Source: https://realay.io/tools/sms-length-calculator

# SMS length calculator

Type or paste your message to see how many characters and SMS parts it uses, and which characters make it longer or more expensive.

Characters

111

SMS parts

1

Encoding

GSM-7

Left in this part

49

Counts as two charactersSwitches the whole message to Unicode

Uses the same counting as the realay dashboard. Your text stays in your browser.

Message switched to Unicode by accident? Try the [SMS text cleaner](https://realay.io/tools/sms-text-cleaner).

## How SMS length works

An SMS is not measured in words. It is measured in characters, and how many fit depends on which characters you use.

### Standard text (GSM-7)

Most English text uses the GSM-7 character set. One SMS holds 160 GSM-7 characters. Longer messages are split into parts of 153 characters, and the phone joins them back together. You pay for each part.

### Unicode

If even one character is outside GSM-7, the whole message is sent as Unicode. That includes emoji, letters from other alphabets, and characters that often arrive by accident when you paste from a document, such as curly quotes or long dashes. A Unicode SMS holds 70 characters, or 67 per part when it is split.

### Characters that count as two

A few GSM-7 characters sit in an extended set and take two spaces each: the euro sign, square and curly brackets, the backslash, the caret, the tilde and the vertical bar.

| Encoding | One-part message | Each part of a longer message |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GSM-7 | 160 characters | 153 characters |
| Unicode | 70 characters | 67 characters |

## Questions about SMS length

### How many characters fit in one SMS?

One SMS holds 160 characters from the standard GSM-7 set. If the message is longer, it is split into parts of 153 characters, because each part needs a little space to join the message back together on the phone.

### Why does my message only fit 70 characters?

If any character in the message is outside the GSM-7 set, such as an emoji, a curly quote or a letter from another alphabet, the whole message is sent as Unicode. A Unicode SMS holds 70 characters, or 67 per part when it is split.

### Why do some characters count as two?

A few characters, including the euro sign, square and curly brackets, the backslash, the tilde and the vertical bar, are in the GSM-7 extended set. Each one takes the space of two characters.

### Is this the same count realay uses?

Yes. This calculator uses the same counting as the realay dashboard, so the parts you see here are the parts you pay for.

## Ready to send?

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