SMS Character Limit & Unicode Guide

A standard SMS uses the GSM-7 character set and allows 160 characters. Messages longer than that are split into multiple parts, costing more.

GSM-7 vs Unicode

English and common symbols use GSM-7, giving you 160 characters per SMS. Nepali and other non-Latin scripts use Unicode, which limits each SMS to 70 characters.

Concatenated messages

Long messages are automatically split. For Unicode, each part is typically 67 characters. This increases cost.

Writing Nepali SMS

Keep Nepali messages short and clear. Test the character count before sending to avoid unexpected multi-part charges.

Best practices

• Use short words
• Avoid special characters when possible
• Test on a small group first
• Use link shorteners for URLs