An SMS in Greek fits 155 characters in iSend, when the text has no accents and no special symbols. An SMS with Latin characters only fits 160. If the message contains emoji or symbols that do not belong to the GSM alphabet, the limit drops to 70 characters. Longer messages are split into parts, and each part is charged as one credit.
The three character limits
| Text | One SMS | Per part, when split | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Latin characters and digits only | 160 | 153 | Your order 1234 has shipped |
| Greek without accents | 155 | 152 | Η ΠΑΡΑΓΓΕΛΙΑ 1234 ΕΦΥΓΕ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ (Greek uppercase: "Order 1234 shipped today") |
| Emoji or symbols outside the GSM alphabet | 70 | 67 | Η παραγγελία σας έφυγε ✅ (Greek lowercase with accents and an emoji: "Your order has shipped") |
The limit is determined by the "most expensive" character in the message. A message of 150 Greek characters with one emoji at the end is not one SMS, it is three.
Why Greek fits 155 characters and not 160
An SMS carries 160 characters only when it uses the basic GSM alphabet, which contains Latin letters, digits and a few symbols. Greek letters are sent with the Greek national table of the GSM 03.38 standard. This table is declared with a small header inside the message, and the header takes up the space of five characters. That leaves 155 characters for one message and 152 for each part of a longer one.
When the message contains a character that does not exist in any GSM table, such as emoji, the typographic quotation marks « » or the dash –, the entire message is sent in Unicode (UCS-2) encoding. There, each character takes up twice the space, and the limit becomes 70 characters.
Why iSend sends Greek in uppercase without accents
iSend converts the text to uppercase without accents before sending. The reason is the GSM alphabet: accented letters (ά, έ, ή, Ά, Έ) do not belong to it, and a single accent would change the encoding of the entire message to Unicode, that is from 155 to 70 characters. Greek uppercase letters are rendered within the GSM alphabet, because ten of them (Δ, Φ, Γ, Λ, Ω, Π, Ψ, Σ, Θ, Ξ) belong to the basic table and the rest have the same shape as Latin letters. Lowercase and accented letters have no equivalent.
The result is that a Greek message arrives as a single SMS on every device, old or new, instead of being split into two or three parts. Links inside the message stay exactly as you wrote them, because web addresses are case sensitive.
How iSend measures the length before sending
The counter in the campaign form shows, as you type, how many characters remain and in how many parts the message will be sent. Five rules explain the numbers you see:
- Accents are removed before counting. The Greek word "Παραγγελία" (order, lowercase with accent) and "ΠΑΡΑΓΓΕΛΙΑ" (the same word in uppercase) count the same, ten characters.
- A line break counts as one character.
- The symbols € [ ] { } ~ ^ | \ belong to the GSM extended table and count as two characters each.
- Personalization fields, such as the recipient's name, count with their actual value. The length is calculated separately for each recipient, so a long name can make the message two parts for that recipient only.
- A single character outside GSM, anywhere in the text, brings the limit to 70 for the whole message.
How longer messages are charged
Each part is one credit. A message of 200 Greek characters is sent in two parts and is charged two credits per recipient. In a campaign with 1,000 recipients that means 2,000 credits instead of 1,000. The recipient sees a single message, because the device joins the parts, but the network carries and charges them separately. Prices per credit are listed in the iSend pricing.
Five rules for single-credit messages
- Keep the text up to 155 characters, including the business name and the link.
- Avoid emoji, typographic quotation marks « » and the long dash. Use the plain " and -.
- Write numbers as digits and dates in short form, for example 15/10 instead of October 15.
- Check the parts counter before you press send, especially when you use personalization fields.
- Send a test message to your own mobile first to see how it appears.
Frequently asked questions
If I write the message in lowercase with accents, will I be charged more?
No. iSend removes the accents and converts the text to uppercase before sending, so the message counts and is charged as Greek GSM with a 155-character limit. Only emoji and symbols outside the GSM alphabet change the limit to 70.
Why does one emoji make the limit 70 characters?
Emoji do not exist in any table of the GSM alphabet. To carry it, the network sends the entire message in Unicode encoding, where each character takes up twice the space. So the 160 becomes 70 for the whole message, not only for the emoji.
Does the recipient see one message or several?
One. The parts carry a common header and the device joins them into a single message. Billing, however, is per part, because the network carries each one separately.