If you're in the United States and within service of Ting and either want a new pay-as-you go phone service provider or have an old phone laying around that you want to get some life into you should give Ting a try.
It's $6 per device/line.
Lowest base rates for minutes/voice/data is $3.
That means that effectively you could activate a device/phone-number and receive a text for $9 plus some fees.
New members to Ting get $25 credit if they use a referral link such as https://zpgs7m15b54.ting.com/
They are a wonderful provider, and even if you just use them for the $25 it's a great value! You could use less than the $25 and decide to not continue your plan.