SMS Character Counter

Count SMS characters and segments: GSM-7 vs Unicode, the 160/70 split, and why a single emoji can consume three segments.

A standard SMS fits 160 characters using the GSM-7 alphabet. The moment your message contains one emoji, Chinese character, or curly quote, the whole message switches to UCS-2 encoding and each segment holds only 70 characters.Long messages concatenate: 161 GSM-7 characters cost 2 segments (each 153 chars), and messages over 3 segments may be delivered out of order on some carriers — the counter shows the split live as you type.

One emoji or curly quote switches the whole message to Unicode encoding.

Characters / limit0

Encoding0

Segments0

Written by Nan Liang · Updated November 2026

Frequently asked questions

Why did my 160-character message become 2 segments?

One character outside the GSM-7 alphabet (an emoji, a curly quote, an accented letter like é) forces UCS-2 encoding, dropping the limit to 70 per segment — so 160 characters become 3 segments.

What is the GSM-7 alphabet?

The 128-character set basic phones could display: A–Z a–z 0–9, common punctuation, and a few symbols like €. Notably it includes straight quotes but not curly ones — a classic source of surprise segment splits.

What is a concatenated SMS?

A message longer than one segment is split and reassembled by the carrier. Each segment carries a header, so the real limits are 153 (GSM-7) and 67 (UCS-2) per segment. You are billed per segment.

How many segments will my message use?

Type it in the box. The counter shows characters used, encoding (GSM-7 or Unicode), segment count, and a preview of exactly where each segment breaks.

Next steps

Counting for social media instead? The Character Counter breaks down CJK, emoji, and spaces for any platform limit.

Open the Character Counter →