When you send a text through Text-Em-All, there’s a lot happening behind the scenes. Unlike internet-based messaging apps (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc.) that use data or Wi-Fi, SMS and MMS go through mobile carriers – and carriers charge per message. This guide will walk you through how aggregators and carriers bill for SMS and MMS, and why certain types of messages (long texts, emojis, pictures) cost a bit more. Our goal is to explain these nuances in a friendly, easy-to-understand way, so you know exactly what you’re paying for and why.
Key takeaways
SMS messages are billed per 160-character segment; longer messages are split and charged as multiple segments.
Adding emojis or special characters shortens the segment limit to 70 characters, which can increase message count and cost.
MMS messages (like images or very long texts) cost more due to higher carrier delivery fees.
Monthly plans include texts up to 320 characters (2 segments); anything longer or with media has a small extra fee.
Messaging apps like WhatsApp use data, not carrier networks, so they don’t have per-message fees.
Text-Em-All absorbs most carrier and registration costs, keeping pricing simple and transparent.
Carrier fees vary by network (e.g., T-Mobile, AT&T), but you won’t see them broken out or added to your bill.
Text messages vs. messaging apps: Why costs differ
It might seem strange that sending a text can incur fees, whereas sending a message on a free app doesn’t. The key difference is how the message is delivered. SMS texting uses the cellular network and is billed per message segment by carriers, whereas apps like WhatsApp use the internet (data) and generally aren’t charged per message. In practice, this means:
Traditional SMS (texts) are charged per message unit. Each SMS is limited to 160 characters per segment, and going beyond that counts as multiple messages. Carriers in the U.S. (like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.) impose a small fee for each segment delivered.
Messaging Apps use your phone’s data connection. You can send lengthy messages (up to tens of thousands of characters) with images or emojis freely because they don’t incur a per-message carrier fee. The “cost” is just using a bit of your data plan or Wi-Fi, not a charge for each message.
In short, texting travels over carrier networks that bill per message, whereas app messages ride on the internet where you aren’t billed per message. This fundamental difference is why SMS has some costs and limits that messaging apps don’t.
When you send a text broadcast with Text-Em-All, it doesn’t directly jump from our website to your recipients’ phones. It travels through an aggregator – basically a messaging pipeline that connects to all the mobile carriers. The process looks like this:
Text-Em-All submits your message to an aggregator (a third-party partner or service that routes SMS/MMS traffic).
The aggregator hands off the message to the appropriate mobile carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.) based on your contacts’ phone numbers.
Each carrier then delivers the message to the recipient’s mobile phone on its network.
Both the aggregator and the carriers apply fees for handling the message. The fees are typically “per message segment” for SMS and higher for MMS. Text-Em-All, as the texting service, pays those fees to the aggregator/carriers for each message you send – which is why messages beyond certain limits or with special features incur extra costs. In essence, every outbound text we send on your behalf has a small cost due to carrier billing, even if you as a consumer don’t see that when texting friends on your personal cell phone plan.
Why don’t you see these fees in personal texting? Most consumer cell plans advertise “unlimited texting.” Carriers can offer that because the texting volumes per person are manageable and bundled into your plan. But when businesses send thousands of messages, carriers classify them differently (as A2P – Application-to-Person traffic) and charge the sender (us) for each message. Text-Em-All covers these costs in our pricing, but it’s important to understand there’s a real cost for each message sent through carrier networks.
SMS messages have a built-in length limit – one “segment” is up to 160 standard characters. If you exceed that, your text is automatically split into multiple segments. Carriers will treat each segment as a separate message for billing (though our platform reassembles them so the recipient still sees it as one long text). Here’s how it breaks down:
0 – 160 characters = 1 segment (one message billed)
161 – 320 characters = 2 segments (billed as two messages)
321 – 480 characters = 3 segments, and so on...
Each segment essentially costs the same as sending a separate SMS. For example, on our Pay-As-You-Go (credits) plan, a 300-character text counts as 2 credits because it spans two 160-character segments. On the Monthly plan, texts up to 320 characters (2 segments) are included for free, but longer texts incur a small fee (more on that in a moment).
Why 160 characters? This limit comes from the encoding standard called GSM-7 which is used for SMS. It allocates a certain amount of data per message – enough for 160 basic characters. When you go over, the message is split so that it can be delivered in pieces and recombined on the phone. The key point is that carriers bill per segment, so a longer text isn’t truly “one” message to them – it might be two, three, or more messages chained together.
Bottom line: Keeping your messages concise (under 160 characters if possible) ensures you’re only billed for one segment. If you need to send longer messages, just be aware that they will count as multiple messages in terms of cost.
Ever wonder why adding a single emoji sometimes makes a text count as two messages instead of one? It’s not that carriers charge extra for the smiley itself, but using emojis or certain special characters changes the message encoding, effectively shrinking the character limit from 160 to 70 per segment. Here’s what’s happening:
SMS that include emojis or non-Latin script characters switch from the standard GSM-7 encoding (160 chars per segment) to Unicode encoding, which can handle a much larger range of characters (like 😊 or 字). Unicode uses more data per character, so the segment size drops to 70 characters.
This means a text with even one emoji could max out a single segment at 70 characters. If your message goes over 70, it will split into a second segment at the 71st character (and again at 141 characters, and so on, in 70-char chunks). You effectively get fewer characters per segment when the message contains special symbols or emojis.
For example, consider the message “Thank you for your feedback 🙂!” – with the smiley emoji, this message will be sent in Unicode. Even though it’s short, let’s say it’s ~45 characters including the emoji; that’s fine (one segment). But if you wrote a longer message, say “Our team will reach out soon 🙂 Thank you for your patience and have a great day!” – the emoji triggers Unicode encoding and the character limit per segment is 70. This whole text might be around 100 characters with spaces, which means it will send as 2 segments (70 + 30) instead of 1 segment if it had no special characters. You haven’t gone over 160 characters, but the emoji caused the split.
Because carriers count those two segments as two messages, messages containing special characters can cost more to send. At Text-Em-All, we group any text with emojis or special symbols under “Enhanced Text Messages” – these will incur a small additional charge (1 extra credit on Credits plans, or $0.05 on Monthly plans) because they are effectively multiple segments or a more expensive encoding.
Tip: If you want to avoid extra segments, you can limit use of emojis or special characters in your outbound messages. Of course, sometimes they’re necessary or add a friendly touch, and we want you to use them when you need to – just be aware of how they impact message length. Our system will alert you in the Text Composer if your message includes special characters that make it an “Enhanced Text,” so you’ll know before you send.
MMS messages (which include pictures, videos, or even just longer text in some cases) are handled differently by carriers and come with higher costs than a standard SMS. MMS allows rich content – you can send a photo, a longer block of text, etc., but all that extra data means the carriers charge more for it. Here’s what you need to know:
Carriers charge a higher fee for MMS. In the U.S., an MMS can cost several times more than an SMS for the sender (the business sending the message). For example, T-Mobile charges around $0.003 (three-tenths of a penny) to send a standard SMS segment, but about $0.01 (one cent) to send an MMS. AT&T is in a similar range, roughly $0.003 per SMS and $0.0075 per MMS. Every carrier has its own rates, but MMS is always more expensive than SMS on a per-message basis.
MMS counts as an “enhanced” message on our platform. On a Credits (pay-as-you-go) account, adding an image to a text uses 1 extra credit per recipient (on top of the credits for the text itself). On a Monthly plan, sending an MMS costs $0.05 per recipient. This small fee helps cover the higher cost that carriers and aggregators charge us for delivering a picture message. (Inbound MMS – if someone replies to you with an image – is free; charges only apply to outbound broadcasts.)
Why not include MMS free in the Monthly plan? We’d love to make everything unlimited, but if we included unlimited outbound MMS for all monthly customers, we’d have to significantly raise the monthly subscription price for everyone. Picture messages truly cost more on the carrier side, roughly 5× or more the cost of a text in many cases. Rather than make all users absorb that cost, we only charge you when you send an MMS (pay-for-what-you-use). This keeps the base price of the Monthly plan lower for everyone. In other words, we don’t think it’s fair to make a church or school that never sends images pay the same high rate as a business that sends tons of MMS – so we separated it out as a small usage fee.
It’s also worth noting that MMS messages can include a lot more text than a standard SMS. In fact, if you send a text-only message longer than 160 characters, our system might automatically convert it to MMS to deliver it as one message (especially if it’s very long, or if you intentionally use the MMS mode to send longer texts). Those are still billed as MMS because they use the MMS protocol and incur the same carrier cost as sending a picture. So, whether it’s a photo or just a long message sent as MMS, the outbound cost is higher than a short SMS.
Summary: MMS are a great way to send richer content – and we absolutely encourage you to use images when they add value to your messages – just remember they cost a bit more. We charge a small fee per MMS to cover what carriers charge us, rather than hiding that cost in your base plan price.
If you’re on our Monthly plan, you might know that we recommend 3-5 messages per week, but with a character limit of 320 characters per text. That’s the equivalent of two SMS segments. Why cap it there? The short answer is: cost control and fairness. Here’s the scoop:
Unlimited doesn’t mean “infinite length.” Our Monthly plans let you send as many broadcasts as you need without worrying about running out of credits – as long as those texts are up to 320 characters each. We set 320 chars (2 segments) as the included limit because sending significantly longer messages every time would incur multiple carrier fees on each text, which isn’t sustainable for a monthly flat rate. Remember, every 160-character segment has a cost. If we allowed unlimited-length texts for a flat fee, a single very long message (say 960 characters, which is 6 segments) would cost six times more in carrier fees than a standard message. Multiply that by thousands of messages, and the economics break down quickly for an set-rate monthly plan.
You can go beyond 320 characters on Monthly – with a small fee. We don’t completely block you from sending longer texts. Instead, we allow “Enhanced Texts” on monthly accounts: you can send up to 960 characters (6 segments) by turning on Enhanced Texting in your settings. When you do, any message over 320 chars will incur a $0.05 per recipient charge (which covers those extra segments). Essentially, the first two segments are on us (included in your plan), and segments 3–6 are passed through at cost (5 cents). This way, you have the flexibility to send a longer message when you really need it, but the system remains fair – folks who send short messages aren’t subsidizing those sending novel-length texts.
Inbound messages are free and not limited. Just as a side note, whether you’re on the Credits or Monthly plan, we don’t charge for incoming texts, and if someone replies to you with a long message or an image, that’s free for you. The limits and fees we’re discussing only apply to outbound messages that you send out through our service.
In summary, 320 characters on the Monthly plan strikes a balance between providing generous texting capability and controlling costs. Most routine informational texts easily fit within 320 characters. If you do need to go longer occasionally, you can – you’ll just pay a tiny fee for those messages. This approach ensures the monthly subscription price stays reasonable for everyone, without surprise overage charges, while still giving flexibility when needed.
As mentioned earlier, U.S. mobile carriers charge message senders (like Text-Em-All) a fee for each SMS or MMS sent over their network. These are often called carrier fees or surcharges. They may only be fractions of a penny per message, but they do add up when you’re sending at scale. Here are a few key points about carrier fees:
Every carrier has its own fee structure. For example, as of recent data: T-Mobile charges about $0.0030 per SMS segment and $0.0100 per MMS. AT&T is around $0.0030 per SMS and $0.0075 per MMS. Verizon is roughly $0.0031 per SMS and $0.0052 per MMS. These fees are for outbound messages on registered texting campaigns (more on registration in the next section). Inbound messages often have lower or no fees from carriers – for instance, AT&T doesn’t charge for inbound SMS on these programs. The main takeaway is that MMS carries a higher fee than SMS on every network, and each carrier’s rates are slightly different. Text-Em-All’s pricing is designed to take these differences into account and simplify it for you (we don’t make you pay a different price per carrier – we average it out).
Why do carriers charge these fees? Carriers implemented these A2P messaging fees in recent years as part of an effort to regulate business texting (to curb spam and ensure quality). They see it as “you’re using our network to reach our subscribers as a business, so there’s a cost.” It’s somewhat analogous to postage for mail – if you send 100,000 letters, you pay postage on each one. Here, if we send 100,000 texts to Verizon phones, Verizon will bill us a few hundred dollars for handling that traffic. Every aggregator or texting platform has to pay these fees to the carriers.
Competitors often pass these fees directly to customers as surcharges on bills – you might see line items for “AT&T SMS fee” or "Telecom surcharge". We’ve chosen not to pass along carrier fees as add-on charges for Text-Em-All customers. In our pricing plans, we absorb the standard carrier fees in our credit pricing and monthly rates. The only time you see an extra charge is for the optional cases (like long messages or MMS, i.e. Enhanced Texts) which we’ve already discussed. In other words, no surprise surcharges just because AT&T or T-Mobile decided to tweak their fees. Simplicity and fairness are important to us.
It’s important to note that carrier fees are not avoidable – any legitimate SMS service has to pay them. If you find a service claiming “totally free unlimited texting with no catches,” read the fine print – they might be subsidizing costs in other ways or have strict limits. Text-Em-All’s approach is to be upfront: our base rates cover the normal messaging, and if carriers force a fee for something extra (like MMS or very long texts), we only charge you when you actually use that feature. This way, you’re not paying for fees on features you don’t use.
Lastly, carrier fees can change over time. For example, carriers introduced new fees with 10DLC (10-digit long code) registration in 2021, and they occasionally adjust the amounts. We keep an eye on these and adjust our pricing or policies as needed to ensure we can continue to deliver your messages reliably. We’ll always communicate any changes that could affect your costs. But rest assured, we won’t suddenly start tacking on hidden fees – if carriers raise costs significantly, we’d rather explain the situation (just like we’re doing here) than surprise you on your bill.
You may have heard about registering your texting campaign or something called 10DLC (which stands for 10-Digit Long Code, essentially your local texting number). This is a U.S. carrier requirement introduced to ensure businesses text responsibly. Here’s what it means and how it affects billing:
Businesses must register who they are and what types of messages they send. This involves creating a Brand (your company/organization identity) and a Campaign (the use case for your texts, e.g. alerts, marketing, two-factor codes, etc.). Registration is typically done through the messaging provider (like us) with the carriers. There are one-time fees and monthly fees associated with this registration. For example, as of now carriers charge roughly $4 to $15 in one-time fees to set up a brand and campaign, and then $1.50 to $10 per month for the campaign depending on its type and volume. (Nonprofits or certain cases get lower rates, high-volume marketing gets higher, etc.)
What do these registration fees cover? They basically fund the verification and monitoring system the carriers put in place. By registering, your messages are recognized as “trusted” traffic which gets better delivery and is allowed higher throughput. It’s a bit of an additional cost for the sake of a more stable texting ecosystem (and yes, carriers also profit from it).
Text-Em-All handles registration for you. We’ve made the 10DLC registration process as easy as possible – in fact, if you’re using our platform, you’ve likely either filled out a simple form with your organization details and use case or we’ve prompted you to do so. We then register that information with The Campaign Registry (the industry body managing 10DLC) and carriers. We do not charge our customers extra fees for registration processing. In other words, no added carrier setup fees or monthly surcharges for 10DLC on your bill – we cover the cost of the standard registration fees as part of our service. Many other providers pass those fees directly to customers or require an upfront payment to register; we chose to absorb it to remove friction for you. Our belief is that compliance should be simple and not feel like nickel-and-diming.
Keeping your registration up to date. Once you’re registered, there’s not much you need to do except send messages that align with what you told us (for example, if you registered for “appointments reminders”, don’t suddenly start sending political campaign texts – that could violate the terms). If your use case changes, let us know so we can update your campaign with carriers. The monthly campaign fees on our end are handled behind the scenes. You just pay for your plan or credits as usual.
The main thing to understand is that registration is now a built-in part of business texting in the US, and while it comes with some costs, those are managed by Text-Em-All for you. By registering, you actually get the benefit of lower per-message fees (unregistered traffic, if even allowed, is penalized with much higher fees) and better deliverability. All the major carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.) enforce this. So, while it’s an extra hoop to jump through, it ultimately helps your messages reach people reliably – and we handle the heavy lifting and costs of it as part of our service.
We’ve covered a lot of technical ground – now let’s bring it back to what you, as our customer, see on your end. Our philosophy is to be transparent about why things cost what they do, and to avoid nickel-and-diming you with surprise charges. Here’s how that philosophy is reflected in our pricing:
Monthly Plan users: You pay a flat monthly rate based on your group size, and that includes unlimited texts and calls (voice broadcasts) to those contacts. Within that, all your SMS up to 320 characters are free and unlimited. You’ll only ever see extra text charges if you enable Enhanced Texting for >320 character messages or images – and even then, it’s a simple $0.05 per recipient, which we’ll tally up and add to your next bill. We don’t impose any random “carrier surcharge” line items for standard texts; those carrier fees are built into the service you already paid for. In short: if you don’t send long messages or MMS, you’ll never pay more than your flat monthly fee. If you do use those extras, you pay a small amount when you use them – not as a blanket higher rate for everyone.
Pay-As-You-Go (Credits) users: You buy credits and spend them as you send messages (1 credit per text segment, per recipient). The credit system already accounts for all the carrier costs in the background. For example, 1 credit covers one 160-char SMS to one phone – that credit’s price factors in the carrier fee, aggregator cost, etc. If you send a longer text or an MMS, it will simply use more credits (because it’s essentially multiple messages). An MMS uses an additional credit, and each segment uses a credit. But again, you won’t see any extra “fees” beyond the credits. We don’t, for instance, charge you a separate bill for carrier fees; it’s all in the credit. And our credit pricing decreases the more you buy at once (volume discounts), which can offset those costs even more.
No charges for things that don’t cost extra. We don’t charge for inbound messages, because carriers don’t charge us for them. We don’t charge monthly users for additional text numbers or registration or anything like that. Many competitors do have fees for extra phone numbers or pass-through registration costs – we include those in our service. Our goal is that you shouldn’t be surprised by your bill or confused by a laundry list of add-on fees. If you’re ever unsure about a charge, we encourage you to reach out – we’ll happily explain it. Chances are, it ties directly to one of the factors we discussed above (like MMS or an extra-long message you sent).
We only charge for features when you use them. This is an important part of our approach. For example, we didn’t roll the cost of MMS into every Monthly plan by raising the price across the board, because that wouldn’t be fair to someone who never sends pictures. Instead, we made it opt-in: if you need it, it’s there for a small fee; if you don’t, it doesn’t affect you. We avoid hidden fees, but we do believe in usage-based fees for optional enhancements – that keeps the base service affordable for everyone.
In conclusion, Text-Em-All wants you to feel confident and informed about how texting charges work. We know it can be confusing – after all, when you use consumer texting or chat apps, you’re not thinking about “segments” and “carrier surcharges.” But in the business messaging world, these are real considerations. Hopefully this article shed light on why an emoji might bump your cost by a few cents, or why sending a photo to 500 people isn’t as cheap as a plain text. The good news is we’ve done everything we can to keep costs transparent and as low as possible for you: absorbing what we can, and only passing on fees when it’s absolutely necessary and tied to something you chose to send.
If you have any other questions about how billing works or why a particular message was charged a certain way, our support team is here to help. We’re committed to being friendly, service-focused, and direct in explaining things – just like the tone of this article – so you’re never in the dark about your own communication budget. Happy texting!