{"id":8054,"date":"2026-10-28T11:21:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T11:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mdsmedia.co.in\/blog\/?p=8054"},"modified":"2026-10-30T05:13:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T05:13:00","slug":"gsm-7-vs-unicode-sms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mdsmedia.co.in\/blog\/gsm-7-vs-unicode-sms\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00a0GSM-7 vs Unicode SMS: Why Your Message Costs More Than You Expect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Encoding<\/th>Single message<\/th>Each part of a long message<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
GSM-7<\/td>160 characters<\/td>153 characters<\/td><\/tr>
Unicode (UCS-2)<\/td>70 characters<\/td>67 characters<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Why do long messages hold fewer characters per part? When a text is split into several segments, each one carries a small header so the phone can stitch them back together in order. That header uses a few bytes, reducing the space left for your words. You are normally billed per segment, not per text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How one character changes the cost<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Here is the catch. If even one character in the message falls outside GSM-7, the entire message switches to Unicode<\/a>. A 120-character promotion that fit comfortably into one segment now exceeds 70 characters and is billed as two. A 300-character message might jump from two segments to five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why a small decoration can double your costs across a large send. Send that campaign to 100,000 people and the difference is not small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What triggers Unicode?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n