Free tool
SMS segment counter
Paste a message and see how the networks will bill it: the encoding, the character count, the number of segments, what the send will cost you in rands, and the characters that quietly double that bill. One click fixes the usual culprits.
Up to 11 letters or digits. Cannot receive replies. Typing here also updates the brand name inside your message.
- Encoding—
- Characters0
- Segments0
- Left in segment160
What it will cost
Enter your rate and list size. Every segment is billed as its own SMS.
SA bulk rates run about R0.15–R0.35.
How many people you are sending to.
- Per recipient—
- Billable messages—
- Total send cost—
Characters costing you money
How SMS billing works
- A standard message uses the GSM alphabet: 160 characters in one segment, 153 per segment when it is longer, because each part carries a header.
- One character outside that alphabet, such as an emoji, a curly quote or most accented letters, switches the whole message to Unicode: 70 characters in one segment, 67 per segment after that.
- A few characters in the standard alphabet count as two:
^ { } \ [ ] ~ |and the euro sign. - Every segment is billed as a separate SMS, so a 150-character message with one emoji costs three times as much as the same message without it.
- Marketing messages need an opt-out route under the WASPA code and POPIA. The opt-out line counts towards your characters.
Modern phones stitch the parts back together. You are still billed for each one.
Why this matters
A curly quote can cost you a third of your budget.
Word and most phones replace straight quotes with curly ones as you type. One of those in a 150-character campaign to 100 000 customers turns 100 000 messages into 300 000. The counter catches it before the invoice does.
When the message is right, we send it from your systems: OTPs, confirmations, reminders and two-way SMS, with delivery reports and WASPA compliance built in, alongside WhatsApp and USSD on the same backend.