zenyatta

Hi Scott,

Glad to see you are doing your homework before signing up with a SMS company. To many people don't do the diligent work you are and that is why nearly half of Lime's clients have moved from previous carriers once they SEE the whole package of features, support, and especially pricing. I signed on with Lime 8 months ago and am still happy with my decision after looking at 30+ platforms( I know what you have been going through). I just made a detailed post here Re: Best Mobile SMS Text Marketing Service if you need anymore info. Hopefully I can say welcome aboard to the Lime family you have made a wise choice.

Scott Alan

Hi Zenyatta,

I appreciate you posting your experience. This is what I'm looking for....REAL WORLD EXPERIENCES!

I read your detailed post in another thread.....and it was very informative.

Thanks Again,
Scott

When you are successful, remember to help others also succeed. Don't ever forget what it was like to be in the other person's shoes. Help as many people succeed as you can.

amulektwo

Yes Scott
The Training is really good. Plus they have pre made sales presentations tailored to 10 different industries that are proven to work. Their salsman use them themselves. Also with marios program we got scripts and email templates plus we do webinars every month which keep up on top of the best sales strategies that are working in the field right now....Like I said the only thing i dont like is the mobile site builder, but thats not really important because there are so many awesome templates here in the forum and you can easily outsource the webdesign that you really dont need one....All the time you spend creating and editing the site is time you could of spent getting more customers....Just my 2 cents

Kiril S

I really like the fact that Lime's coupons are integrated with barcodes and easy tracking.

Is Avid's coupouning system similar?

I'm also torn between those two companies.

What about Lime's keyword fees? I heard they charge a monthly fee for keywords, but on the other hand Avid does not. Why is that?

Nanaswhimsy

RE Lime Keywords: It depends on the level you buy in at. Vanity keywords 5 included for standard, 10 for premium and if you go premium + then you get unlimited. With any of the packages you get unlimited system keywords. You also have to look at text pricing, if I remember right to get 1 cent texts you have to reach a level of 250K texts per month. With Lime if you go premium plus it is automatic. The reason that I went with Lime is they include so much as standard that Avid does as $29 a month add-ons.(starting next week - so if anyone is interested in being a reseller for Social Media Decoded, send me a PM and I will let you know when everything is set up.)

Hope that helps!
Suzanne

Kiril S

Could you PM me Lime's pricing sheet please? I've requested one from their website and still haven't received anything. Thanks

Scott Alan

Hi Suzanne,

Is the marketing training in-depth at Lime? I have lots of my own ideas and have learned some great ideas from generous warriors on this forum who have shared ideas and tips.....but I'm looking for even more training and ideas.

Scott

When you are successful, remember to help others also succeed. Don't ever forget what it was like to be in the other person's shoes. Help as many people succeed as you can.

BizGrabbers

Here is the link for Lime's pricing.

I haven't gone with them but I do have this information.

Sorry, I don't know if links are allowed, but there is bit dot ly/xxyqkK

Scott Alan

The more I look into both companies, I find that I'm leaning towards Lime. Not because their pricing is lower but for other factors. I'm looking to build a large sustainable business, so if I felt that Avid was a better fit for me, I'd have no problem paying more. I'm looking for the best fit for me.

But, with that said.....I encourage everyone to do their own in-depth research, because what might be the right fit for me or someone else, may not be the right choice for you.

From all of the responses so far, I feel that both companies are SOLID and are in it for the long haul.....

It really comes down to who you feel is the BEST FIT for you.

Scott

When you are successful, remember to help others also succeed. Don't ever forget what it was like to be in the other person's shoes. Help as many people succeed as you can.

brett701

I have looked at avid, lime and many others. In my opinion AnchorMobile platform is the best option. It has been around for awhile so the kinks are worked out and it's very stable. Anchor also has more flexibility with its platform and this allows you to expand your business in the future. They just changed User interface recently.

White Label SMS Reseller Platform User Interface Upgrade v3.4 « White Label SMS Reseller Platform | Anchormobile


if you have any questions i can try to do my best to tell you the difference between all 3 companies.

brodjo2

Yes THanks, this is great info!

Jones178

Hi TJ,

When I was researching I believe both Avid and Lime charge $4 an account.

ProfitwithAdam

Avid as does Lime, they both charge a $4 per client charge. Realistically the main differences are how you plan on scaling your business, whether or not you like them competing against you, how much you like their short code, if their mobile website builder is any good or not, their training modules, their hidden fees, if there are set up fees or not, etc. If you do a spreadsheet of your choices and really compare the two honestly, you will find the one you like the best and make a decision. It's really that easy.

Nanaswhimsy

They actually have a Youtube channel that has a lot of videos.

Nanaswhimsy

Scott they have a 21 daay indepth bootcamp so you can know the system inside and out before you start selling, insuring your success in being able to answer potential customers questions.

HypeText

Scott,

FYI...Yuval doesn't utilize a staff of Salespeople working on commission. The Sales line is generally answered by Yuval's Assistant Michelle. I have dealt with Michelle many times. she is knowledgeable and in the event that she doesn't know an answer she will ask Yuval directly in the event that he isnt in when you call.

Nanaswhimsy

No Avid doesn't charge per account, they charge 29 month for the site builder, 19 a month for the appointment option, That is 50 extra dollars a month while you build your business, the appointment program is standard with all lime's platforms. And while the .019 cents they start you off at is the same as Lime's standard package, if you go with the premuim package you get .015 to start and get the website builder as standard. At the premium plus level (497 compared to first true white label level at 499, remember Lime's white label starts at 147) all texts are 0.01 )to get that with avid you have to sell 125K text messages first.) and at all premium levels you get integrated billing. get to choose what features you offer your clients when you set up the packages. As far as the $4 a month getting expensive, 1) to offset the same costs for addons with Avid you would have to sell 12.5 packages immediately. 2) When you build your packages wouldn't you factor in the 4 dollar cost? (Your only charged for active accounts, nevr for demo accounts. 3) If it's getting expensive, wouldn't that mean you were successful?

Hope that clears up a few things.

Suzanne

Nanaswhimsy

Just got off the phone with Yuval and he is very knowledgable, I had to laugh as we discussed different aspects. I came to the conclusion that Lime is handled by very technical people and Avid is run by very sales oriented people, which do I want running my platform? Definitely made the right choice with Lime.

Lilypuff

Just wanted to say thank you to all of you who have participated in this thread. This has been incredibly helpful to me. I also have been sitting on the fence trying to decide who's camp to hop into :p I think that LIME is the way that I'll go. Good Luck Scott

Scott Alan

Thanks Lilypuff for the well wishes. I feel that SMS and mobile websites
Are going to do well in 2012. I wish everyone well in this venture.
Thanks for all of the replies.
Scott

When you are successful, remember to help others also succeed. Don't ever forget what it was like to be in the other person's shoes. Help as many people succeed as you can.

Pierre!

Glad I found this thread Scott!

I have previously invested in an SMS platform, and I am now looking at Lime once again!

With the recent pricing changes, the two Webinars I attended... I am really leaning twords Lime.

I love the one time use coupons
I like the QR Code generator
Then there is the Text To Win

My thought is that it's not exactly what I want, but what will keep My Client's list members engaged with My Client's marketing efforts... and the rich feature set allows for a broad variety to keep folks from being bored and dropping off My Client's list.

Also...

When I initially got started asking questions, I did a trial test with Lime, TXT108, and someone else I just really can't recall...

I was impressed when Yuval called me personally after I started my trial account - and Yuval called me *twice* - I didn't get to the phone in time on the first call.

The feature set, the new mobile product, the new pricing structure... Yuval is *listening* to his clients, and evolving with their needs.

I feel the need to follow through with my Due Diligance and check out Avid's platform too...

I wish that one of the companies would make some of their sales training avaliable to those researching their features.

I had 'sales training' in the last TXT platform, but it dwindled to unusable... and I have sales experience, but I could really benefit from the 'Getting Started Guide' so that I could line up some clients BEFORE I plunk down the $$$ for the first month... Would be nice to have clients ready to sign up to reduce that first month cost with active clients immediately...

So.... unless something *Earth Shattering* comes up... I'm still looking at Lime.

Great Thread, and Very Timely for me...

Patrick

Kiril S

I just noticed in Lime's pricing sheet that each additional text message costs 2.75 cents. As for Avid's cost per text, it is only 1.75 cents at most, and even lower for bulkier messaging.

Why is that? I find this to be a huge downside especially if you handle clients with big volumes, which is where you want to be, right?

Let's say you're handling 500k text messages per month. With Lime's prices, these texts would cost $13,750 per month, while Avid's will only cost $4,500. You save up $111,000 per year with Avid's pricing model for this case.

I heard that Avid charges a fee for using their billing system? How does that work?

BizGrabbers

Hi Kiril,

I compared the two companies based on the 500k text messages per month in your example. Sending 500k messages per month would certainly be not the base plan for either company.

If I'm correct in my comparison, here are the results:

Avid has a certain number of free credits on their plans but they don't publish how many credits they allow on their mid level plan. They only say to ask your sales rep about it.

At the 500k texts per month, I would say a person would want to go with Avid's Mobile Marketing In A Box plan or with Lime's Premium+ plan which both get 30,000 credits per month.

If I were to go with Lime, I would chose their Premium+ account.
If I were to go with Avid, I would chose either their Private Label Plus or their Mobile Marketing Company in a Box.

Avid states that their Private Label Plus features are:
Private Label PLUS: Some FREE Texts? Ask your Rep! $499 per month – 1 time set-up of $359
This PLUS package includes all of the features of the Private Label Basic Program, plus the 100% white-labeled URL and
SSL. This package is the 100% custom url that you select and is viewed when your clients login to the dashboard and
will state, login.yourcomanyname.com.
Note: All picture messages and mobile sites will contain the url http://login.yourcompanyname.com
Organizational Level: Optional Reseller of Resellers Level $199 per month (add on)
This enterprise level program features an extra hierarchy that allows for you to sub-license the software to other
resellers who want to sell mobile marketing, SMS campaigns, and mobile sites. In this program you have the ability to
set-up unlimited resellers of your technology.
Note: Organizational level is in addition to options Basic and PLUS ONLY.

Assuming you would want to market their mobile websites, that would be an additional $29 per month.

I would not want to use Avid's mobile website builder, because, in my opinion, it's pretty low on the totem poll compared with the new website builder that Lime just came out with this month. (Actually, I would say that I would not want to use Avid's at all when I compare it with most of the others I've looked at.) Limes website builder is, in my opinion, an awesome tool. There is no charge for Lime's website builder the Premium and Premium+ account plan. Both companies allow unlimited websites and webpages and data and bandwith.

For my purposes, the website builder and the text coupons, and the integrated billing features that Lime has is pretty positive.

Avid has text messaging which is just that, text. Lime has both text messaging and picture coupons which can have a bar code to be scanned a point of purchase. When it is scanned, or when a numeric code is entered, that coupon is processed as redeemed and that customers cannot use that coupon again.

Avid's Private Label Plus uses a shared URL and their Mobile Marketing In A Box is (as they state) 100% white label.

Both of Lime's plans are white label.

Avid sells to resellers and to retail.
Lime sells only to resellers and does not sell to retail.

Avid has a setup fee for the Private Label Plus of $359 and for the Mobile Marketing In A Box of $2815.

Avid's monthly fee for the Private Label Plus is $499 and for the Mobile Marketing In A Box is $615.

Lime has no setup fee for any of their plans.

Lime,s monthly fee for the Premium plan is $297 per month and for the Premium+ plan is $497 per month.

Avid has unlimited vanity keyword per account for their plan.

Lime has 10 free vanity keywords per account for their Premium plan and Unlimited free vanity keywords per account for their Premium+ plan.

If you want to add Sales Agents and Resellers with Avid, you must chose the Mobile Marketing In A Box plan or pay an additional $199 per month if you chose their Private Label Plus Plan.

If you want to add Sales Agents and Resellers with Lime, you can chose either the Premium or the Premium+ plan.

Both companies have a $4 per month charge for each active client.

Now on to the text message fees:

At 500k texts per month, I haven't see how many text credits Avid has on their Private Label Plus plan but on their Mobile Marketing In A Box they provide 15k credits per month.

Lime provides 15k on their Premium plan and 30k on their Premium+ plan.

Since I don't know how many credits Avid has on their Private Label Plus plan, I will do calculations based on assuming they provide 15k like Lime does.

On Avid's Private Lable Plus plan the extra 485k text will be $4365 per month. On their Mobile Marketing Business In A Box plan, the 470k extra texts will be $4230 per month.

With Lime's Premium plan the other 470k texts per month would be $7050 and with their Premium+ plan the would be $4700.

So the text's sent with Lime is more than with Avid. However Lime does not have any setup fees. I'm not positive, but it is my understanding that Avid's set up fees are charged every year. Don't quote me on that because I'm not certain of it. IF Avid charges the setup fee annually, on the Private Label Plus plan, that would average $30 per month and on the Mobile Marketing In A Box plan, it would average $51 per month.

Now, calculating all charges, including set up fees, text charges, and since I really favor Limes new mobile website builder, the website builder fee with Avid (no extra charge for this in the two plans we are comparing with Lime), Avid is cheaper in total cost than Lime but nowhere near the $13750 you quoted in your post.

Lime has integrated billing for your clients on both plans we are comparing here. As far as I know, I don't think Avid offers this feature.

Compare the coupon features that Lime has and, if you can, if it interests you, compare the website builders and I think you will agree that Lime beats Avid in those features hands down.

Avid has some great Powerpoint presentations and Lime has some great marketing material for the clients to use in their business. Lime also has some great short videos for making presentations to prospective clients, however they do have a small fee to customize them with your logo, phone number and website.

All in all, they are both excellent companies. Avid is cheaper monthly costs but some could say that the benefits of the advanced mobile coupons and the advanced mobile website builder that Lime has would very well cover the difference in the monthly charges.

I hope this information helps everyone with their comparisons. Do the calculations yourself from the figures I've provided and then make your decision based on your own perceptions of each company and your gut feeling. However, just DO something.

Kiril S

Okay but how did you come up with $4,700 per month for text messaging with Lime

Lime charges $0.0275 per text -- as stated on their pricing sheet for any plan -- and Avid -- at 500k text messages with Private Label Plus - charges $0.009 per text.

My original quote for Lime was simply: $0.0275 * 500,000 = $13,750
And for Avid: $0.0090 * 500,500 = $4,500

... and this where my quote came from.

However, I just read that Lime does indeed provide lower prices for high volume messaging:

What I don't understand with Lime is they say they charge $0.0275 per text for whichever plan you're on, but $0.005 per text if you have extremely high text messaging volumes? Do they have mid-level prices for texts? Or it is either 2.75 or 0.5 cents.

HypeText

You chose Well, Grasshoppa! lol

HypeText

I think he might be working off of old pricing because none of Limes White Label Offerings have a .0275 Price point...

Kiril S

This is their latest white label price sheet:




$0.0275 indeed.

SirThomas

From their flyer, they have three price levels:

Standard $147/mo --------5,000 included and 1.9 cents after
Premium $297/mo --------15,000 included and 1.5 cents after
Premium+ $497/mo -------30,000 included and 1.0 cent after

SirThomas

James,

I looked at Avid's platform last year and, if I remember correctly, some parts of the system were not fully white label. Meaning, at some point, when creating campaign ( I don't exactly remember), customers could actually see Avid's URLs.

I know, you had more advanced options that would eliminate this problem, but that was an additional expense.

Please, update us on your latest options.


Thomas

Kiril S

It's weird they have different pricing from different sources.

JHuts34

Thomas,

On tier 2, you go through a generic URL which has no mention of the AvidMobile name.

Tier 3 is a 100% true white label, which we recently just made much more affordable. At this point the URL & SSL certification are completely customized and dedicated to the branding you choose.

If you want the updated pricing list I will be more than happy to help you out.

James Hutson - VP of Business Development
AvidMobile - White Label Mobile Marketing
Text "HUTSON" to 72727

BizGrabbers

Kiril,

I think you must be looking at an old price sheet for Lime. If you go to their website and click on click to Test Drive and Get Pricing, they will email you their new pricing document.

Hope this helps to clear up the confusion.

HypeText

Their latest does not have a $.0275 price point on it. I would strongly recommend requesting a new one.

Kiril S

Okay so the prices I mentioned earlier were the prices for Canada.

So for people living in Canada, it might be more cost-productive to go with Avid as they offer a lower pricing per text. Just my 2 cents.

Jones178

Yea but doesn't Avid charge for incoming and outgoing messages?

Kiril S

I don't think they charge for incoming messages, I'm pretty sure they don't.

Jones178

I would check on that bc if they do, then that changes the whole picture

Kiril S

I'm 99.99% sure they don't as I recall reading it from their pricing sheet. Of course it would have changed the whole picture, but this is not the case.

Jones178

ok I was under the assumption they did charge for both.

stephenkidd

I find Lime superior than Avid. Lime's overall cost is lower than Avid. I enjoy Lime and cant imagine any other in place of Lime.

HypeText

I prefer Lime as well but ultimately one has to decide on what is best for him or her self.

It's no surprise that about 40% of Limes White Label Customers board AFTER they have already purchased another Platform.

Legacy3

I really enjoyed reading this thread and have signed up for a demo at Lime. I am also a sub-reseller under Avid. At first glance, I like Lime's UI better. I also like their coupon, appointment system, and payment center better.

However they do seem to fall short with their text to contest feature because it looks like you can only specify 5 winners whereas Avid will select however many winners you designate using x number of winners who are first to subscribe, one very nth subscriber, or x number of winners upon the contest closing. I've also seen elsewhere where the system will pick a winner every x minutes within a certain timeframe which is great for network socials. I currently have a client actively using the contests and we are promoting the contest feature so moving that piece over would be hard. So, their contests (as I understand them) are a little disappointing.

Lime is also missing the Text 2 Screen feature with moderation, which I am planning to market to a certain niche. Again, disappointing.

I really only want one platform and other than the 2 negatives above, Lime seems to look better in my eyes especially their easy path to $0.01 or below texts (even though they tax you by paying for real keywords to get there). So in the end economics and a cleaner UI / payment interface may win out forcing me to wait for their development in these areas to catch up.

BizGrabbers

Do you use Avid's mobile website builder? Did you compare Lime's mobile website builder with Avid's?

Legacy3

No. I haven't tried the website builder yet on either platform because I have other tools available for mobile site design plus Lime's builder currently is not working with Safari. I did, however, look at a video for Lime's Premium Mobile Websites and it does look slick.

Also, Lime has two website builders. Though, I'm not sure why. One is called Mobile Landing Pages and the other is called Premium Mobile Websites.

There seems to be some overlap between the two. Maybe some one can shed some light on the differences.

limecellular

Let me clarify, we have one mobile website builder. This has features that will allow you to create a website. We also have a mobile Landing page. Mobile Landing pages allow you to create one page full of information. For example with the Mobile Landing page you would post information about a house listing or car for sale.

Like our Facebook page to receive a special document explaining the top 10 mistakes local marketers make!
Lime's White Label Mobile Marketing
Lime's Affiliate Program

BillHus

I've been working with Mark at Avid mobile and they have been great to me. The support you get from them is fantastic....plus you get unlimited keywords. It doesnt mean much starting out but trust me once you get about 20 clients and larger clients start coming in it means everything to your bottomline.

Legacy3

You're right! Unlimited REAL keywords for FREE is a big deal...especially when you are just starting out (when you need them the most because you lack customers).

Lime does offer unlimited keywords but its at their Premium+ level where you also get 1 cent texts. (Avid lowers text rates with your text volume, which you may or not achieve at Lime's Premium+ level). The monthly buy in for the Premium+ level is pretty reasonable once you get a subscriber base to support it (maybe 5-10 clients).

The two lower levels offer 5 and 10 REAL keywords per month respectively. However, after re-reading their flyer it looks like that is per account @ $4 per month. I believe that means per customer/client that we have. If that is the case its not a bad situation at all and may actually help your pricing strategy by charging for keywords above 5 or 10. The expense to you of course would go away as you progressed to the higher level meaning more profit or you could later offer unlimited keywords as a potential "new" loyalty bonus for your customers.

HypeText

The Free Keywords are indeed per Advertiser Account.

Even if you surpass the free keywords they are only $2.00 per month each.

Keep in mind that all but Avid's top tier are on shared domains...NOT your Own....and their Top Level White Label is Very Pricey!

Then of course there are all the add on services they charge extra for that Lime includes at no extra charge.

HypeText

As was already mentioned...

Hooked

I tried to call you but on one picked up and it was at 5pm eastern time, whats up with that?