Why are my SMS credits running out faster than expected?¶
SMS credits count message segments, not messages. This is how mobile carriers bill worldwide: a text longer than one segment is split into parts, and each part costs one credit. A short message uses 1 credit, while a long autoresponder can use 2, 3 or more.
How segments work¶
A single segment holds up to 160 characters. Longer messages are split into segments of 153 characters each (a little space in each part is used to join them back together on the phone).
| Message length | Credits used |
|---|---|
| Up to 160 characters | 1 |
| 161 to 306 | 2 |
| 307 to 459 | 3 |
| 460 to 612 | 4 |
If your message is in a non-Latin alphabet (Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese, Cyrillic and similar), carriers use a different encoding that fits 70 characters in a single segment, or 67 per segment for longer messages.
What this means in practice¶
- Lead notification texts are trimmed to fit one segment, so they almost always use 1 credit.
- SMS autoresponders are the usual reason for fast credit burn. They send your full custom message, so a 450-character autoresponder uses 3 credits per lead.
- LeadSync automatically converts smart quotes, dashes and similar characters to their plain equivalents, and removes emoji, so your messages stay in the 160-character encoding whenever possible.
Tip
Keep your autoresponder under 160 characters and every send costs exactly 1 credit. Most autoresponders can say what they need in one segment: thank the lead, set expectations, invite a reply.
A note on your balance¶
We only check that you have credits remaining before sending, so a long message sent with 1 credit left will still go out and your balance can briefly dip below zero. The next send is held until you top up or your credits renew.
You can check your balance and add credits any time under Account → SMS. See How to add SMS credits for the steps.