Text messaging credits
Last updated: October 14, 2026
Text messaging plans are measured in credits. One credit is one 160-character text. Longer texts use more than one, which is the part most people get wrong — so here is exactly how it works.
A long text is several texts
Phone carriers bill per 160-character message. Go one character over and your text is split and sent in parts, and every part drops to 153 characters, because each one carries a header telling the phone how to reassemble it.
That makes the two-part ceiling 306 characters, not 320. It is the number nobody guesses. A typical appointment reminder with an address and a booking link runs about 350 characters, which is three credits, not one.
Merge fields make one message many lengths. A template looks like a single message, but it becomes one message per recipient, and the fields merged into it — name, address, appointment time — are a different length for every one of them. “Dana Li” and “Christopher Vandenberghe” differ by 17 characters, which is enough to push part of your list onto an extra credit while the rest stay where they are. This counter measures the text you typed, so when you are sending a template, check it with the longest name and address you would realistically merge rather than the shortest. Within about 20 characters of a boundary, expect some of the send to cost one credit more.
Curly quotes, em dashes and ellipses are converted automatically before sending, so they cost nothing. Emoji and accented characters are not: a single emoji switches the whole message to a 70-character limit.
Plans
| Plan | Per month | Credits | Per credit | Typical texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39 | 500 | 7.80¢ | ~160 |
| Plus | $49 | 1,000 | 4.90¢ | ~325 |
| Standard | $69 | 2,000 | 3.45¢ | ~650 |
| Pro | $99 | 4,000 | 2.48¢ | ~1,300 |
| Enterprise | $189 | 10,000 | 1.89¢ | ~3,270 |
| Premier | $399 | 25,000 | 1.60¢ | ~8,170 |
"Typical texts" assumes the roughly three-credit appointment reminder above. Short texts use one credit each, so a plan's credit count is also the number of short texts it covers.
*Prices subject to change.
Running out mid-month
- At 80% of your credits we email you. Sending carries on as normal — this is a heads-up, not a limit.
- You can add additional credits yourself from the link in that email, at any point and as many times as you need. One price per plan, however many you buy.
- Sending carries on past your plan's credits and pauses once you are 10% over. It starts again by itself as soon as you add credits. Messages you send while it is paused wait, and go out the moment those credits arrive.
- Additional credits cost more per credit than the credits in your plan, so once you are buying them every month, moving up a plan is cheaper. We tell you when you reach that point.
| Plan | Additional credits | Price | Per credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 250 | $20.50 | 8.20¢ |
| Plus | 500 | $25.75 | 5.15¢ |
| Standard | 1,000 | $36.30 | 3.63¢ |
| Pro | 1,000 | $32.50 | 3.25¢ |
| Enterprise | 1,000 | $30.50 | 3.05¢ |
| Premier | 1,000 | $28.50 | 2.85¢ |
Buy as many as you need; there is no limit. Additional credits expire with the month, along with your plan credits.
*Prices subject to change.
The details
- Replies count too
- Every text uses a credit, whether you send it or a customer sends it to you. Replies are usually short, so they are usually one credit each.
- Your phone number uses about 230 credits a month
- Keeping a dedicated texting number has a fixed monthly cost, which comes out of your credits. It is why an account that sends nothing still shows a small amount used.
- Credits do not roll over
- Unused credits, including additional ones you have bought, end with the month. Buy them for the sending you are about to do, not as a reserve.
- What happens when you run out
- You have a 10% margin past your plan's credits. Sending pauses once you cross it, rather than stopping for good, and starts again by itself as soon as you add credits — there is nothing to switch back on. The margin is not free: everything sent beyond your plan's credits, including anything inside it, is billed as additional credits at the rate above. Messages you send while paused wait up to four hours for credits to arrive; after that they are returned as undelivered, so a reminder never turns up two days late.
- Changing plans
- Move up at any time and the new credits apply to the current month. Moving down takes effect at your next renewal.
- Opting out
- Customers who reply STOP are removed from your texting list automatically, as the carriers require. Those replies cost one credit each.
Questions?
Email support@dataaccessinc.com and we'll look at your account's usage with you.