Overview

Understanding how text message costs are calculated helps you budget for parent communication and optimize your messaging strategy. This guide breaks down the factors that affect costs and shows you exactly how to estimate what you'll pay.

Important: This article explains how to calculate text message costs and what affects the final price. For specific pricing in your country, visit Enrollio Phone Pricing.

What Determines Text Message Costs?

Several factors affect what you pay for each text:

  • Message length (number of segments)
  • Whether you're sending or receiving
  • Carrier fees from providers like T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon
  • Whether you include images (MMS)
  • International messaging
  • Special characters and emojis

We recommend reviewing the full Enrollio SMS Pricing to understand all cost factors.

Why Understanding Costs Matters

When you know how text message costs work, you can:

  • Budget accurately for parent communication campaigns
  • Write messages that cost less without losing impact
  • Understand carrier fees and how they add up
  • Decide when to use SMS versus MMS with images

How to Estimate Outbound Text Costs

Every text message is made up of segments. Each segment contains 160 characters. If your message is longer, it splits into multiple segments, which increases your cost.

Example:

  • 160 characters = 1 segment
  • 161 characters = 2 segments

The more segments, the higher your cost.

When You're Charged: If an internal error happens before the message reaches the phone provider, you won't be charged. But once a delivery attempt is made, you'll be charged whether or not the message delivers successfully. This includes messages to toll-free numbers, A2P numbers, or numbers that can't receive messages due to country restrictions.

What is a Segment?

A segment is how we measure text message length for billing. Each segment holds 160 characters using standard GSM-7 encoding. Longer messages automatically break into multiple segments.

Step-by-Step Cost Calculation

Follow these four steps to estimate what an outbound text will cost:

  1. Find the number of segments in your message
  2. Look up the per-segment cost
  3. Look up carrier fees (approximately $0.005)
  4. Calculate the total

Here's the formula we'll use:

Estimated Cost = [(Number of Segments) × (Per-Segment Cost)] + [(Number of Segments) × (Carrier Fees)]

Note: This estimate is for a single outbound text sent from a US number to another US number. International messages and other factors may change the final cost.

Step 1: Find the Number of Segments

Write your message, then copy it. Open the Message Segment Calculator and paste your text. The calculator shows you exactly how many segments your message contains.

[SCREENSHOT: Message Segment Calculator tool showing a sample message with the segment count highlighted]

Example:
Estimated Cost = [(5) × (Per-Segment Cost)] + [(5) × (Carrier Fees)]

Step 2: Look Up Per-Segment Cost

Open the Enrollio SMS Pricing page. Select the country where you're sending messages, then scroll to "SMS/MMS Pricing." Find your per-segment cost based on your phone number type.

[SCREENSHOT: SMS Pricing page showing the per-segment costs section with long code pricing highlighted]

For this example, we're using a long code number at $0.0083 per segment.

Example:
Estimated Cost = [(5) × ($0.0083)] + [(5) × (Carrier Fees)]

Step 3: Look Up Carrier Fees

In the US and Canada, carriers like T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon charge additional fees for messages sent to their customers. These fees vary by carrier and change occasionally.

Find current carrier fees on the Enrollio SMS Pricing page. Scroll to "Carrier Fees" and check the outbound SMS column for each carrier.

[SCREENSHOT: Carrier Fees section of pricing page showing fees by carrier type]

Quick Estimate: Since carrier fees vary by the parent's phone carrier, we can't know the exact fee until we send. For planning purposes, use approximately $0.005 — this is currently the highest carrier fee. Check the pricing page for current rates to refine your estimates.

Example:
Estimated Cost = [(5) × ($0.0083)] + [(5) × ($0.005)]

Pro Tip: Carrier fees can change, so always check the current Enrollio SMS Pricing before making budget decisions.

Step 4: Calculate Your Total

Now we'll walk through the math step by step using our example:

Starting formula:
Estimated Cost = [(5) × ($0.0083)] + [(5) × ($0.005)]

First, multiply segments by per-segment cost:
5 × $0.0083 = $0.0415

Next, multiply segments by carrier fees:
5 × $0.005 = $0.025

Finally, add them together:
$0.0415 + $0.025 = $0.0665

Our example message costs approximately 6.65 cents to send.

Understanding Factors That Impact Costs

Number of Segments

The biggest factor in your text costs is message length. Keep messages under 160 characters when possible to use just one segment. Special characters and emojis can reduce the character limit, causing your message to split sooner.

Carrier Lookup Fees

Every time you send a message, carriers charge a small fee. These fees vary by carrier (T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, etc.) and the type of phone number you're using (long code, toll-free, or shortcode).

Direction (Inbound/Outbound)

Sending and receiving messages have different costs. Outbound messages (texts you send to parents) typically cost more than inbound messages (texts parents send to you).

International Messaging

Sending texts to phone numbers outside your country costs significantly more. If you serve families internationally, check the international pricing before sending.

Cost Estimator Spreadsheet

Want to calculate costs for multiple messages or campaigns? Download our SMS Cost Estimator Sheet to quickly estimate your messaging budget.

[SCREENSHOT: Sample SMS Cost Estimator spreadsheet showing fields for segments, per-segment cost, carrier fees, and total calculation]

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I get a refund if my text doesn't deliver?

No. Once a delivery attempt is made, you're charged whether the message delivers successfully or not. This is why we recommend double-checking recipient numbers before sending messages to your parent database.

Do emojis affect my costs?

Yes. Emojis and special characters can change how messages are encoded, which reduces the number of characters that fit in each segment. This means your message may split into more segments and cost more to send.

What's the difference between SMS and MMS?

SMS is text-only. MMS includes images, videos, or other media files. MMS messages cost more than SMS. Check the Enrollio SMS Pricing for current MMS rates.

How can I reduce my text message costs?

Keep messages concise and under 160 characters when possible. Avoid unnecessary emojis or special characters. Use the Message Segment Calculator before sending to see exactly how many segments your message will use.