AT&T Email-to-Text Service Shuts Down June 17, 2025: Impact & Top Alternatives
On June 17, 2025, AT&T will pull the plug on its long-standing email-to-text (and text-to-email) gateway—ending nearly two decades of free interoperability between SMS and standard email. Whether you’ve used it to send a quick “on my way” from your laptop, hooked your server-monitoring alerts into 📧→📱 notifications, or simply preferred typing on a full keyboard, this change will affect both casual users and businesses alike.
A Brief History of Email-to-Text
Shortly after the rise of SMS in the early 2000s, carriers like AT&T introduced address-based gateways—simply send an email :
10-digit-number@txt.att.net
or for an SMS or for an MMS:
10-digit-number@mms.att.net
The Official AT&T Announcement
On March 25, 2025, AT&T posted this notice on its Support site: AT&T
Say goodbye to email-to-text and text-to-email
Starting June 17, 2025, you won’t be able to send or receive texts using email.
This means you won’t be able to use email to send or receive texts. Also, others who have AT&T Wireless℠ won’t be able to use email to send you a text or use text to send you an email.
AT&T has left questions about “why” largely unanswered—though widespread abuse by spammers and low usage among its customer base likely played a role.
Who’s Impacted?
- Individual Users
- Parents emailing kids’ phones.
- Users forwarding urgent alerts from email providers.
- Small Businesses & Organizations
- Appointment-reminder services (e.g., salons, dentists).
- Community-group coordinators and event promoters.
- Developers & IT Teams
- Home-brewed monitoring scripts (Nagios, Zabbix) emailing alerts to on-call staff.
- DIY IoT projects for home automation or telemetry.
- FirstNet & IoT Accounts
- AT&T points out that FirstNet, Business Wireless, and IoT customers should review impacts on their specialized accounts AT&T.
Possible Alternatives
1. Carrier-Specific Email Gateways
- Verizon:
number@vtext.com(SMS) andnumber@vzwpix.com(MMS) - T-Mobile / MetroPCS:
number@tmomail.net - Sprint (now part of T-Mobile):
number@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Downside: Only works if your recipients use those carriers.
2. SMTP-to-SMS APIs
- Twilio (https://www.twilio.com/sms)
- Vonage (Nexmo) (https://www.vonage.com/communications-apis/sms/)
- AWS SNS (https://aws.amazon.com/sns/)
Pros: Reliable delivery, two-way messaging, SLA-backed.
Cons: Per-message fees (often $0.0075–$0.01/SMS).
3. Business-Grade SMS Gateways
- MessageBird, Plivo, Bandwidth—these platforms offer higher throughput and compliance features, ideal for appointment reminders, alerts, or marketing.
4. Email-to-Push Notification Services
If your use case is simple alerts, consider:
- Pushbullet, Pushover, or cloudHQ Mobile Text Alerts for Gmail cloudHQ
- These let you receive messages as push notifications rather than SMS—sometimes faster, always cost-free beyond subscription fees.
5. Hybrid Approaches
- IFTTT or Zapier can bridge email to SMS via third-party connectors.
- Open-source Bots on your own server, using free SMS credits from services like Twilio trial accounts.
Preparing for the Cutoff
- Inventory Your Workflows: Search your email folders and scripts for
@txt.att.netand@mms.att.net. - Test Alternatives Now: Don’t wait until June 16—set up your new gateway, send test messages, and verify delivery.
- Notify Your Contacts: If friends, family, or customers expect SMS from your email address, let them know to switch to standard texting or your chosen new service.
What Do You Think?
Will you lose email-to-text functionality for personal convenience or critical alerts? Which alternative are you planning to adopt? Post your thoughts and solutions below, and share any tips you’ve discovered for a smooth transition away from AT&T’s sunsetted gateway.