SMS length calculatorKnow what a text costs before you send it.
A free tool, no sign-up. Paste a message to see how many segments it uses, its character count and whether it's encoded as GSM-7 or Unicode. One emoji can halve the characters you get per segment — and double the cost of a campaign.
Message details
| Segments | Message Length | Max Segment Length | Encoding Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33 | 70 | Unicode |
Message breakdown
- GSM-7 character
- GSM-7 extension (counts as two)
- Unicode (not in GSM-7)
How many characters are in one SMS?
One SMS holds up to 160 characters when it uses only the standard GSM-7 character set, or 70 characters if it contains any emoji or other Unicode character. Longer messages are split into segments of 153 (GSM-7) or 67 (Unicode) characters, and each segment is billed as one message. Paste a message above to count yours.
- Single SMS, GSM-7
- 160 characters
- Single SMS, Unicode
- 70 characters
- Per segment in long messages
- 153 GSM-7 · 67 Unicode
- Count as two
- | ^ € { } [ ] ~
- Price
- Free, no sign-up
Segments explained
What is an SMS segment, and how is it billed?
Carriers don't send long texts as one piece. They split them into segments and charge for each one. Your customer still sees a single message — but you pay per segment.
1. Plain text: 160 characters
A message using only standard letters, numbers and common punctuation (the GSM-7 set) fits 160 characters in one segment. Longer messages split into segments of 153 — the other 7 characters carry the "part 1 of 3" information that stitches them back together.
2. One emoji changes everything
Add a single emoji, a curly quote or an accented letter outside GSM-7 and the whole message switches to Unicode. Then a segment holds only 70 characters, or 67 per segment in longer messages — so the same text can cost two or three times as much.
3. Some characters count double
The GSM-7 extension characters | ^ € { } [ ] ~ and the backslash count as two characters each. Most emoji count as two characters as well, and combined emoji — skin tones, flags, families — count as four or more.
How many characters does an emoji use?
| Emoji | What it is | Counts as |
|---|---|---|
| 😊 | Most standard emoji | 2 characters |
| 👍 | Thumbs up | 2 characters |
| ❤️ | Red heart (heart + style marker) | 2 characters |
| 👍🏽 | Emoji with a skin tone | 4 characters |
| 🇺🇸 | Country flag | 4 characters |
| 👨👩👧 | Family and other combined emoji | 8 characters |
Counts are within the 70-character Unicode limit. Paste any emoji into the calculator above to check it.
What does that mean for cost?
Examples at TalkerIQ's SMS rate of $0.03 per segment (texts beyond your plan's allowance, or on pay as you go).
| Message | Why | Segments | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Hi Sam, your appointment is confirmed for 3 PM tomorrow. Reply STOP to opt out." (79 characters) | Plain text, under 160 | 1 | $0.03 |
| The same message ending with 😊 (81 characters) | The emoji switches it to Unicode, and 81 is over 70 | 2 | $0.06 |
| A 300-character plain-text reminder | Over 160, so split into 153-character segments | 2 | $0.06 |
| A 300-character reminder with one emoji | Unicode, split into 67-character segments | 5 | $0.15 |
Replies count too
Every text sent or received is counted per segment. A customer's long reply uses segments from your SMS allowance just like your own messages.
AI SMS messages
Each text the AI SMS agent writes and sends counts as one AI SMS message per segment. Pro includes 300 per user; after that they're $0.04 each, or $0.05 on pay as you go.
How to stay in one segment
Keep campaign texts under 160 characters, skip emoji in bulk messages, use straight quotes (' ") instead of curly ones, and avoid € and brackets. Paste your draft into the calculator above before you send.
See SMS allowances by plan on TalkerIQ pricing, or learn more about bulk SMS campaigns.
Reference
How does message length turn into segments — and cost?
Assuming GSM-7 encoding. Each segment is charged as one message.
| Characters (GSM-7) | Segments | Charged as |
|---|---|---|
| 0 – 160 | 1 | 1 message |
| 161 – 306 | 2 | 2 messages |
| 307 – 459 | 3 | 3 messages |
| 460 – 612 | 4 | 4 messages |
| 613 – 765 | 5 | 5 messages |
| 766 – 918 | 6 | 6 messages |
| 919 – 1,071 | 7 | 7 messages |
| 1,072 – 1,224 | 8 | 8 messages |
| 1,225 – 1,377 | 9 | 9 messages |
| 1,378 – 1,530 | 10 | 10 messages |
GSM-7 encoding
The standard SMS character set: Latin letters, digits and common symbols. Up to 160 characters in a single segment, 153 per segment in longer messages.
UCS-2 (Unicode) encoding
Uses 16 bits per character to support emoji and other scripts. Up to 70 characters in a single segment, 67 per segment in longer messages.
GSM-7 extension characters
| ^ € { } [ ] ~ are in GSM-7 but count as two characters each, so they can push a message over the limit.
Character sets
Which characters keep you in GSM-7?
GSM-7 characters
- @
- £
- $
- ¥
- è
- é
- ù
- ì
- ò
- Ç
- Ø
- ø
- Å
- å
- Δ
- _
- Φ
- Γ
- Λ
- Ω
- Π
- Ψ
- Σ
- Θ
- Ξ
- ESC
- Æ
- æ
- ß
- É
- !
- "
- #
- ¤
- %
- &
- '
- (
- )
- *
- +
- ,
- -
- .
- /
- 0-9
- :
- ;
- <
- =
- >
- ?
- ¡
- A-Z
- Ä
- Ö
- Ñ
- Ü
- §
- ¿
- a-z
- ä
- ö
- ñ
- ü
- à
GSM-7 extension characters (count as two)
- |
- ^
- €
- {
- }
- [
- ]
- ~
Common Unicode characters
Any of these switches the whole message to Unicode and drops each segment from 160 to 70 characters.
Emoji (partial list)
😀 😁 😂 🤣 😃 😄 😅 😆 😉 😊 😋 😎 😍 😘 🥰 😗 😙 😚 🙂 🤗 🤩 🤔 🤨 😐 😑 😶 🙄 😏 😣 😥 😮 🤐 😯 😪 😫 😴 😌 😛 😜 😝 🤤 😒 😓 😔 😕 🙃 🤑 😲 🙁 😖 😞 😟 😤 😢 😭 😦 😧 😨 😩 🤯 😬 😰 😱 🥵 🥶 😳 🤪 😵 😡 😠 🤬 😷 🤒 🤕 🤢 🤮 🤧 😇 🤠 🤡 🥳 🥴 🥺 🤥 🤫 🤭 🧐 🤓 😈 👿 👹 👺 💀 👻 👽 🤖 💩 😺 😸 😹 😻 😼 😽 🙀 😿 😾
Non-emoji Unicode characters
¢ ¦ ¨ © ª « ¬ ® ¯ ° ± ¹ ² ³ ´ µ ¶ · ¸ º » ¼ ½ ¾ À Á Â Ã È Ê Ë Ì Í Î Ï Ð Ò Ó Ô Õ × Ù Ú Û Ý Þ á â ã ç ê ë í î ï ð ó ô õ ÷ ú û ý þ ÿ
Compare
GSM-7 vs. Unicode: what changes when you add an emoji?
Encoding is set for the whole message, not per character. One non-GSM character switches everything.
| GSM-7 | Unicode (UCS-2) | |
|---|---|---|
| Characters supported | Latin letters, digits, common symbols, some accented letters | Everything: emoji, curly quotes, most accented letters, non-Latin scripts |
| Single-segment limit | 160 characters | 70 characters |
| Per segment in long messages | 153 characters | 67 characters |
| Usually triggered by | Plain text typed on a keyboard | An emoji, a pasted “smart quote”, or letters like á, ê, ç |
| A 200-character reminder | 2 segments | 3 segments |
| Best for | Reminders, confirmations, bulk campaigns | Non-Latin languages, or when an emoji is worth the cost |
Worked example
One appointment reminder, from four segments to one.
A dental practice in healthcare sends a reminder to every patient booked tomorrow. Here's what three drafts of the same message cost, checked with the calculator above.
- Friendly, with an emoji and curly quotes — 207 Unicode characters, 4 segments
“Hi Sarah! 😊 Just a friendly reminder that your appointment with Dr. Patel is tomorrow, Thursday at 2:30 PM. Please arrive 10 minutes early. Reply “C” to confirm or call us if you need to reschedule. Thanks!” The emoji and the pasted curly quotes switch the whole message to Unicode.
- Emoji removed, straight quotes — 204 GSM-7 characters, 2 segments
Same words, plain quotes, no emoji. The message drops back to GSM-7 and the cost halves — but at 204 characters it still splits in two.
- Trimmed — 138 GSM-7 characters, 1 segment
“Hi Sarah, reminder: Dr. Patel tomorrow (Thu) at 2:30 PM. Please arrive 10 min early. Reply C to confirm or R to reschedule. - Smile Dental” One segment, and the brand name carriers expect is still in it.
- 2,000 patients: 8,000 segments → 2,000
Across a 2,000-patient reminder list, draft 1 bills 8,000 segments, draft 2 bills 4,000 and draft 3 bills 2,000 — for the same appointment. Replies like “R” land in the shared SMS inbox or go to the AI SMS agent to rebook.
Sending at scale?
Small savings per text add up across a campaign.
On a single conversation, an extra segment barely matters. On a campaign to thousands of contacts, one emoji or a long link can double what you pay. The TalkerIQ bulk SMS service shows the segment count as you write, so you can trim before you send — and every reply comes back to your team or the AI agent. If you text from US local numbers, make sure your 10DLC registration is done first; sample messages you register should match what you actually send.
Need a photo instead? MMS isn't counted in character segments. And for everyday one-to-one replies, two-way SMS for business is included in every TalkerIQ plan from $29/user/mo billed annually, counted per segment.
- Remove emoji and special characters to stay in GSM-7
- Stay under 160 characters (or 70 if you need Unicode)
- Watch extension characters — € ^ { } [ ] | ~ count as two
- Shorten links to save characters
Spring tune-up campaignSample data
FAQ
Questions about SMS length and segments
Still unsure? Talk to our team.
Reviewed by the TalkerIQ product team · Updated
How many characters can one text message have?
One SMS holds up to 160 characters if it uses only GSM-7 characters, or 70 characters if it includes any emoji or other Unicode character. Longer messages are split into several segments and reassembled on the recipient's phone, so they still arrive as one message.
What is an SMS segment?
Carriers measure text messages in batches of characters called segments. A segment is up to 160 characters with GSM-7 encoding or 70 characters with Unicode (UCS-2), and each segment is billed as one message.
Why does my 160-character text count as two messages?
Usually because one character switched it to Unicode — an emoji, a curly quote pasted from a word processor, or an accented letter outside GSM-7 — which drops the limit to 70 characters. GSM-7 extension characters such as € or { also count as two characters each and can push a message past 160.
When does a text message split into multiple segments?
As soon as it exceeds the single-segment limit of its encoding. For GSM-7 that is 160 characters, after which each segment holds 153; for Unicode it is 70 characters, after which each segment holds 67, because part of each segment is used to stitch the message back together.
Do emoji make text messages more expensive?
Often, yes. A single emoji switches the whole message to Unicode, so each segment holds 70 characters instead of 160. A message that would have been one segment can become two or three, and each segment is billed.
How will TalkerIQ encode my text message?
TalkerIQ automatically uses the most compact encoding possible. If the message only uses GSM-7 characters it is sent as GSM-7; if any other character is included, the entire message is encoded as UCS-2 (Unicode), which limits each segment to 70 characters.
How are SMS messages billed on TalkerIQ?
TalkerIQ counts SMS per message segment. Every plan includes a monthly SMS allowance, starting with Starter at $39/user/mo ($29 billed annually), and extra messages are $0.03 per segment; rates for international destinations depend on the country.
Is MMS counted in segments too?
No. MMS messages carry photos or files and are counted as a single multimedia message rather than by character segments. Use MMS when you need to send an image; use SMS for short, text-only updates.
Keep exploring
Send texts people reply to — from your business number.
Book a 30-minute walkthrough of TalkerIQ texting: two-way SMS, bulk campaigns, a shared inbox and AI replies.