How to Calculate SMS and MMS Costs
Overview
This guide explains how to estimate the cost of sending SMS and MMS messages through your CRM. Understanding these costs helps you budget effectively and optimize your messaging strategy.
What Influences SMS and MMS Costs?
Several factors affect the final cost of your messages:
- The number of segments in your message
- Whether you are sending an SMS or MMS
- The destination of the message
- Carrier fees applied by the recipient's mobile provider
- Use of emojis or special characters
- Message direction (inbound or outbound)
Costs are incurred once a delivery attempt is made, even if the message fails to reach the recipient. Refunds are not issued for undelivered messages.
What Is an SMS Segment?
An SMS segment is a billing unit based on message length. A standard SMS message can contain up to 160 characters using GSM-7 encoding. If your message exceeds this limit, it splits into multiple segments.
- 160 characters = 1 segment
- 161 characters = 2 segments
Using emojis or Unicode characters reduces the segment limit to 70 characters, increasing the number of segments and overall cost.
Steps to Estimate Outbound SMS Costs
Follow these steps to calculate the approximate cost of sending an outbound SMS message.
Step 1: Determine the Number of Segments
Compose your message and use a messaging segment calculator to determine how many segments your text will use. Note this number for the next steps.
Step 2: Find the Per-Segment Cost
Refer to your CRM's SMS pricing page to find the cost per segment for the destination country. Select the appropriate pricing based on the type of number you are using (e.g., long code, toll-free).
Step 3: Estimate Carrier Fees
Carrier fees are additional charges applied by the recipient's mobile carrier. These fees vary by carrier and number type. As an approximation, you can use $0.005 per segment, but check the latest fees on the SMS pricing page for accuracy.
Step 4: Calculate the Total Cost
Use the following formula to estimate the cost:
Estimated Cost = (Number of Segments × Per-Segment Cost) + (Number of Segments × Carrier Fees)
Multiply the number of segments by the per-segment cost, then multiply the same number of segments by the estimated carrier fees. Add these two results together for the total estimated cost.
Managing Messaging Expenses
To keep costs under control:
- Keep messages concise to minimize segments
- Avoid unnecessary emojis or special characters
- Review message content before sending
- Regularly check pricing updates from your provider