Long Messages

A standard SMS message contains a maximum of 160 characters. Longer messages are possible, however please be aware that exceeding 160 characters will constitute, and be charged, as an additional message even though the recipient will see your message as a single message on their handset.

When a message is longer than 160 characters, this is referred to as a multi-part message as it contains multiple messages (or multiple-parts). The total SMS limit for each subsequent part then becomes 153 characters, as 7 characters are used as invisible start and end markers for each part.

1 – 160 characters = 1 Message

161 – 306 characters = 2 Messages

307 – 459 characters = 3 Messages

460 – 612 characters = 4 Messages

613 – 765 characters = 5 Messages

766 – 918 characters = 6 Messages

919 – 1071 characters = 7 Messages

1072 – 1224 characters = 8 Messages

Character Counter

This link helps you determine how many characters your SMS message will contain: http://smscharactercount.com

GSM Basic Character Set

A message is classified as a standard message when it contains characters from the GSM Basic Character Set.