# SMS Segments

## **How SMS & MMS Segments Affect Pricing**

{% hint style="info" %}
📡 The info on this page isn’t a RoboCent thing—it’s [**how carrier networks handle SMS and MMS at a system level**](https://medium.com/@agarwal.mohit_95215/understanding-sms-segments-1a7dc12e92af), way above our pay grade! We’re just here to break it down so you know exactly how messages are segmented to provide [**transparent pricing**](/explore/pricing.md).
{% endhint %}

### **How SMS Pricing Works**

SMS messages are sent in **segments**, each with a character limit. If your message is short, it fits in **one segment**. If it’s longer, it’s broken into **multiple segments**, which increases the cost.

**What Counts as a Special Character or Emoji?**

Most regular letters, numbers, and punctuation use **standard SMS encoding (GSM-7)**, which allows **160 characters per segment**.

However, if your message includes **special characters** such as:

✅ Emojis (😊, 🎉, ✅)\
✅ Smart quotes (“ ”) instead of standard quotes (" ")\
✅ Long dashes (—) instead of hyphens (-)\
✅ Certain accented letters (é, ñ, ü)\
✅ Symbols like ®, €, or Chinese/Japanese characters

Your message switches to **Unicode encoding**, which lowers the segment limit to **70 characters** instead of 160. This means your message may require **more segments**, increasing the cost.

**Example Pricing Impact:**

* A **200-character standard text** → **2 segments**
* A **200-character text with an emoji** → **3 segments**

Since pricing is based on segments, **longer messages and special characters increase costs.**

***

### **How MMS Pricing Works**

MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) allows you to send **images, GIFs, videos, and longer text messages**. Instead of segment-based pricing, **MMS messages are billed as a single message, up to 1,500 characters**—but they cost more than a single SMS.

**When to Use MMS vs. SMS?**

* **Use SMS** for short, text-only messages
* **Use MMS** when you need to include an **image, GIF, video, or a long message (500+ characters)**

#### **No Guesswork – We Do It for You!**

When you create a new script in RoboCent, **we automatically calculate the number and type of characters for SMS and MMS** so you’ll always know exactly what you’re paying before sending.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.robocent.com/explore/pricing/sms-segments.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.