It depends on the characters you use. An SMS is sent in one of two encodings, and each one allows a different number of characters.
| Encoding | Used when | Characters in one SMS |
|---|---|---|
| GSM7 | Every character is in the standard GSM character set (plain English letters, digits and common punctuation) | 160 |
| Unicode | The message contains even one character outside that set, such as Hindi text, an emoji or a curly quote | 70 |
A single Unicode character anywhere in the message switches the whole message to Unicode, dropping the limit from 160 to 70.
Longer messages still work #
Going past the limit doesn’t truncate your message. It is split into parts that the recipient’s phone joins back into one message, and each part is charged (see Why was my message charged as more than one SMS?).
Check before you send #
Open Extra > SMS Length Calculator, paste your message, and it shows the Length, the Encoding it will use and the Cost in message parts. Use it whenever a message is near a limit, or after pasting text from Word, Excel or a web page.
Watch out for #
- Variables. A name or order number inserted at send time counts too, so size your template for the longest value.
- Links. A long URL eats into the limit. Shortening it with a Smart Link helps, and turning off Append HTTP removes the “https://” prefix, saving roughly 6 to 8 characters.
- Line breaks. Each one costs two characters, not one.
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