SMS Length Counter (160 vs 70 characters, parts, emoji and curly quotes)
Paste a text message to see how many parts it will go as, what's pushing it over, and a one-click fix for curly quotes and hidden spaces.
Characters that cost you
How it gets split
Sending to a list?
How it works
Type or paste your message. The counter shows how many parts it will be sent as, how many characters are left before the next part, and which encoding it needs. Everything runs in your browser; the text never leaves the page.
A text message holds 140 bytes. If every character is in the plain GSM-7 alphabet, that's 160 characters. One character outside it, such as an emoji, a curly apostrophe or an en dash, switches the whole message to UCS-2 Unicode at two bytes each: 70 characters. Most emoji count as two of those.
Longer messages are split into parts that carry a small hidden header so the phone can join them back in order. That header costs 7 plain characters (or 3 Unicode ones), so parts hold 153 or 67. The split view shows exactly where each part ends. The counter never splits an emoji or a two-unit character across parts, just like phones don't, so its part count is exact rather than a rough division.
Characters that cost you lists every character that forced Unicode, with its code point and how often it appears. Swap for plain characters turns curly quotes into straight ones, dashes into hyphens, the ellipsis into three dots and removes invisible spaces. Tick the accent box to also turn letters like á into a; é, è, ü and ñ are already in the plain set. Emoji are left alone, since swapping them changes the message.
Sending to a list multiplies parts by recipients and your provider's price per part, because bulk text services bill each part as a message. The extra characters € [ ] { } ~ ^ | \ count as two in plain mode. Background: why texts get split, SMS vs MMS vs RCS vs iMessage, and the Wirebook lesson on how a text finds a phone.
Questions
How many characters are in one SMS?
160 plain (GSM-7) characters, or 70 if the message contains any emoji or character outside the plain set.
Why does my 100-character message count as two texts?
It probably contains a curly apostrophe, dash, emoji or invisible space, which switches it to Unicode and the 70-character limit. The counter lists the culprits and can swap them.
How many characters per part in a long text?
153 for plain text and 67 for Unicode, because each part carries a small header so the phone can reassemble them.
Does an emoji count as one character?
In a text message most emoji count as two Unicode characters, and flags or family emoji can count as four or more.
Does this apply to iMessage, WhatsApp or RCS?
No. Those send over data and don't have the 160-character limit. It applies when a message goes as a plain SMS, including most business texts and login codes.
Is my message stored or sent anywhere?
No. Counting happens in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, saved or logged.