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Twilio SMS Segments – Quick Guide

Understanding SMS segments is important because Twilio charges per segment, not per message. Even though recipients see a single text message, you may be billed for multiple segments depending on message length and characters used. 

This guide explains how SMS segments work and how to avoid unnecessary messaging costs.

❓ Why This Matters

If a text message exceeds the character limit for a single segment, Twilio automatically splits it into multiple segments—each billed separately.

Keeping messages concise helps control costs, especially for high-volume campaigns.

📏 SMS Character & Segment Limits

Standard (GSM) Text Messages

  • 160 characters = 1 segment

  • Messages longer than 160 characters split into:

    • 153 characters per segment

Messages With Emojis or Special Characters (Unicode)

  • 70 characters = 1 segment

  • Messages longer than 70 characters split into:

    • 67 characters per segment

⚠️ Emojis, smart quotes, and special symbols trigger Unicode messaging—even if only one character is used.

💡 Best Practices to Avoid Extra Segments

  • Keep messages under 160 characters

  • Avoid emojis and special characters when possible

  • Use straight quotes (" "), not smart/curly quotes (“ ”)

  • Keep formatting simple (no symbols or accented characters)

  • Test templates before sending

📌 Important:
Recipients still see one message, but you are billed per segment sent.

🧰 Tool Assistance: Segment Calculator

Before sending a message, paste your text into Twilio’s segment calculator to see how many segments it will use:

👉 Twilio SMS Segment Calculator
https://twiliodeved.github.io/message-segment-calculator/

This tool shows:

  • Character count

  • Encoding type (GSM vs Unicode)

  • Total segments billed

📚 Additional Resources