Securus Text Connect is a paid messaging service that lets friends and family exchange text messages with someone in a participating jail or prison. If you’re trying to decide whether to sign up, or whether a different service makes more sense for your situation, the sections below compare the main options side by side.
You’re probably not here because you love comparing vendors. You’re here because someone you care about is locked up, phone calls are expensive or hard to schedule, and you want a way to stay in touch that doesn’t eat your whole evening. That’s the real decision in front of you.
The choice you’re actually making
Most families end up weighing three things at once: how you want to send messages, what the person inside can actually receive, and what it costs per month. Securus Text Connect is one answer to that. It’s not the only one, and it isn’t available at every facility.
The confusion usually starts at the facility level. A jail in one county may use one vendor; a state prison system may use a different one; a facility may change vendors with little warning. So before you pay for anything, you need to confirm what the specific facility actually supports. Staff at the facility, or the facility’s own website, is the only reliable source for that. Anything you read online, including this article, is general information, not a rulebook for your loved one’s location.
How Securus Text Connect works
With a messaging service like this, you create an account, add the incarcerated person as a contact, and typically wait for them to accept or for the facility to approve the connection. Once that’s done, you can send short text-style messages from your phone or computer.
Two things trip people up. First, approval can take time. Families often assume a message went through when it’s actually still pending. Second, messages are monitored. That’s true of essentially every inmate messaging platform. Write like a corrections officer will read it, because one will.
Pricing and features vary by facility and contract, so the number you see on a signup page may not match what you’re actually billed. Read the terms on the account you’re creating, not a general description.
What else you can send, and what the person inside can do
Text-only messaging is the narrow version of this. Many families want to send photos, longer letters, or both, and those features are often bundled separately or offered by a different provider.
On the receiving end, the experience varies widely. In some facilities, the incarcerated person uses a kiosk or a tablet. In others, access is limited to certain hours or certain housing units. It helps to ask your loved one directly what they can and can’t use, rather than assuming the marketing page reflects their daily reality.
One alternative worth knowing about is InmateDB, which lets families send messages, photos, and letters online. On the inmate side, it also includes things like AI chat, email, Wikipedia, dictionary, news, sports, lessons, trivia, and a private journal. That’s a different scope than a text-only service, and it may or may not be available where your loved one is held. Check first.
Comparing the practical differences
Here’s how the two approaches tend to differ for families making this decision.
- What you can send. Securus Text Connect is built around short messages. InmateDB covers messages, photos, and letters, plus tools the incarcerated person can use on their own.
- What they can do with it. A text thread is a conversation. A platform with email, reading material, and a journal is closer to a daily routine.
- Cost structure. Messaging services often charge per message, per photo, or through monthly plans that vary by facility. InmateDB is $19.99 per month with a 5-day free trial, which makes it easy to test before committing.
- Availability. This is the one that decides everything. Neither option works if the facility doesn’t support it.
If your main need is quick back-and-forth texts and the facility supports it, a text service does that job. If you want to send photos, write longer letters, or give the person inside something to do during long stretches of downtime, a broader platform is usually the better fit.
What to check before you pay
Do these three things in order, and you’ll avoid most of the frustration families run into.
First, confirm the facility’s approved vendor. Call the facility or check its website. Don’t rely on a search result, because vendors change and old pages linger.
Second, ask your loved one what they can actually access. They know whether the tablet works, whether the kiosk is available, and whether there’s a waitlist.
Third, read the billing terms on the account you’re creating. Look for per-message charges, monthly fees, and whether unused balances expire. That last one catches people off guard.
If you’re comparing multiple services, write down the monthly cost and what’s included for each. The cheapest sticker price isn’t always the cheapest month, especially if you’re sending photos or long messages.
An honest recommendation
There’s no single right answer here, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. If the facility supports Securus Text Connect and your main goal is short, frequent messages, it may be all you need. If you want to send photos and letters, keep the incarcerated person occupied, or you’re tired of per-message charges adding up, a platform like InmateDB is worth a look, especially since the trial lets you see whether it fits before you pay.
Start with the facility’s rules. Then pick the tool that matches how you actually want to stay in touch. That order saves time, money, and a lot of second-guessing.