Does SMS charging confuse you? You’re not alone. Understanding how SMS messages are charged is not completely straight-forward. There’s a few things to keep in mind before sending an SMS. Here we’ll go into how they are charged, some general rules to follow and some examples.
SMS are charged based on three things: where you are sending them to (to determine the per message cost), how long the message is and the content of the message.
SMS messages are sent in segments which have a maximum length. The more segments your SMS contains, the more it costs to send. Remember, you are charged for each segment, not message.
A general rule to follow
The general rule to follow is:
- If you use standard characters, you will be charged for a single message if it is less than 160 characters.
- If you use non-standard characters, you will be charged for a single message if it is less than 70 characters.
Standard characters are characters in the GSM-7 character set. These characters include the letters, numbers and symbols on a standard mobile phone keyboard. Non-standard characters are everything else, e.g. an emoji.
Multi-part messages
The rules change slightly when the length of a length is exceeded. It’s important to remember:
- If you use standard characters and your SMS message exceeds 160 characters, your message will be divided into segments, where each segment contains 153 characters.
- If you use non-standard characters and your SMS message exceeds 70 characters, your message will be divided into segments, where each segment contains 67 characters.
Examples
Below are some examples to make the rules are little easier to understand:
- If you send a message that only contains standard characters and is 120 characters long, you will be charged for one message. This is because the message does not exceed 160 characters.
- If you send a message that only contains standard characters and is 200 characters long, you will be charged for two messages. This is because the message is split into segments of 153 characters. It takes two segments to send 200 characters, so you will be charged for two messages.
- If you send a message that contains an emoji and is 40 characters long, you will only be charged for one message. This is because the message does not exceed 70 non-standard characters.
- If you send a message that contains an emoji and is 150 characters long, you will be charged for three messages. This is because the message is split into segments of 70 non-standard characters. It takes three segments to send 150 characters, so you will be charged for three messages.
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