I've done a ton of SMS research, and the price Twilio charges for SMS is very competitive. One time I had this crazy idea that I never followed through on. Tak

I've done a ton of SMS research, and the price Twilio charges for SMS is very competitive. One time I had this crazy idea that I never followed through on. Take several pay as you go cell phones with unlimited texting, connect them (bluetooth or USB) to your server, and send out messages through the phones. It's likely to be against the Cell company's TOS, but it seems like it would work. Also, investigate the SMS alternatives. Since almost everyone has a smart phone, push notifications (or even boring old email) is almost as good.