SMS length & pricing calculator

Omnisend’s free SMS calculator helps you budget your SMS marketing based on message length, regional sending costs, and the number of contacts you’ll send to.

Pick from five templates or paste your content into the SMS character counter below. Select your region from the dropdown, the number of contacts in your campaign, and our calculator will provide an accurate price for your campaign.

Message

Characters: 42/918

Parts: 1/6

Choose a template

Cost to send SMS

$ 0.009

Volume tier: $10 - $49.99 Check all volume rates

Number of contacts in your campaign

Total campaign cost:

$0.009

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Preview & text analysis

Copy and paste your text, or write it here

Copy and paste your text, or write it here

Copy and paste your text, or write it here

Regular GSM (7-bit) character

Special symbol in GSM counted as 2 characters

Non-GSM character, encoded using Unicode

How to use the SMS calculator

Enter your message in the Message field. Select one of the five pre-built templates or paste your own into the SMS character counter.
Select your recipient region from the dropdown. The United States of America is set as the default.
Enter the number of contacts in your campaign. The default count is one; add as many as are in your list or segment.

That’s it! Omnisend’s SMS cost calculator automatically shows the campaign price based on our latest rates, and the preview & text analysis below provide a visual.

Why SMS character count matters

One SMS credit equals 160 characters

You get 160 characters for one standard text message using the GSM-7 alphabet. Any number above 160 segments your SMS, with each segment getting 153 characters.

Using emojis reduces the character limit to 70

Emojis and non-Latin characters reduce the character limit to 70. Campaigns using these need the most concise messaging to stay under the limit.

Keep your sending costs in check

Excessive characters tip your texts over one credit into two or three credits, costing you at least double and increasing your marketing costs.

Improve readability and information delivery

Segmented texts reduce readability because your recipient has to read two messages. There’s also a higher likelihood they will miss key information.

GSM vs. Unicode encoding: What's the difference?

GSM

GSM-7 is the standard SMS encoding for English and most Western languages. Texts using the GSM alphabet can contain 160 characters before segmenting.

Unicode

Unicode is the SMS encoding for all global languages. It allows emoji and non-Latin characters, but reduces the standard character count to 70.

Feature	GSM-7	Unicode
Character count	160 before segmentation	70 before segmentation
Multipart messages	Splits into 153-character segments due to a User Data header	Splits into 67-character segments due to a User Data header
Supported content	Latin letters, numbers, standard symbols	All languages and emojis
Why it matters	Cheaper for everyday messaging, ideal for longer texts provided you’ are happy with standard characters	Necessary for languages with special characters, higher probability of your texts segmenting
What to watch out for	Some extended symbols, such as €, {, }, [, ], ~, ^, \, and \|, count as two characters toward your 160 limit	Any non-GSM character (em dashes, curly apostrophes, accented letters, emoji, etc.) forces the switch to Unicode

How Omnisend’s SMS calculator helps

Omnisend’s SMS calculator provides text analysis. Grey symbols are standard GSM characters, green symbols are special characters in GSM that count as two characters, and red symbols use Unicode. You can use our SMS length calculator regardless of the characters you need.

Tips for writing SMS campaigns that stay within limits

Make the most of character limits with these tips:

Use pre-written templates. Omnisend’s SMS calculator has five, including order and shipping confirmation templates. Use these to keep character counts in check.
Pick shorter synonyms. These are alternative words that carry the same meaning. Any word over seven characters is a candidate.
Use contractions. "It’s" instead of it is, "don’t" instead of do not, and so on. You’ll save anywhere from one to four characters.
Remove filler words. Examples include really, actually, real, and very. Consider what words add zero value and strip them entirely.
Write numbers instead of words. 2 instead of two. 13 instead of thirteen. The numerical versions are also easier to read.
Use straight quotes and hyphens. These are GSM-7 friendly. Avoid smart quotes and em dashes, as these tip your SMS into Unicode.
Avoid emojis. Emojis are only supported in Unicode, so adding them to your SMS cuts your character limit to 70 by default.
Add the shortest opt-out language. Omnisend’s default is "Reply STOP to opt-out", taking up only 21 characters of your 160-character limit.
Shorten your links. Use your SMS tool’s built-in URL shortener for branded links. Alternatively, create them manually with a URL shortener.
Check for double spaces. Doubles are easy to miss and take up an extra character. Input your SMS into a spell checker to catch any typos.

Send targeted text messages alongside your email campaigns with Omnisend’s SMS add-on for Pro plan users.

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SMS volume pricing

Price estimated for United States of America

$10 - $49.99

$0.009

$50 - $999.99

$0.0085

$1,000 -$9,999.99

$0.008

$10,000+

$0.007

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