Before you send a campaign, we provide an estimate of how many credits you'll use. Our system calculates this by assigning different credit values to various message types. Understanding how credits work will help you plan and budget for text communications.
Message Types and Credit Values
These are the three main types of text messages and SimpleTexting credits:
SMS (1 credit): A standard text message that is short and works on practically all mobile phones. A single SMS credit is limited to 160 characters.
Extended SMS (2 credits): A slightly longer text message designed to accommodate additional content beyond the usual 160-character limit. An extended SMS credit goes up to 306 characters.
MMS (3 credits): A multimedia message that can include images, GIFs, or other rich media, giving you a more visually engaging way to connect. MMS credits can go up to 1,600 characters.
Knowing these values upfront makes it easy to calculate the approximate credit cost of your campaign. For instance:
Sending an SMS to 500 contacts uses 500 credits total.
Sending an Extended SMS to 500 contacts uses 1,000 credits total.
Sending an MMS to 500 contacts uses 1,500 credits total.
Why Is This Just an Estimate?
Even with a clear breakdown of credit costs, the number you see before you hit "Send" is an estimate. Here are a couple of reasons why the final usage may differ:
Contact List Growth: If you schedule a message for a future date, your list may grow in the meantime. New subscribers will be included in your campaign, affecting the total number of credits used.
Message Fallbacks: Sometimes, when you send an MMS campaign, certain devices or carriers might only receive an SMS fallback. In those cases, the credit consumption might be lower than the original estimate, because you're effectively sending fewer MMS messages.
Scheduling and Best Practices
When planning your campaigns, consider sending messages when recipients are likely to be available. Segment your list into groups so you can send relevant messages to the right people. This ensures you use credits effectively and maintain good engagement rates. Monitoring open rates, click-throughs, and response patterns over time helps you optimize campaigns and avoid wasted credits. Consider removing contacts who’ve stopped engaging with your texts.
Credit calculations are based on your monthly allotments. If you're on an annual plan, you might see some numbers that don't align perfectly with month-to-month usage. This is simply because the calculations and allowances can fluctuate throughout the year.
Managing Your SimpleTexting Credits
SimpleTexting provides rollovers for unused credits each month. Your normal monthly credits are used first, and any rollover credits must be used by the end of the month, or they will expire.
Need additional credits? We offer a variety of plans to meet the needs of your business. For more details on our pricing tiers and how credits are allocated, be sure to visit our pricing page. You'll find information on how to upgrade your plan, add more credits if necessary, and make the most of the features offered.
Message Deliverability and Responsibilities
While we work diligently to provide seamless delivery across all carriers and devices, delivery success can vary due to factors outside our control (e.g., recipient phone issues, carrier filters, or service outages).
Occasionally, certain messages may not be delivered. Because the sending cost is incurred by our company once the campaign is initiated, users remain responsible for the associated credits, regardless of final delivery status. It is the user’s responsibility to ensure contact data such as mobile phone numbers are legitimate and accurate. If you have concerns about deliverability, we recommend regular list maintenance and ensuring that your recipients have opted in.