How many characters are in one SMS, and how many credits will my message use?
Updated
One SMS holds 160 characters of plain text, or 70 characters if it contains any emoji or other special Unicode character. Longer messages are split into parts of 153 (plain text) or 67 (Unicode) characters, and each part sent to each recipient uses one credit.
Plain text (GSM-7)
Standard letters, digits and common punctuation use the GSM-7 alphabet:
| Message length | Credits |
|---|---|
| 1–160 characters | 1 credit per recipient |
| 161–306 characters | 2 credits per recipient |
| 307–459 characters | 3 credits per recipient |
| 460–612 characters | 4 credits per recipient |
Unicode (emoji and special characters)
If a message contains even one character outside GSM-7 — an emoji, a non-Latin script, or certain accented letters — the whole message is sent as Unicode (UCS-2), which holds fewer characters per part:
| Message length | Credits |
|---|---|
| 1–70 characters | 1 credit per recipient |
| 71–134 characters | 2 credits per recipient |
| 135–201 characters | 3 credits per recipient |
| 202–268 characters | 4 credits per recipient |
Text pasted from Word or WhatsApp
Text copied from Word, Google Docs or WhatsApp often contains curly quotes, long dashes and invisible spacing characters that would normally force Unicode. Bulk SMS Uganda automatically converts these look-alike characters (curly quotes and apostrophes, en and em dashes, non-breaking spaces, bullets, ellipses) to their plain equivalents before sending, so a pasted message costs the same as one typed by hand. Emoji are kept as they are and do switch the message to Unicode.
Tips to keep each message to one credit
- Stay within 160 characters of plain text.
- Leave out emoji unless they're worth the extra cost.
- With personalised messages, allow room for the longest name or value in your list.
- Use short links and abbreviations your customers will recognise.
Related questions
How many characters can one SMS have?
160 characters of plain text, or 70 characters if the message contains any emoji or other Unicode character.
Why did my message use 2 credits?
Either it was longer than 160 plain-text characters (70 for Unicode), or it contained an emoji or other Unicode character that reduced the limit to 70. Each part sent to each recipient uses one credit.
Do emoji cost more in SMS?
Yes, indirectly. One emoji switches the whole message to Unicode, where a single SMS holds 70 characters instead of 160, so the message is more likely to need extra credits.
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