Just copy & paste your message into the textarea, or type it directly, and the tool works on the go. There is no button to press for the counts - every result updates as you type. You can also click Load an example to fill the textarea with a longer message so you can see how a message is split.

The Output panel on the right keeps four live values: Encoding shows whether your message is sent as GSM-7 (the cheap, wide 160-character alphabet) or Unicode (UCS-2) (the 70-character fallback used for emojis and many non-English scripts). Characters uses the X / MAX format, where MAX is the single-message budget (160 for GSM-7, 70 for Unicode). Messages is how many SMS parts your text will be delivered as, and Remaining is how many characters you can still add before the current message part fills up.

The Message Parts section below the values shows your text exactly as the network will split it, with each part in its own box that has a copy button and its character count. Use Download at the top of the Output panel to save the whole breakdown, or the Reset button under the input textarea to start over. The Paste and Copy actions beside it fill or re-copy your message in one click.

The SMS Character Counter is a free online tool that analyzes your text exactly the way a mobile network would send it. Paste or type a message and it instantly shows the SMS encoding (GSM-7 or Unicode/UCS-2), the total character count, how many message parts your text is split into, how many characters remain before the next part is needed, and a part-by-part preview of the split.

It is useful because an SMS is billed per message part, not per character. The familiar "160 characters per text" budget only applies to plain GSM-7 messages. Add an emoji, a Chinese character, or a Cyrillic letter and the message silently switches to Unicode, which allows only 70 characters per part and can turn one cheap text into two expensive ones without you noticing. The tool removes that guesswork, so you always know what you are paying for before you send.

The tool is written in plain JavaScript and runs entirely in your web browser. Nothing you type is uploaded or stored anywhere, there is no sign-up, and no internet round-trip is needed for the counts - making it fast, free and private.

SMS (Short Message Service) uses two main character encodings to transmit text: GSM-7 and Unicode (UCS-2).

GSM-7 is a 7-bit alphabet of about 128 characters that covers basic Latin letters, digits, common punctuation and a handful of European and Greek letters (e.g. Ä, ø, é, Δ). A plain GSM-7 message fits up to 160 characters in one part. Once a message needs splitting, every part is reduced to 153 characters because some space is reserved for the header that links the parts together.

A few GSM-7 characters are extended - { } \ [ ~ ] | ^ € and the non-breaking space - which means they are encoded with an extra byte and therefore count as two characters each. They do not change the encoding or the budget of 160, but they eat your character allowance twice as fast.

When your message contains any character outside the GSM-7 alphabet - emojis, Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, or most accented letters beyond the basics - the network switches to Unicode (UCS-2), a 16-bit encoding. UCS-2 allows only 70 characters per message, dropping to 67 per part once the message is split. Understanding these limits is the key to planning SMS campaigns without surprise bills and message-splitting surprises.

A short plain message: Don't forget our meeting tomorrow at 10 am in the conference room. Bring the quarterly report. Thanks! is fully GSM-7, has 102 characters, travels as 1 message, and still has 58 characters remaining in that part.

A message with braces: Use code {WELCOME} to get 10% off your order today! is still GSM-7, but the two braces each count twice. It shows 51 typed characters and 53 counted characters, stays in 1 message, and has 107 remaining. The part box reports the counted 53 characters rather than the 51 typed.

A message with an emoji: 🎉 Hi, your order is ready! contains a character outside GSM-7, so the whole message switches to Unicode (UCS-2). The balloon emoji itself counts as two characters, giving 27 characters in total, still 1 message - but the budget is now 70, not 160, with 43 remaining.

A long delivery update: Dear customer, your package has been dispatched and is expected to arrive within two business days. Please keep your phone nearby, as our courier will call you before delivery. Track your parcel anytime using the link sent earlier. is 231 characters and ships as 2 messages: the first part takes 153/153 characters and the second takes 78/153, with 75 characters remaining in the current part. This is exactly why a "160-character" message can arrive as two billed texts.

Use the SMS Character Counter whenever the length of a text message matters. Marketers running bulk or promotional SMS campaigns can check that every message stays inside one part to keep costs steady. Businesses sending appointment reminders, delivery updates and order confirmations can verify that dynamic fields - names, order numbers, links - never push a message across the 160/153 or 70/67 boundaries. It is equally handy for two-factor and OTP texts, where a split message can feel broken, and for anyone sending a mixed-language or emoji text who wants to know the real budget before hitting send.

Because the message part boxes show exactly where your text breaks, the tool also helps you rewrite a message to fit. Swap a couple of words, drop an emoji, or shorten a link, and watch the Messages value drop back to one - a small edit that can halve or even remove your delivery costs.

FAQ 1: Why does my message get split into more than one SMS?
Answer: A GSM-7 message fits into one part up to 160 characters; Unicode messages fit up to 70. Beyond that, the network continues the text in additional parts of 153 or 67 characters. Each part is where your carrier stops to charge you, so a modest message can suddenly cost two or three SMS.

FAQ 2: What is the difference between GSM-7 and Unicode (UCS-2) encoding?
Answer: GSM-7 is the 7-bit alphabet with about 128 characters (Latin letters, digits, common punctuation and a few European/Greek letters). Unicode (UCS-2) is a 16-bit encoding that can represent almost any character in the world. GSM-7 messages hold up to 160 characters per part, while UCS-2 messages hold only 70.

FAQ 3: Which characters force my message into Unicode encoding?
Answer: Any character outside the GSM-7 alphabet: emojis, Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean scripts, and most accented letters beyond the small set GSM-7 supports (é, è, ù, ì, ò, à, ä, ö, ü, ñ and a few others). Emoji and characters outside the basic U+0000 to U+FFFF range also cost two units each in UCS-2.

FAQ 4: Why do some characters count for two?
Answer: A handful of GSM-7 symbols - { } \ [ ~ ] | ^ € and the non-breaking space - are stored with an extra escape byte. Carriers count them as two characters against your 160/153 budget even though they look like one character on screen. The part boxes show the counted character total under each part.

FAQ 5: What is the maximum message size the tool accepts?
Answer: The counter has no practical input limit and will happily analyze a full page of text. Do note that most networks cannot deliver more than 255 message parts, so the tool warns you when a single message would exceed that cap and needs to be shortened or split manually.

FAQ 6: Is my text sent to a server or saved anywhere?
Answer: No. The tool is written in JavaScript and runs entirely in your browser. Your message never leaves your device, nothing is uploaded, and nothing is stored, so you can safely check confidential text like one-time passwords or internal announcements.