Are curly (smart) quotes GSM-7 or Unicode?

Curly quotes (“ ” ‘ ’ – —) are NOT in the GSM-7 alphabet. Word and Google Docs auto-substitute them silently, so a message that looks normal can flip to UCS-2 without warning. The grid view colors them so you can spot the culprit.

How is segment math actually calculated?

GSM-7 single = 160 chars; concatenated = 153 chars per part. UCS-2 single = 70 chars; concatenated = 67 chars per part. Turkish-shift single = 154; concatenated = 147. Some characters (like the euro sign or curly braces) are GSM-7 extension characters and count as 2 septets each. The grid view shows septet vs character explicitly.

Does smsroute charge per segment or per character?

Per segment, like every SMS provider — that's how the underlying carrier networks bill us. From $0.004/SMS across 149 countries means $0.004 per segment, not per 160 characters. The calculator's segment count is what your invoice will reflect.

What about WhatsApp or iMessage — same rules?

No. WhatsApp and iMessage are over-the-top messaging — they don't use SMS encoding or segments. They have their own size rules (bytes, not septets). This calculator answers the SMS question only. smsroute is SMS-first.

What's the longest single SMS I can send before it splits?

160 characters in GSM-7, 154 characters with the Turkish shift, or 70 characters as soon as any Unicode character appears (emoji, accented letter outside GSM-7, curly quote). Past those limits, the message concatenates and bills as multiple parts.

Can I copy the calculator's segmented breakdown into my CRM?

The Copy Message button copies your raw text. The per-segment breakdown is a visual grid — screenshot it for now. CSV export of the segmentation report is on the roadmap; in the meantime, integrate the smsroute API and read segment counts back from the send response.

SMS Length Calculator

Q: Does Word's auto-correct break my GSM-7 messages?

Often yes. Beyond curly quotes, Word swaps double-hyphens to em-dash and (c) to the copyright symbol — both Unicode. Paste through Notepad first, or disable auto-correct in your editor to keep messages in GSM-7.

Calculate SMS segments, character limits, and encoding type in real-time. Supports GSM-7 and Unicode encoding.

Your Message

Start typing to see live calculations

Try:

Ready to Calculate

Type or paste your SMS message above to see instant calculations for character count, encoding type, and SMS segments.

160

GSM-7 Single

153

GSM-7 Multi

Unicode Single

Unicode Multi

GSM-7 Encoding

Most efficient encoding for standard Latin characters, numbers, and basic symbols. Supports 160 characters in a single SMS, 153 in multi-part messages.

Unicode (UCS-2)

Required for emojis, non-Latin scripts (Chinese, Arabic, Cyrillic), and special characters. Limited to 70 characters per SMS, 67 in multi-part.

Ready to start sending SMS?

Create your free account and get started with our powerful SMS gateway. Send single messages or bulk campaigns with ease.

Create Free Account

ROI Calculator Pricing Calculator

Frequently asked questions

Why does my 161-character message cost 2 SMS?

160 characters fits in one GSM-7 message. At 161, the message has to split into concatenated parts. Each part carries a 6-byte UDH header that drops the per-part budget to 153 characters, so a 161-char message bills as two 153-char parts.

I have one emoji — why does my whole message turn into 3 SMS?

A single Unicode character flips the entire message to UCS-2 encoding. The single-message budget drops from 160 to 70 characters; concatenated parts shrink to 67. A 200-character message with one emoji bills as 3 SMS.

Does Word's auto-correct break my GSM-7 messages?

Often yes. Word swaps straight quotes for curly quotes, double-hyphen for em-dash, and (c) for the copyright symbol — all Unicode. Paste through Notepad first or disable auto-correct to keep messages in GSM-7.

Is my message logged when I paste it here?

No. The calculator runs 100% in your browser. No POST request leaves the page. Only anonymous page-view analytics fire, with no message content attached. Verify in your browser network tab.

What's the segment limit for Turkish text?

Turkey uses a national-language locking shift. With shift on, the single-message limit is 154 characters (not 160), and concatenated parts are 147. Toggle the Turkish checkbox above to switch the calculator into shift mode.

How do I integrate this with the smsroute API?

The API send endpoint returns the same segment count this calculator computes. Confirm here, then POST to /v1/messages. From $0.004/SMS across 149 countries, top up with BTC, USDT, ETH, LTC, XMR, or SOL. No identity check at signup.