Textline vs Outbrain
Choose Textline if your team needs to exchange texts with customers; choose Outbrain if you need to run paid campaigns that reach people across the open internet. Textline centers on two-way business messaging, shared workflows and message credits. Outbrain centers on ad campaigns, audience targeting and spending tied to clicks.
Last updated October 25, 2026.
At a glance
| Dimension | Textline | Outbrain |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use | Two-way business texting | Open-internet advertising campaigns |
| Core workflow | Shared conversations, announcements and automations | Campaign creation, targeting and reporting |
| Platforms | Browser app; iPhone and Android apps | Amplify advertiser dashboard |
| Pricing model | Quoted subscription plus message credits and applicable fees | Cost per click with campaign budgets |
| Plans | Essentials, Pro and Enterprise | NA |
| Included usage | 600 Essentials or 2,000 Pro message credits per month | NA |
| Starting team size | Three Essentials or five Pro agents included | NA |
| Additional usage | $0.03 per add-on message credit | $25 daily minimum for new USD campaigns created by API |
| Integrations | HubSpot, Salesforce on Pro, API and webhooks | Google Tag Manager, Shopify and Amplify API |
| Targeting | Conversation routing and automations | Audience, location and device targeting |
| Support | Customer support; priority support on Pro | DIY Customer Success team |
Scroll the table sideways to compare each row.
Which should you choose?
Choose Textline if
- Teams handling two-way customer texts
- Support or sales staff sharing conversations
- Businesses that need texting from a browser or mobile app
- Teams that want SMS workflows connected to a CRM
Choose Outbrain if
- Marketers running paid open-internet campaigns
- Teams targeting audiences by location or device
- Advertisers optimizing for traffic, app installs or conversions
- Teams measuring results through conversion tracking
The verdict
The deciding factor is whether you need a customer conversation channel or an advertising channel. Pick Textline for support, sales or operations teams that need to send and receive business texts. Pick Outbrain for marketers buying traffic and measuring campaign results. Neither replaces the other's primary function.
Textline vs Outbrain: common questions
- Are Textline and Outbrain alternatives?
- Not for their main jobs. Textline is business texting software for customer conversations, while Outbrain is an advertising platform for running and measuring paid campaigns.
- Which should I use to reply to customers by text?
- Use Textline for two-way business texting. Its team features include shared conversations, messaging automations and mobile apps for agents.
- Which should I use to bring visitors to my website?
- Outbrain is the fit for paid traffic campaigns. Its advertiser tools support a traffic objective, audience targeting, campaign budgets and performance reporting.
- How does pricing differ between Textline and Outbrain?
- Textline quotes subscription pricing based on a plan, agents and message credits, with applicable registration fees and optional add-ons. Outbrain describes a cost-per-click model in which advertisers set campaign budgets.
- Do either Textline or Outbrain publish usage limits?
- Textline lists 600 monthly message credits for Essentials and 2,000 for Pro. Outbrain's API documentation specifies a $25 daily minimum for newly created USD campaigns; that is an advertising budget requirement, not a message allowance.
- Can I use Textline or Outbrain on my phone?
- Textline publishes iPhone and Android apps for its business users, as well as browser access. Outbrain publishes targeting for ads shown on smartphones, tablets and desktops; that does not establish that it offers an advertiser mobile app.
- What can each product connect to?
- Textline documents HubSpot, a Pro-plan Salesforce integration, an API and webhooks. Outbrain documents conversion tracking through Google Tag Manager or Shopify and provides an Amplify API.