Product documentationSMS rates by country
How text reminders are charged in EasyWebinar: segments, what makes a message cost more, and where to find the rate for each country.
- Applies to
- SMS reminders set on a webinar's Notifications tab · charged from your EasyWebinar credits
- Status
- Live
- Verified
- Page type
- Reference
SMS reminders are charged per segment, at the rate for the country of the phone number you send to. A short reminder is one segment; a longer one is split into several, and each is charged. Use this page to work out what a reminder costs before you turn it on.
At a glance
| Charged per | Segment of each message |
| Price depends on | The recipient's country, and whether the message is transactional or promotional |
| Standard characters | 160 in one segment, 153 per segment in a longer message |
| Emoji or special characters | 70 in one segment, 67 per segment in a longer message |
| When credits are taken | When each message is sent |
| Sent from | An EasyWebinar number |
How SMS is charged
Credits = segments × country rate × number of messages- Segments: how many pieces the message is split into.
- Country rate: the credits per segment for the recipient's country (see Rates by country).
- Number of messages: one per registrant for each text that sends. A Welcome SMS and two reminders send three texts to every registrant who gave a number.
What a segment is
A segment is one piece of a text message. Your registrant sees one message, but carriers carry and charge it in pieces.
| Your message uses | Fits in one segment | Each segment of a longer message |
|---|---|---|
| Standard characters: letters A–Z, numbers, common punctuation | 160 characters | 153 characters |
| Unicode: any emoji, letters such as ā or ğ, non-Latin scripts | 70 characters | 67 characters |
A longer message fits fewer characters per segment because each piece carries a little information that tells the phone how to join them back together.
What makes a message cost more
- One emoji switches the whole message to Unicode, so it fits 70 characters instead of 160. A single 😊 can double the cost.
- Merge fields grow when they're filled in.
{{webinar_title}}is short in the template but may be 60 characters once it's your real title. - Links count as characters. A long join link can push a message into a second segment.
Work out a reminder's cost
A 200-character reminder in plain English, no emoji:
- 200 characters is more than 160, so it's split into pieces of 153: 2 segments.
- At, for example, 9.60 credits per segment: 2 × 9.60 = 19.20 credits per registrant.
- Sent to 100 registrants: 1,920 credits ($19.20).
Add one emoji and it becomes Unicode: 200 characters in pieces of 67 is 3 segments. For your own numbers, use Estimate what you need under Settings → Credits & Usage.
Transactional and promotional rates
Some countries charge differently depending on what a text is for:
- Transactional: registration confirmations, reminders and alerts.
- Promotional: offers, announcements and replay promotions.
Where a country has both, each has its own rate.
Rates by country
The current rate for each country is in Settings → Credits & Usage → Credit costs, under Rates by country, listed by region.
Limits and things to know
- SMS reminders only reach people who gave a phone number on your registration form.
- They come from an EasyWebinar number, so replies don't reach your phone.
- Rates can change. The rate in effect when a text is sent is the one charged.
- At 0 credits, SMS reminders pause until you add credits.
- Some texts never arrive, for example to landlines. See SMS reminder not delivered.
Common questions
How many characters fit in one text?
160 standard characters, or 70 if the message has any emoji or special characters.
Why was one text charged as two?
It was longer than one segment, so it was sent in two pieces and both were charged. Your registrant saw one message.
Do emoji cost more?
Yes. One emoji makes the whole message Unicode, which fits fewer characters per segment.
Does it matter where my registrants live?
Yes. The rate is set by the country of the number you send to.
How do I keep SMS costs down?
Keep texts short, skip emoji, test with Send Test SMS to see the real length, and send the reminders that matter most rather than every one.
Related
- Credits and rates: how credits work and the order they're spent in.
- WhatsApp rates by country and category: per-message pricing by category.
- SMS reminder not delivered: why a text doesn't arrive and what to do.
- Webinar reminder emails: where text reminders are set up.
Credits and rates
What EasyWebinar credits are, what uses them, the order they're spent in, and where to find the current rate for each AI feature and message.
WhatsApp rates by country and category
How WhatsApp reminders are charged in EasyWebinar: message categories, which of your messages fall into each, and how to see what a message costs in each country.