Overview
In today's mobile communication landscape, understanding the fundamentals of how text messages work is essential. In this article, we'll demystify what message segments are, how SMS character counts impact your messages, and how the cost of your SMS credits is calculated.
What are message segments and character limits?
An SMS message has a character limit:
Up to 160 characters when using standard GSM encoding (basic Latin alphabet).
Up to 70 characters when using Unicode encoding (e.g., emojis, Chinese, Arabic, or other special characters).
Long messages and segmentation
If your message exceeds these limits, it will be automatically split into multiple segments. The recipient still sees it as one message because the segments are reassembled on their device.
However, multi-part messages have slightly lower character limits per segment due to technical headers added for reassembly.
Segment breakdown
1. GSM encoding:
160 characters for a single-segment message
153 characters per segment for multi-part messages (2+ segments)
2. Unicode encoding:
70 characters for a single-segment message
67 characters per segment for multi-part messages (2+ segments)
How SMS credit costs are calculated
The cost of sending SMS depends on two main factors:
1. Message length
If your message exceeds the character limit, it is divided into multiple segments. Each segment counts separately and consumes additional SMS credits.
2. Destination country
SMS pricing varies by country. Sending a message internationally may cost more depending on local carrier rates.
Example
If you send:
A 320-character GSM message > It will be split into 3 segments (153 + 153 + remaining characters).
A 100-character Unicode message > It will be split into 2 segments (67 + remaining characters).
You will be charged based on the total number of segments sent.
Need help?
If you have any questions, feel free to contact our support team for assistance.