It is important to know all of the SMS Pricing, however, it is reasonable to assume your highest SMS costs will be related to sending outbound SMS. For this reason, we will walk you step by step through the process of estimating the cost of an outbound SMS.
There are four steps to estimating the cost of an outbound SMS...
Find the Number of Segments in your Text
Lookup Per-Segment Cost
Lookup Carrier Fees (≈$0.005)
Calculate
Below we will walk through each of them to estimate the cost of an SMS before we send it. As we go to calculate the cost of an SMS, we use our Outbound SMS Cost Equation to estimate the cost of our SMS:
----Outbound SMS Cost Equation:----
Estimated Cost of Outbound SMS = [(Number of Segments)(Per-Segment Cost)] + [(Number of Segments)(Carrier Fees)]
PLEASE NOTE: This estimation is for a single outbound SMS sent from a US number to another US number. There are many factors that can change the final cost of an SMS. To learn more about the factors impacting SMS cost, see the section Understanding the Factors Impacting SMS Costs.
See SMS Pricing here: https://www.twilio.com/sms/pricing/. Prices may change from time to time without notice.
After writing the message you want to send, we copy the text message. Then open the Messaging Segment Calculator and paste the copied text message into the Messaging Segment Calculator. See the "Number of Segments" to locate the number of segments. Keep this available as we continue.
----Outbound SMS Cost Equation:----
Estimated Cost of Outbound SMS = [(Number of Segments)(Per-Segment Cost)] + [(Number of Segments)(Carrier Fees)]
----Example:----
Estimated Cost of Outbound SMS = [(5)(Per-Segment Cost)] + [(5)(Carrier Fees)]
Open up the SMS Pricing page. Select the country you are sending outbound messages in.
Then scroll down to "SMS/MMS Pricing." Locate your "Per-Segment Costs". In our example, we are sending an outbound SMS for long codes. So we choose $0.0079 for this example.
----Outbound SMS Cost Equation:----
Estimated Cost of Outbound SMS = [(Number of Segments)(Per-Segment Cost)] + [(Number of Segments)(Carrier Fees)]
----Example:----
Estimated Cost of Outbound SMS = [(5)($0.0079)] + [(5)(Carrier Fees)]
In the US and Canada, carriers like T-Mobile, AT&T, or Verizon charge you for inbound messages sent to their end users. Prices vary by carrier and change from time to time. To locate the Carrier Fees by carrier, see the SMS Pricing page. Scroll down to the "Carrier Fees" section and see the inbound SMS column for a specific carrier.
*Please note: carrier fee prices vary based on the type of number (long code, toll-free, and shortcode).
Due to carrier fees being unique to the end user's number, we cannot calculate the cost until we know what carrier we are sending to. To overcome this barrier we can estimate. We suggest using the amount of ≈$0.005 as this is currently the highest carrier charge (as of the last edit to this article). The "≈" symbol stands for approximation, which is an estimated number for this exercise. Feel free to change this approximation to what feels best for your estimates based on the prices available on SMS Pricing.
----Outbound SMS Cost Equation:----
Estimated Cost of Outbound SMS = [(Number of Segments)(Per-Segment Cost)] + [(Number of Segments)(Carrier Fees)]
----Example:----
Estimated Cost of Outbound SMS = [(5)($0.0079)] + [(5)(≈$0.005)]
IMPORTANT: Carrier fees can change from time to time so always check the SMS Pricing. As of the last time this article was created approximately ≈$0.005 was a good estimator. However, it is always important to check the SMS Pricing for any changes to Carrier fees to better adjust your SMS cost estimations.
We are now ready to calculate the estimated cost of our text message. Let's walk you step by step through the process.
Estimated Cost of Outbound SMS = [(5)($0.0079)] + [(5)($0.005)]
First, let's multiply the "number of segments" (found in Step 1) by the "per-segment costs" (found in Step 2).
Estimated Cost of Outbound SMS = [$0.0395] + [(5)($0.005)]
Now we need to multiply the "Number of Segments" (found in Step 1) by the estimated "Carrier Fees" (found in Step 3).
Estimated Cost of Outbound SMS = [$0.0395] + [$0.025]
Lastly, we add the two sums together to finish our estimation.
[$0.0395] + [$0.025] = $0.0595
We finally arrived at the final cost of 5.95 cents for this text.
Estimated Cost of Outbound SMS = $0.0595 or 5.95 cents
IMPORTANT: This is an estimation. Final price can only be known after sending. Adding an image, hidden characters, emojis and other factors can impact the cost of an SMS. See SMS Pricing.
To understand more of the factors impacting final SMS price, see the section below the section Understanding the Factors Impacting SMS Costs.
An SMS is made up of segments and each segment is 160 characters long. So if you are sending a lengthy SMS, it will consume multiple segments and thereby drive up your cost. Additional factors can increase the character count and SMS costs, like adding an image, hidden characters, or emojis.
To learn more about segments, see What The Heck Is A Segment?
1 Segment or 160 Characters in SMS= $0.0435 for Outbound SMS
1 Segment or 160 Characters in SMS = $0.0075 for Inbound SMS
(1 Segment is equivalent to 160 characters in SMS ; include text, emoji, spaces, symbol, numbers etc.)
To learn more about segments, see What The Heck Is A Segment?
From Launchpad > Go to Settings
Under Billings > click the "Wallet & Transactions" > Scroll it down > You will see the "Detailed Transactions" this is where you see your details from the billing (Ex. cost per SMS, cost per Email, Purchase Phone number etc.)
