SMS Character Counter
Count SMS characters and calculate message segments. See if your message uses GSM-7 (160 chars) or Unicode (70 chars) encoding.
SMS
160 character limit
Quick Stats
- Words
- 0
- Characters
- 0
- Without spaces
- 0
- SMS Segments
- 0
- Encoding
- GSM-7
About SMS Character Limits
SMS (Short Message Service) has specific character limits based on the encoding used. Understanding these limits helps you craft effective text messages while managing costs, especially for SMS marketing campaigns.
Encoding Types
- GSM-7 (160 characters): Standard Latin letters, numbers, and basic punctuation
- Unicode (70 characters): Emojis, special characters, non-Latin scripts
Multi-part Messages
When messages exceed the single-segment limit, they are split into multiple segments. Multi-part messages use some characters for concatenation headers, reducing the usable characters to 153 (GSM-7) or 67 (Unicode) per segment.
Related Tools
Frequently Asked Questions
A single SMS message can contain 160 characters using standard GSM-7 encoding. If you use special characters, emojis, or non-Latin scripts, the limit drops to 70 characters per segment (Unicode encoding).
When your message exceeds the character limit, it is split into multiple segments. Each segment is sent as a separate SMS and may be charged individually. The counter shows how many segments your message will use.
Emojis and special characters require Unicode encoding, which uses more data per character than standard GSM-7. This reduces the characters per segment from 160 to 70.