10DLC Rate Limits & Throughput

Understand AT&T and T-Mobile 10DLC rate limits by vetting score, campaign type, and carrier. Optimize your brand score for higher throughput.

Your 10DLC throughput is determined by your brand vetting score and campaign type. Each carrier (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon) applies different rate limits. Understanding these limits helps you plan capacity and optimize for higher throughput.

---

AT&T throughput

AT&T assigns throughput per campaign based on a Message Class, determined by your use case type and vetting score.

Message Class	Use Case	Vetting Score	SMS TPM	MMS TPM
A	Standard (Dedicated)	75-100	4,500	2,400
B	Standard (Mixed/Marketing)	75-100	4,500	2,400
C	Standard (Dedicated)	50-74	2,400	1,200
D	Standard (Mixed/Marketing)	50-74	2,400	1,200
E	Standard (Dedicated)	1-49	240	150
F	Standard (Mixed/Marketing)	1-49	240	150
T	Low Volume Mixed	Any	75	50
W	Sole Proprietor	N/A	15	50

Special use cases (fixed throughput regardless of vetting score):

Message Class	Use Case	SMS TPM	MMS TPM
K	Political	4,500	2,400
P	Charity / Nonprofit	2,400	1,200
S	Social	9,000	2,400
X	Emergency / Public Safety	4,500	2,400
G	Proxy (per number)	60	50
N	Agents & Franchises (per number)	60	50

TPM = Throughput Per Minute. AT&T measures throughput in messages per minute, not per second. To convert: 4,500 TPM ≈ 75 MPS.

---

T-Mobile throughput

T-Mobile uses daily message caps at the brand level, shared across all campaigns under that brand.

Brand Tier	Vetting Score	Daily SMS Cap
Top	75-100	200,000
High	50-74	40,000
Medium	25-49	10,000
Basic	1-24	2,000
Sole Proprietor	N/A	1,000

T-Mobile caps are per brand, not per campaign. If you have 3 campaigns under one brand, they share the same daily cap. Plan accordingly for high-volume use cases.

Unvetted brands default to the Basic tier (2,000/day) unless the business is listed on the Russell 3000 index.

---

Verizon throughput

Verizon has not published specific throughput numbers for 10DLC. They use content-based filtering rather than explicit rate limits. Messages that comply with your registered campaign use case are generally delivered without throttling.

---

Vetting score impact

Your brand’s vetting score (0-100) is the single most important factor in determining throughput:

Score Range	AT&T SMS TPM	T-Mobile Daily Cap	Recommendation
75-100	4,500	200,000	✅ Ideal for production
50-74	2,400	40,000	⚠️ Adequate for moderate volume
25-49	240	10,000	⚠️ Limited — consider enhanced vetting
1-24	240	2,000	❌ Very limited — improve score
Unvetted	240	2,000	❌ Get vetted immediately

---

Check your brand and campaign scores

curl

# Get brand details including vetting score
curl -s https://api.telnyx.com/v2/10dlc/brand/{brandId} \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" | jq '{
    brandId: .data.brandId,
    displayName: .data.displayName,
    identityStatus: .data.identityStatus,
    vettingScore: .data.vettingScore
  }'

# List campaigns with throughput info
curl -s https://api.telnyx.com/v2/10dlc/campaign \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" | jq '.data[] | {
    campaignId: .campaignId,
    usecase: .usecase,
    attMsgClass: .attMsgClass,
    attTpm: .attTpm,
    tMobileBrandTier: .tMobileBrandTier
  }'

import os
import requests

API_KEY = os.environ.get("TELNYX_API_KEY")
headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"}

# Check brand vetting score
brand_id = "your_brand_id"
response = requests.get(
    f"https://api.telnyx.com/v2/10dlc/brand/{brand_id}",
    headers=headers,
)
brand = response.json()["data"]
print(f"Brand: {brand['displayName']}")
print(f"Vetting Score: {brand.get('vettingScore', 'Not vetted')}")
print(f"Identity Status: {brand['identityStatus']}")

# Check campaign throughput
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.telnyx.com/v2/10dlc/campaign",
    headers=headers,
)
for campaign in response.json()["data"]:
    print(f"\nCampaign: {campaign['campaignId']}")
    print(f"  Use Case: {campaign['usecase']}")
    print(f"  AT&T Class: {campaign.get('attMsgClass', 'N/A')}")

const axios = require('axios');

const headers = {
  Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.TELNYX_API_KEY}`,
};

// Check brand vetting score
const brandId = 'your_brand_id';
const brand = await axios.get(
  `https://api.telnyx.com/v2/10dlc/brand/${brandId}`,
  { headers }
);
console.log(`Brand: ${brand.data.data.displayName}`);
console.log(`Vetting Score: ${brand.data.data.vettingScore ?? 'Not vetted'}`);

// Check campaigns
const campaigns = await axios.get(
  'https://api.telnyx.com/v2/10dlc/campaign',
  { headers }
);
campaigns.data.data.forEach(c => {
  console.log(`\nCampaign: ${c.campaignId} (${c.usecase})`);
  console.log(`  AT&T Class: ${c.attMsgClass ?? 'N/A'}`);
});

---

Maximize your throughput

1. Get vetted with a high score

   The most impactful action. Ensure before vetting:

   • Website is live and matches your brand information
   • EIN matches your legal business name exactly (IRS records)
   • Phone number is findable via Google for your business
   • Email domain matches your website domain
   • Business address is verifiable
2. Choose the right use case

   Some use cases have higher default throughput:

   • Social campaigns get 9,000 TPM on AT&T
   • Political and Emergency get 4,500 TPM
   • Mixed campaigns work for most businesses

   Don’t misrepresent your use case — carriers audit campaigns.

3. Request enhanced vetting

   If your initial score is below 75, consider requesting enhanced vetting for a more thorough review. Contact Telnyx support for guidance.

4. Use multiple numbers for higher aggregate throughput

   Assign multiple phone numbers to your campaign. While per-campaign limits still apply, distributing across numbers helps with carrier-level delivery patterns.

5. Monitor and optimize

   Track delivery rates via Message Detail Records. High error rates may indicate you’re hitting limits. Adjust sending patterns accordingly.

---

Compliance checklist

Carriers can reduce your throughput or reject campaigns that don’t follow these guidelines:

Requirement	Details
✅ Website domain = email domain	[e-mail] + acme.com
✅ Company name matches website	Consistent branding across registration
✅ Clear opt-in on website	SMS consent checkbox visible near submit button
✅ Detailed campaign description	Specific, not vague or generic
✅ Sample messages match use case	Realistic and representative
✅ No disallowed content	No SHAFT, cannabis, payday lending, sweepstakes
✅ Opt-out language in messages	Include “Reply STOP to unsubscribe”

Disallowed use cases

The following use cases will be rejected or result in very low throughput:

• Unsolicited messaging (cold outreach, lead generation spam)
• Non-direct lending (3rd party auto loans, payday loans)
• Indirect debt collection
• Cannabis or CBD marketing
• Gambling (unless licensed)
• SHAFT content (Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco)
• Sweepstakes and “free giveaway” campaigns

---

Related resources

10DLC Quickstart

Register your brand and campaign for 10DLC messaging.

Event Notifications

Receive webhooks for brand vetting and campaign status changes.

Rate Limiting

General messaging rate limits for all sender types.

Message Detail Records

Track delivery rates and identify throughput issues.