How do TXTImpact Text Credits Work?

SMS credits are like points or tokens used to send messages through TXTImpact. Each plan gives you a certain number of credits every month, and you use them whenever you send a text, MMS, WhatsApp or RCS messages.

How Many Credits Does One Message Use?

Standard SMS messages use 1 credit for every 160 characters. Longer messages or those with emojis are split into multiple segments, each of which incurs additional credits. Picture messages MMS cost 2 credits each for sending or receiving (inbound or outbound), irrespective of file size.

• A 300-character message uses 2 credits per recipient
• A 500-character message uses 3–4 credits per recipient

USA

In the USA, one outbound SMS message of up to 160 GSM characters or 70 Unicode characters to one recipient equals 1 credit. Receiving messages is free, but inbound traffic should remain balanced with outbound usage. For example, if you have many inbound messages but send none, inbound traffic may also count toward used credits.

• 1 MMS message sent or received = 2 credits
• Carrier surcharge: $0.0025 for SMS sent from Toll-Free numbers to Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile.
• Blocked shortcode rerouting: 0.5 credit for rerouting messages through alternate paths if a carrier blocks them.

Canada

For Canadian numbers, carrier surcharges apply to every message:

• $0.0075 per outbound and inbound SMS
• $0.015 per outbound and inbound MMS

Message Length and Credit Breakdown

Your credit usage increases with message length. Below is how TXTImpact calculates it:

Each text segment is billed based on the number of parts your message is split into.

Mobile carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile charge small extra fees for sending and receiving messages. TXTImpact passes these charges transparently. Check the Carrier Surcharges page.

A survey campaign usually includes several questions with multiple-choice or open-ended responses, along with a welcome and completion message. Each question or confirmation text counts as one or more credits, depending on length.

For example, if your survey has three questions and is sent to 500 people, you’ll likely need around 4,000 credits in total. It’s always smart to plan your campaign and consult TXTImpact’s sales team for bulk or long-term discount plans.

A SMS polling campaign, on the other hand, consists of a single question with a confirmation reply. If you’re sending a poll to 500 participants, you’ll need at least 500 text credits, assuming each confirmation message stays under 160 characters.
Each vote and confirmation text counts as one credit. If your poll includes start or end-time notifications, those also use credits.

By default, only the first 160 characters of an email will be converted into text message are delivered as an SMS. If you want to increase this limit, go to your Email-to-Text campaign settings, adjust the message length, and save. Each extra segment of 154 characters will cost one additional credit.

Using the standard GSM 03.38 character set, a single SMS can include up to 160 characters (including spaces). The maximum total message length is 918 characters, which may be split into up to six message parts.

How Multilingual or International Languages Affect Text Credit Usage?

If you are looking to send messages in international or multilingual languages other than English, we offer Unicode support. In this case, for non-GSM (Unicode) languages such as Arabic, Chinese, or Russian, each message segment is limited to 70 characters, and concatenated messages can contain up to 402 characters (6 parts of 67 characters each).

Normally, one SMS can hold up to 160 characters. However, if your message includes special symbols, emojis, or non-English characters (such as Arabic, Spanish, German, Hindi, accented letters, or certain symbols), the message automatically switches to Unicode mode.

When this happens:

• Each SMS can carry only 70 characters instead of 160

• A long message gets broken into multiple texts

For example, a 160-character message with Unicode symbols can turn into 3 separate SMS messages. This means higher costs, because you’re charged for each message sent

To avoid this:

• Our Unicode detection tool helps you spot characters that cause this issue

• You can replace those symbols with standard GSM characters

We also offer automatic transliteration, which converts your message into GSM-friendly characters
(The message may look slightly different, but it won’t use Unicode.)

Result: Your message stays within 160 characters, sends as one SMS, and costs less.

Want your text message credits to last longer without annoying your audience? These tips help you do just that:

• Keep messages short: Short texts usually send as a single message, so they use fewer credits.

• Send at the right time: Messages sent when people are more likely to read them give you better results for the same number of credits.

• Clean up automatic messages: Regularly check your automated texts and remove ones that don’t perform well or repeat the same information this helps avoid wasting credits.

To check how many SMS credits you have left:

1. Log in to your TXTImpact account dashboard.
2. On the dashboard there is Accout Summary section is available that is shown in the picture below.
3. The Account Symmary card or section displays all the SMS credit balabce left, keywords Credits and Cyrrebt 1 month charges as well.

• 1 SMS credit = 160 characters (or 70 Unicode characters).
• MMS = 2 credits per recipient.
• Long messages use multiple credits based on length.
• Incoming messages are free in most cases.
• Carrier surcharges apply per message segment.
• Surveys and polls use credits for both questions and replies.
• Credits can be tracked, purchased, or refilled from your dashboard anytime.

Understanding how TXTImpact text credits work helps your business send messages efficiently and follow carrier rules. TXTImpact offers flexible plans, transparent pricing, and tools to track and manage your credits easily.

Whether you’re a small business or a large company, TXTImpact makes texting simple, reliable, and affordable. Sign up for a TXTImpact free trial today to see how easy business texting can be.