SMS character counter

SMS limits at a glance

• Text: up to 1,600 characters.
• Media: up to 10 files per post.
• Follow-ups: no follow-up comments on this network.
• Settings in Postozo: Send only to (this post).

How SMS counts characters

An SMS is 160 characters of plain (GSM) text. A longer text is split into parts of 153 characters, sent together, and your Twilio account pays for each part. 1 emoji or special letter switches the whole message to Unicode, where the first part is 70 characters and the rest 67.

Among the 25 networks with a counter here, SMS has the 7th shortest of 16 different limits. Shorter is not worse: it only changes how you write. A mid-size limit leaves room for a short story and a call to action.

This counter counts each character (Unicode code point), the same way Postozo checks it before saving.

Rules Postozo checks for SMS

A text message to every number on the channel list, or only to "Send only to" in Settings. Up to 1600 characters; over 160 characters the message is split into parts and each part costs Twilio money. Plain text, no photos, no markdown, no hashtags. Only text people who opted in.

SMS settings in Postozo

• Send only to (this post): Send this 1 post to 1 person or a few, instead of the whole channel list. Separate numbers with commas. Empty sends to everyone on the list.

How to use this SMS counter

1. Write or paste your text message (SMS) in the box above.
2. Watch the "left" number. It turns amber when less than 10% is left and red when the text is too long.
3. Count links and hashtags as part of the text: SMS counts them too.
4. Too long? Cut it down. SMS posts in Postozo have no follow-up comments, so everything has to fit in 1 post.

Connecting SMS to Postozo

You connect SMS by pasting your details, which Postozo stores encrypted:

• Twilio Account SID: On the Twilio Console home page (twilio.com), under Account Info.
• Twilio auth token: Right under the Account SID on the same page.
• Your Twilio number: A number you bought in Twilio, with its country code. A Messaging Service SID (starts with MG) works too.
• Recipients: Who this channel texts: 1 number per line, with country codes, up to 500. Only people who agreed in writing to get your texts. Anyone who replies STOP is blocked by Twilio automatically.

SMS does not share statistics with Postozo, so you see the publish status and the live link for each post.

Tips for SMS posts

• Keep a broadcast to 160 plain characters and it is 1 part, 1 price per person.
• Skip emoji in SMS: they turn the message into Unicode and each part shrinks to 67 characters, so it costs more.
• Say who you are and how to opt out. "Reply STOP to opt out" is the standard wording.
• Postozo stops an SMS post over 1,600 characters, which is the ceiling Twilio accepts.

Before you post on SMS

• Read the post on a phone screen. Most people will see it there, and long lines look longer on a small screen.
• Open every link once to check it works and goes to the right page.
• Keep the full, longer version of your text. You may want it for a network with more room than SMS.

Write once, fit every network

If you post the same message to several networks, Postozo lets you write it once and change the text for SMS only. The AI assistant can shorten a post to fit SMS, and the post editor warns you before a post breaks a rule. See every network's limit on the all-networks character counter.