A single SMS holds up to 160 characters with the standard GSM-7 alphabet, or 70 characters when it contains Unicode characters such as emojis or many accented letters. Longer texts are still delivered, but Mailpro splits them into multiple segments billed per segment.
Why 160 or 70 characters?
SMS was designed around a 140-byte payload. The 7-bit GSM-7 encoding fits 160 characters; 16-bit Unicode (UCS-2), needed for emojis and non-Latin scripts, fits only 70. A single special character can switch the whole message to Unicode and cut the limit.
| Encoding | Single SMS | Per segment (concatenated) |
|---|---|---|
| GSM-7 (standard text) | 160 characters | 153 characters |
| Unicode / UCS-2 (emojis, some accents) | 70 characters | 67 characters |
How do longer SMS messages work?
When your text exceeds one segment, Mailpro concatenates several SMS into one message on the recipient’s phone. Each part reserves space for headers, so concatenated segments hold 153 (GSM-7) or 67 (Unicode) characters each.
Keep campaigns to one segment when you can — see how to send SMS with Mailpro.
Related questions
Learn how to personalize an SMS and to schedule an SMS campaign.
Mailpro and SMS
Beyond character counts — reach phones and inboxes from one place
Mailpro sends SMS and email side by side, with per-message pricing and no contract, so every campaign fits its channel.