One SMS credit covers a message up to 160 characters long.
If your message is longer, it is split into multiple SMS parts and uses more credits.
If your message includes emojis, special punctuation, or non-English characters, the character limit per credit is lower (70 characters).
Why character limits exist
These character limits are set by:
global SMS standards
mobile networks
They apply to all SMS providers. We don’t control or change these limits.
Standard vs special characters
Standard characters include:
letters
numbers
common punctuation like, !@#$%^&*()-=":,.
Special characters include:
emojis
non-English letters
some special punctuation
If your message contains any special characters, it is sent as Unicode and fewer characters fit into each credit.
Character limits per credit
Credits used | Standard characters | With special characters |
1 credit | 1–160 | 1–70 |
2 credits | 161–306 | 71–134 |
3 credits | 307–459 | 135–201 |
4 credits | 460–612 | 202–268 |
5 credits | 613–765 | 269–335 |
Bulk sends
Credits are multiplied by the number of recipients.
For example:
a 2-credit message sent to 50 people uses 100 credits
Before you send
The Send Messages screen shows the credit cost before you confirm, so you can adjust your message if needed.