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What is the maximum character length of SMS messages?
It is possible to send SMS messages in a variety of text-based languages using the SMS API and Web Platform provided by SMS Connexion. The languages include English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and more.
Messages with only GSM 7-bit characters can have no more than 1,530 characters. Messages with more than 160 characters will be broken up into multiple messages, with a maximum of 153 characters per message.
Messages with one or more UCS-2 16-bit Unicode characters can have up to 670 characters total. Messages that contain Unicode characters and are longer than 70 characters will be broken up into multiple messages, with a maximum of 67 characters per message.
| SMS parts (a) |
GSM-7 characters | Unicode characters | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per part (b) |
Max (a x b) |
Per part (c) |
Max (a x c) |
|
| 1 | 160 | 160 | 70 | 70 |
| 2 | 153 | 306 | 67 | 134 |
| 3 | 153 | 459 | 67 | 201 |
| 4 | 153 | 612 | 67 | 268 |
| 5 | 153 | 765 | 67 | 335 |
| 6 | 153 | 918 | 67 | 402 |
| 7 | 153 | 1071 | 67 | 469 |
| 8 | 153 | 1224 | 67 | 536 |
| 9 | 153 | 1377 | 67 | 603 |
| 10 | 153 | 1530 | 67 | 670 |
The Unicode character list is available at https://unicode-table.com/en/blocks/
In countries where mobile networks support long message concatenation, messages with more than one message part are automatically put back together and sent as a single message.
Note: You are charged for each SMS part in a long concatenated SMS.
Tip 1: You can use the SMS length calculator to check for Unicode characters and figure out how many characters are in your text message.
Tip 2: You can use the Unicode to GSM character converter to avoid splitting the SMS into multiple parts and save money on SMS campaigns. The tool will find non-GSM characters and replace them automatically.