July 21, 2025 ROHITH
Ensuring SMS within the Character Limit
Learn more about the character limit when sending an SMS.
As mobile users, we tend to check our SMS inbox every day to explore the latest messages waiting for us. SMS is a convenient communication tool that allows us to connect with people regardless of their location and without facing internet barriers.
Compared to other messaging platforms, SMS delivers impressive engagement rates with a 98% open rate and is cost-effective for businesses. Whether you're sending bulk marketing messages or transactional alerts, understanding the character limit of SMS is crucial for efficient communication.
What is the character limit for SMS?
A standard SMS message is limited to 160 characters, including letters, numbers, spaces, and punctuation. If your message exceeds this limit, it becomes a multi-part SMS, which may be split into several messages and charged accordingly.
Multi-Part SMS Explained
When your message crosses 160 characters, it’s broken into segments of 153 characters each (instead of 160). The missing 7 characters are used for invisible headers to link the message parts correctly. Most SMS platforms automatically handle this splitting, but you’ll be charged for each part.
✅ Maximum message length supported: Up to 5000 characters, split into 33 parts.
The character limit for Unicode messages
Sending messages in non-English languages (like Hindi, Arabic, or Chinese)? These use Unicode encoding, which reduces the character capacity:
- Single-part Unicode SMS limit: 70 characters
- Multi-part Unicode SMS: Up to 2000 characters (split into parts of 67)
📝 Example:
Word: hello
Unicode encoding: 00000068000000650000006c0000006c0000006f
Because Unicode uses more bytes per character, it significantly reduces the space available per SMS.
The best practice to keep SMS character limits
1) Use a tiny URL instead of a long URL.
Maximum uses tiny, short URLs in message content rather than full, complete URLs. A complicated URL will lead to exceeding the character limit, but we can convert the same URL to tiny or shortened, which is the same as the full URL.
2) Put an eye while copy-pasting
It's best not to copy message content directly from a word processor because it may contain hidden Unicode characters that could cause issues. Instead, copy the content from a plain text editor before pasting it into the Hub. This will ensure that any unwanted Unicode characters are removed.
3) Effective use of templated messages
Rather than using the copied message, creating a predefined template with effective short words will help to communicate with customers within the character limit and avoid using junk characters.
Direct7 Networks provides a cost-effective SMS solution that helps you easily connect with your customers By delivering important information and personalized marketing SMS, you can build trust and establish long-term customer loyalty. Additionally, our system ensures excellent performance, delivering time-critical SMS within 15 seconds.
Happy Messaging
Some Frequently Asked Questions
How can I ensure my message stays within the SMS character limit?
To keep your message within the character limit, consider using tiny URLs instead of long ones, avoiding copying directly from word processors to prevent hidden Unicode characters, and using effective templated messages with concise wording.
Why should I use tiny URLs in my SMS messages?
Using tiny URLs instead of long ones helps to conserve characters in your message content, ensuring that you stay within the SMS character limit.
What is the recommended approach for copying message content?
It's best to copy message content from a plain text editor rather than a word processor to avoid hidden Unicode characters that could cause issues when pasting into the messaging platform.
Ready to optimize your SMS communication?
👉 Explore our SMS solutions and start sending messages that are concise, powerful, and within the character limit of SMS.
