Free tool
SMS segment and cost counter
A text segment holds 160 standard characters, or 70 if the message has an emoji or any non-GSM character, and GoHighLevel bills $0.00747 per segment plus carrier fees. Paste your message to see its segments, the characters causing extra segments and the cost of a send.
Segments per message
1
Merge fields such as {{contact.first_name}} are counted at the name length you enter. Carrier fees vary by the recipient's network, so cost shows a low and high figure.
Texts not delivering? Book a callHow segments are counted
| Encoding | When | Single segment | Per part when split |
|---|---|---|---|
| GSM-7 | Every character is in the standard GSM alphabet | 160 characters | 153 characters |
| UCS-2 (Unicode) | Any emoji, curly quote, or character outside GSM-7 | 70 characters | 67 characters |
GSM-7 extension characters (^ { } \ [ ] ~ | €) count as two characters but keep the message in GSM-7. Curly quotes pasted from a word processor and long dashes are the most common hidden reason a plain-looking message switches to UCS-2.
Segments affect more than cost. Long multi-part texts are more likely to be filtered, and carriers count each segment against your A2P throughput. Our SMS error code guide covers delivery failures, the GoHighLevel pricing calculator totals a monthly bill, and texting outside the US explains international rates. Planning a big send? Our bulk SMS guide covers drip mode and the daily segment limits for each A2P brand type.
SMS segment questions
How many characters are in one SMS segment?
160 characters if every character is in the GSM-7 alphabet (standard letters, numbers and common punctuation). If a message contains any other character, such as an emoji, a curly quote or an accented letter outside GSM-7, the whole message is encoded as UCS-2 and a segment holds 70 characters. Long messages are split into parts of 153 (GSM-7) or 67 (UCS-2) characters, because each part carries a small header.
Why does one emoji make my text cost more?
Because one character outside the GSM-7 alphabet switches the entire message to UCS-2 encoding, cutting each segment from 160 to 70 characters. A 150-character reminder is 1 segment; add one emoji and it becomes 3 segments, and GoHighLevel bills each segment.
How much does a text cost in GoHighLevel?
On LC Phone in the US and Canada, HighLevel charges $0.00747 per segment, inbound or outbound, per its pricing guide updated September 29, 2026. Carriers add a pass-through fee per outbound segment, from $0.0035 (AT&T) to $0.005, so a one-segment outbound text costs about $0.011 to $0.012 in total.
Which characters count double in GSM-7?
The GSM-7 extension characters take two character positions each: the caret ^, curly braces { }, backslash \, square brackets [ ], tilde ~, vertical bar | and the euro sign. They don't switch the message to UCS-2, but they use up space faster.
Do custom values and merge fields change the segment count?
Yes. GoHighLevel fills custom values such as {{contact.first_name}} before sending, so the real message length depends on each contact's data. Test with the longest realistic value, and note that names with accented letters can switch a message to UCS-2.
Texts costing more, or not arriving?
We rewrite templates to fit one segment, fix A2P registration and test delivery across carriers as part of every GoHighLevel build.