<!-- VERIFY: third-party listings have historically quoted MSP around $28–$38/mo (Capterra). That range is NOT primary-confirmed on ministryschedulerpro.com/pricing as of 2026-09-18 leftover (Capterra and Software Advice still HTTP 403). Do not promote it as a current price. -->

<!-- VERIFY: Online vs Plus split leftover re-checked 2026-09-18 against ministryschedulerpro.com/plus-edition comparison table. Attendance tracking (print sign-in sheets, no-shows/subs, historical reports) is on BOTH editions; only the Sign-in Kiosk is Plus. The Online sentence above adds the table features the pricing-card seven bullets omit (enrollment forms, announcements, rosters, mailing labels, attendance). Plus extras now also name scheduled announcements and API access from that table. Liturgical-calendar Sunday auto-naming is primary-verified on the same page ("Auto-name Sundays using the liturgical calendar"); not added here because it is not a texting or pricing fact. Do not add Mass-time, Unison, or desktop-app claims unless re-verified on MSP's own site. Do not invent license dollars other than $50 Online / $65 Plus at up to 100. -->

## Deluxe and Pro

Deluxe is **$9 a month** ([pricing](/pricing)). That covers scheduled reminders for up to 60 volunteers, two texts per shift. It is not a plan for blasting the whole church directory. If that is the job, MSP's meter or a real SMS tool is the honest answer. Normal reminder volume is what the $9 plan is built for.

<!-- VERIFY: do not say "no credits, no per-message fees" as if Deluxe is a bottomless SMS pipe. Fair-use is unpublished (competitive-analysis §5.1). Volume scales with shift-slots × reminders-per-shift. Do not invent a 2,000-text fair-use number. Do not put Twilio cost math on this page. -->

[Pro](/pricing) is $19, up to 150 volunteers, and adds a third reminder plus a substitute finder that texts a small batch at a time (default 10), first YES wins, then the next batch, not the whole roster. YES/NO confirm is optional. Some coordinators do not want to make it easy to say no, and that is fine.

MSP can stay the scheduler. VolunteerReminder can just do the reminders. Every plan starts with a **30-day free trial and no credit card**. **[Start a free trial](/signup)** or email [info@volunteerreminder.com](mailto:info@volunteerreminder.com).

<!-- VERIFY: confirm the public inbound address before publish (info@volunteerreminder.com is used here; the operator may prefer the on-record Tall Timbers Group address). Trial length/terms already match /signup (30-day, no card). -->

## FAQ

### Does Ministry Scheduler Pro include text reminders in the license?

Automatic reminders are listed on the Online edition. Optional SMS is billed separately at $0.02 per message sent or received. At the smallest band, up to 100 volunteers, Online is $50 a month and Plus is $65 a month. A 40-volunteer church pays the hundred-volunteer price because there is no smaller band.

### What does $0.02 sent or received actually mean?

Every outbound reminder and every inbound reply is a billable SMS. A reminder plus a YES reply is two charges. Texting is a prepaid balance: 100 free starter messages, then an email prompt when the balance drops to $5 (https://rotundasoftware.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/217634457-How-does-billing-for-text-messaging-work). Texting is available in the U.S. and Canada only — that is on their Plus Edition page.

### Are VolunteerReminder texts unlimited on the $9 plan?

No. Deluxe is $9 a month for scheduled reminders: up to 60 volunteers, two texts per shift. It is not a plan for blasting the whole church directory. If that is the job, MSP's meter or a real SMS tool is the honest answer.

### Who should stay on Ministry Scheduler Pro?

Churches that need the sign-in kiosk, ministry folders, group scheduling, or custom fields — those are Plus. Attendance tracking (sign-in sheets, no-shows, historical reports) is already on Online. Or anyone who already uses MSP as the Sunday-ministry system of record. VolunteerReminder is a reminder service, not a church scheduler.

### Do volunteers need an app or account?

On VolunteerReminder, no. Texts and emails only. Nobody installs anything. MSP lists a mobile app and online access for volunteers as part of the product.

### Is VolunteerReminder a church scheduler like Ministry Scheduler Pro?

No. No kiosk, no ministry folders, no liturgical service-planning suite. It schedules recurring volunteer shifts and texts people before they serve. That is the whole product.

### What happens when a volunteer declines a shift?

On Pro, the substitute finder texts a small batch at a time (default 10). First YES wins, then the next batch, not the whole roster. YES/NO confirm is optional on Deluxe and Pro.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](https://volunteerreminder.com/sitemap.md) for every public page.