Hustle vs. RumbleUp: Which Peer-to-Peer Texting Platform is Right for You? [2025]

Hustle vs RumbleUp: One is best for democratic campaigns, the other for premium, bespoke, white-glove P2P texting.

If you've ever volunteered for a political campaign or worked at a nonprofit, you know that reaching people where they are - on their phones - is crucial. And while blast texting has its place, there's something powerful about peer-to-peer (P2P) texting that makes recipients feel like they're having a real conversation with a real person - because they are.

Two names dominate the P2P texting space: Hustle vs RumbleUp. While they may seem similar at first glance (both enable organizations to send personalized text messages at scale), they've evolved to serve different markets with distinct philosophies.

I've spent time exploring both platforms. Here's what I discovered about how Hustle vs RumbleUp stack up in 2025.

Table of contents:

• Hustle vs. RumbleUp at a glance
• The political divide is real (and it matters)
• RumbleUp is more transparent about pricing
• Both platforms make P2P texting fast, but with different approaches
• RumbleUp offers more advanced multimedia features
• Both platforms are embracing video, but differently
• RumbleUp has the edge in customer support
• RumbleUp's custom feature development truly sets it apart
• Hustle vs. RumbleUp: Which should you choose?

Hustle vs RumbleUp at a glance

Here's the main difference: While both platforms offer peer-to-peer texting capabilities, they've evolved to serve different political and organizational ecosystems.

👉 Hustle is best for progressive organizations and Democratic campaigns. Since 2017, it has exclusively served left-leaning causes, offering a streamlined platform that focuses on speed and simplicity.

👉 RumbleUp is best for organizations seeking premium, bespoke, white-glove P2P texting. While it emerged to serve center-right to conservative campaigns after Hustle went exclusively progressive, RumbleUp does not discriminate based on party affiliation. It's become the platform of choice for all campaigns and organizations that prioritize exceptional support, custom solutions, and the highest delivery rates in the industry.

If RumbleUp sounds like the partner you’re after, book a free demo to see the platform in action.

The political divide is real (and it matters)

Let's address the elephant (and donkey) in the room: Hustle has chosen a side in American politics, and that choice fundamentally affects who can use their platform.

Following the 2016 election, Hustle decided to work exclusively with Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations. This left center-right to conservative campaigns and organizations without a comparable P2P texting solution.

RumbleUp was launched in December 2017 by Thomas Peters specifically to fill the gap left by Hustle after its decision.

While RumbleUp emerged to serve this conservative-leaning market, the platform does not discriminate based on party affiliation and serves clients across the political spectrum. This division isn't just about politics - it also affects features and philosophy. While Hustle tends to focus on volunteer mobilization and grassroots organizing features that align with progressive campaign strategies, RumbleUp has invested heavily in providing premium support, custom feature development, and industry-leading delivery rates that matter to any sophisticated operations team.

RumbleUp is more transparent about pricing

When researching Hustle's pricing, you'll notice that all CTAs on their main website lead to a demo page for "custom pricing." However, if you dig deeper and search specifically for "Hustle Pricing," you can find their actual pricing structure:

• Pay-as-you-go (PAYGO): $100 setup fee & $0.04 per SMS segment
• Annual commitment: Starts at $10,000/year with volume discounts
  
  

While this pricing exists, the fact that it's not easily accessible from their main navigation suggests they prefer to push prospects toward custom pricing conversations.

RumbleUp takes a more upfront approach. The costs associated with their plans are clearly laid out on the pricing page, accompanied by a handy FAQ section and an outline of essential features that come with all accounts, including free incoming replies, free landline list cleaning, and more.

• Standard: $19/month & $5 new account charge & $0.03 per SMS segment, $0.08 per 2000 character MMS message, +$0.04 video surcharge, +$0.025 optional outsourcing surcharge, +$0.05 optional full-service surcharge
• Custom: $19/month & reduced pricing available for all costs based on volume, volume agreements, or pre-purchase. 
  
  

All clients can start with a 14-day free trial under the TCR free trial use case, and they even offer a complimentary "Texting Audit" that benchmarks your current provider's price, delivery rates, and response rates against RumbleUp's.

Both platforms make P2P texting fast, but with different approaches

The whole point of peer-to-peer texting is that it's personal since a human sends each message. However, that doesn't mean it has to be slow.

Hustle users have praised the platform's speed. The interface is designed for rapid-fire sending, allowing volunteers to press "Send" repeatedly to push messages out quickly while still maintaining that human touch.

Image source: Hustle

RumbleUp takes a slightly different approach, incorporating speed at multiple levels of the process - not just sending. They also have an interface designed for rapid-fire sending, but also enable clients to respond just as quickly with their “Rapid Response Mode” mode and “Tap-then-Send” responses.

In addition, thanks to both active and automated traffic monitoring that enables immediate detection and resolution of issues, RumbleUp also boasts one of the highest proven delivery rates and reliability in the industry. During the 2018 midterms, when other P2P providers crashed due to volume, RumbleUp was the only platform that remained fully operational.

Both platforms track every conversation, allowing clients to see what resonates and what doesn't based on replies from contacts. However, RumbleUp goes further with transparent reporting that shows exactly what happens with messages, including delivery throughout the entire chain from the connectivity provider to the handset. They also offer features like A/B testing built into the platform, as well as dynamic tagging for advanced data collection and retargeting based on conversation outcomes.

These additional features enable clients to see what worked on both a conversational and technical level, allowing them to quickly pivot their strategy for their next send and achieve their unique goals. 

RumbleUp offers more advanced multimedia features

While both platforms support basic MMS (multimedia messages), RumbleUp has pushed the envelope on what's possible with multimedia texting.

RumbleUp supports media files in .png, .jpg, .gif, .mov, and .mp4 formats, with a maximum size of 750KB, rigorously tested to ensure the ideal size for successful delivery at the carrier level. This means you can send higher-quality images, longer GIFs, and even short video clips without worrying about compression destroying your message or carriers blocking your traffic.

They also offer up to 2000 characters when using Enhanced Video Texting - more than 12 times the standard 160-character limit. This might not sound like much, but when you're trying to craft the perfect message that includes context, a call to action, and a compelling video, those extra characters make all the difference.

Both platforms are embracing video, but differently

Video is increasingly important in digital organizing, and both platforms have developed their own approaches to incorporating it.

Hustle offers Hustle Studio, which allows users to send “vertical video stories” via text. Existing short-form videos from social media or personalized videos for VIP supporters can be distributed with this tool. The focus is on repurposing existing content and making it accessible through text.

Image Source: Hustle

RumbleUp's Enhanced Video Texting (EVT) technology takes a more comprehensive approach. Having received 14 industry awards since its launch in 2020, EVT was the first to introduce embedded video texting capabilities in the texting industry. It allows embedding videos up to 60 seconds long, from made-for-TV level quality to direct-to-camera selfie videos, directly within text messages.

The platform also features:

• In-portal video compression
• Custom preview thumbnails
• Subtitle editing capabilities with multilingual support
• Carrier-optimized presets to seamlessly transform videos to fit mobile streaming parameters without compromising audio or video quality
  
  

This feature is particularly powerful for political campaigns that want to deliver multiple styles of video content directly to supporters' phones without requiring them to click on external links.

RumbleUp has the edge with customer support

When you're in the heat of an election cycle or up against a hard deadline and something goes wrong, you need help immediately. This is where RumbleUp shines.

RumbleUp's primary differentiator is its exceptional customer support, which is provided equally to all clients, regardless of their size via email, phone and video call. Whether serving a presidential campaign or a local school board, every client receives the same premium support level from P2P texting experts available seven days a week. This support extends beyond basic account questions to include:

• Onboarding sessions
• 10DLC registration support
• Strategic message plan guidance
• Troubleshooting message delivery statuses
• Integration and API implementation
• Help with best practices

The company maintains a 95% customer retention rate, primarily attributed to this high quality of support. They offer live phone support, email support, webinar training, and even outsourced sending teams if needed.

Hustle offers support, too, but only through email, which is a problem because if something isn't working and you need to fix it fast.

RumbleUp's custom feature development really sets it apart

Unlike competitors who charge for custom development or don't offer it, RumbleUp regularly builds custom integrations and features that add value for clients at no additional cost, included as part of their contracts. This client-influenced development approach means the platform continuously evolves based on real user needs rather than generic market assumptions.

Recent additions include:

• AI Assist for message writing, powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT-4o model, which takes prompts along with "tone" and "message use case" inputs to provide multiple message variations instantaneously
• Campaign Verify integration for simplified, in-portal 10DLC registration
• Master and subaccount linking for agencies managing multiple clients
• Collaboration with Sparkfire.ai to develop an advanced native interface for conversational AI (coming soon)

Any client can reach out to the support team for assistance with implementing integrations, utilizing APIs, and accessing Zapier support for thousands of other apps to meet personalized needs that extend beyond the RumbleUp platform.

Hustle vs. RumbleUp: Which should you choose?

The choice between Hustle and RumbleUp isn't about features - it's about alignment. These platforms have chosen their camps, and that choice determines who can use them.

Choose Hustle if:

• You're working for a Democratic campaign or progressive organization (required)
• You value simplicity and speed above all else
• You don't need extensive customization or white-glove support
  
  

Click here to get started with Hustle.

Choose RumbleUp if:

• You want premium white-glove support over email, phone and video call
• You need the highest proven delivery rates in the industry
• You want advanced multimedia capabilities, including award-winning video texting
• You need a platform that can build custom features at no additional cost
• You want a true partner invested in your success, not just a vendor
  
  

Click here to get started with RumbleUp.

The irony is that in an ideal world, both platforms would be equally accessible to everyone, and organizations could choose based purely on features and price. But Hustle has limited itself to serving only progressive causes, while RumbleUp has positioned itself as the premium choice for organizations that demand excellence regardless of political affiliation.

At the end of the day, both platforms deliver on their promise: they enable organizations to have personalized conversations at scale. However, if you're seeking a platform that surpasses the basics to provide exceptional support, customized solutions, and industry-leading technology, RumbleUp represents the premium choice in peer-to-peer texting.

Note: The political landscape and platform features evolve rapidly. While this comparison is current as of June 2025, be sure to verify the latest features and pricing with each platform directly.