SMS Character Limit: 160 Characters, Unicode and Hindi SMS Explained
One SMS holds 160 English or 70 Unicode characters (Hindi, emoji, ₹). See how long SMS are split and billed, with tips to save credits.
Bulk SMS India Team 4 min read 
One SMS can hold 160 characters in plain English, or 70 characters if it uses Unicode (Hindi and other Indian scripts, emoji, or symbols like ₹). Longer messages are split into parts and each part is billed as one SMS.
This one rule decides how many credits every bulk SMS campaign uses. Here is how it works.
The two SMS character limits
| Encoding | Used for | One SMS | Each part of a long SMS |
|---|---|---|---|
| GSM-7 (text) | English letters, numbers, common punctuation | 160 characters | 153 characters |
| Unicode (UCS-2) | Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and other scripts, emoji, ₹ | 70 characters | 67 characters |
A long SMS loses a few characters per part because the phone needs some space to join the parts back together. The customer still sees one message.
How many SMS will my message use?
| Message length (English) | SMS charged | Message length (Unicode) | SMS charged |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 – 160 | 1 | 1 – 70 | 1 |
| 161 – 306 | 2 | 71 – 134 | 2 |
| 307 – 459 | 3 | 135 – 201 | 3 |
| 460 – 612 | 4 | 202 – 268 | 4 |
So a 170-character English message costs 2 SMS, and a 100-character Hindi message also costs 2 SMS. Sent to 10,000 people, that is 20,000 credits instead of 10,000.
Count your message in seconds with our free SMS character counter.
Characters that silently change the limit
One character outside the basic set switches the whole message to Unicode, and the limit drops from 160 to 70. Watch out for:
- The ₹ symbol. Write Rs in English messages instead.
- Emoji such as 🎉 or 🙏.
- Curly quotes and apostrophes copied from Word or WhatsApp (’ “ ”). Use straight ' and ".
- Long dashes (– or —). Use a normal hyphen (-).
- Hindi or regional words, even a single one.
What your customer sees
- DLT-approved sender ID and template
- Submitted to operators in real time
- Live delivery report for every number
- Works on every mobile phone
Characters that count as two
Some characters are allowed in normal SMS but take two spaces each:
[ ] { } ^ ~ \ | €
Avoid them in bulk messages where every character counts.
Hindi SMS: how many characters?
Hindi SMS use Unicode, so the limit is 70 characters per SMS. Matras and half letters also count as characters, so a Hindi message is often longer than it looks.
Tips for Hindi messages:
- Keep them to one clear idea.
- Use English numbers and "Rs" where it reads naturally.
- Check the count before sending a large campaign.
- Consider Hinglish (Hindi in English letters) when you need more space. It uses the 160-character limit.
प्रिय ग्राहक, आपका ऑर्डर आज डिलीवर होगा। धन्यवाद - [Brand]
Priya grahak, aapka order aaj deliver hoga. Track karein: [Link] - [Brand]
The first line is Unicode and uses up to 70 characters. The second is Hinglish and uses the 160-character limit, leaving room for a link.
DLT templates and variables
When you register a template on DLT, variable parts are marked as {#var#}. Remember:
- The final length depends on what fills the variable, not on the template.
- A long name or link in a variable can push the message into a second SMS.
- Keep a little margin. Aim for about 140 characters in the fixed part of an English template.
6 ways to keep SMS within one credit
- Lead with the key fact and cut greetings like "We are pleased to inform you".
- Use a short link instead of a full URL.
- Write "Rs" not ₹, and avoid emoji in English messages.
- Use common short forms carefully: "pls" and "tmrw" save space but can look unprofessional for banks and hospitals.
- Drop repeated brand names. Your sender ID already shows who you are.
- Test with one number before a big send.
Frequently asked questions
What is the character limit of one SMS?
One SMS holds 160 characters in English (GSM-7 encoding) or 70 characters in Unicode, which covers Hindi, regional languages, emoji and the ₹ symbol.
What happens if my SMS is longer than 160 characters?
It is sent as a long (concatenated) SMS. Each part holds 153 characters and is billed as one SMS, but the customer sees a single message.
How many characters are allowed in a Hindi SMS?
A Hindi SMS allows 70 characters. Longer Hindi messages are split into parts of 67 characters each.
Why did my 120-character message cost 2 SMS?
It probably contains a Unicode character like ₹, an emoji or a curly quote. That changes the whole message to Unicode with a 70-character limit.
Does a space count as a character in SMS?
Yes. Spaces, line breaks and punctuation all count towards the character limit.
Ready to get started?
Talk to our team about SMS character counter — setup help, DLT guidance and test credits.
Messaging specialists with 10+ years of experience (since 2016) helping 15,000+ Indian businesses with bulk SMS, WhatsApp, RCS and voice communication.
