---
title: What is Unicode, and Which Characters Are Considered Unicode in SMS?
description: "**Unicode** is a universal character encoding standard designed to help you send SMS messages in various non-English languages, reaching a broader audience seamlessly. Unlike the GSM-7 standard (used for English text), which supports 160 characters per SMS credit, Unicode uses…"
url: "https://www.smsgatewaycenter.com/blog/kb/what-is-unicode-and-which-characters-are-considered-unicode-in-sms/"
updated: "2025-03-05"
category: Bulk SMS / General
---

# What is Unicode, and Which Characters Are Considered Unicode in SMS?

**Unicode** is a universal character encoding standard designed to help you send SMS messages in various non-English languages, reaching a broader audience seamlessly. Unlike the GSM-7 standard (used for English text), which supports 160 characters per SMS credit, Unicode uses UTF-8 encoding to assign a unique number to every character, including those from international scripts. This makes it compatible across browsers, devices, operating systems, and platforms, ensuring your messages display correctly worldwide. Check out **[Text Messages Chart](https://www.smsgatewaycenter.com/developer-api/text-messages-chart/)** guide.

A single Unicode character is a **4-byte** entity, covering all non-English languages—think Hindi, Arabic, Chinese, or Spanish accents—along with special symbols and emojis. However, this expanded capability comes with a trade-off: a standard SMS credit in Unicode is limited to just 70 characters, compared to 160 in GSM-7.

#### Examples of Unicode Characters:

- **Non-English Scripts:** Characters like "ह" (Hindi), "ش" (Arabic), or "ñ" (Spanish).
- **Emojis:** 😊👍 or 🌟—fun additions that enhance engagement.
- **Special Symbols:** ©, ™, or €—commonly used in branding or pricing.
- **Hidden Characters:** Invisible formatting marks (e.g., from copied text) also count as Unicode.

When crafting **[SMS campaigns](https://www.smsgatewaycenter.com)** on **SMSGatewayCenter**, keep in mind that using even one Unicode character shifts the entire message to Unicode encoding, reducing the character limit to 70. To maximize efficiency, stick to GSM-7 for English-only messages or test your content to ensure it fits within the desired credit limit. Ready to **send multilingual SMS**? Log in to our platform and explore the power of **Unicode** today!

### More Related Articles

- [What statuses might I see for scheduled messages?](https://www.smsgatewaycenter.com/blog/kb/what-statuses-might-i-see-for-scheduled-messages/)
- [Can I edit the message content of a scheduled SMS?](https://www.smsgatewaycenter.com/blog/kb/can-i-edit-the-message-content-of-a-scheduled-sms/)
- [Why would I save scheduled messages as a CSV file?](https://www.smsgatewaycenter.com/blog/kb/why-would-i-save-scheduled-messages-as-a-csv-file/)

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