When sending messages with Twilio Blaster, you’ll notice a Segments count in the Status column. This helps you understand how your message is split and charged.
What is a segment? #
A segment is a portion of your message that fits within a specific character limit before it gets split into multiple parts.
- GSM-7: 160 units for one SMS, or 153 units per part when split. Some characters, such as ^ and €, use two units.
- Unicode: 70 UTF-16 units for one SMS, or 67 per part when split. An emoji can use more than one unit.
- If your message exceeds these limits, it will be split into multiple segments.
Why does it matter? #
Each segment is counted separately when determining cost and delivery speed. The more segments a message has, the higher the cost.
Check your message segments #
To see how many segments your message will use, try Twilio’s official Message Segment Calculator.
For more details on how message segments work, check out Twilio’s blog: What the Heck is a Segment?.