Free browser-based tool

SMS, RCS & WhatsApp Character Counter

Check SMS segments, RCS limits, and WhatsApp Business message/template lengths instantly. Your text stays in your browser and is not sent to SMSMedia servers.

Start typing to calculate SMS encoding and segment count.

Encoding
GSM-7
160 units in a single SMS
Characters
0
Visible characters typed
SMS units
0
GSM extensions count as 2
Segments
0
160 units remaining
Multipart guidance
10
Many carriers/providers recommend staying within about 10 SMS segments. Exact maximum support can vary by route and provider.
Plain RCS text can be up to 3072 characters.
Text characters
0
3072 remaining
UTF-8 bytes
0
Useful for payload size awareness
0 / 200 characters
0 / 2000 characters
Use 2 to 10 cards for a carousel.
Maximum 4 suggestions per card.
0 / 25 characters for suggested replies/actions.
RCS image/media size

Official docs use DP, not fixed pixels

Google RCS for Business defines rich card media in density-independent pixels (DP). Actual px values depend on the user's device screen density.

Carousel size Card width Max card height Media heights
Small 180 DP 542 DP 112 / 168 / 264 DP
Medium 296 DP 592 DP 112 / 168 / 264 DP
RCS file limits
100 MiB
Maximum combined media/PDF attachments in one RCS for Business message.
AgentMessage payload: 250 KB
Thumbnail: 100 KB max, 50 KB or less recommended
RCS supported media formats
Media Supported formats
Images JPEG/JPG, GIF, PNG
Video H.263, M4V, MP4, MPEG, MPEG-4, WebM
PDF PDF in rich cards is currently available only in India on Google Messages.
Suggestions Suggested replies/actions: 25 characters each.
Use this for free-form text messages sent inside the 24-hour customer service window.
WhatsApp text messages support up to 4096 characters.
Text body
0
4096 remaining
Template body limit
1024
Depends on components used
0 / 512 characters. Use lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores.
Marketing templates cover promotions, offers, awareness, and retargeting.
0 / 60 characters
Use this for pre-approved WhatsApp templates, commonly sent outside the 24-hour customer service window.
0 / 1024 characters
0 / 60 characters. Templates support one optional text-only footer.
Up to 10 buttons total.
0 / 25 characters
0 / 2000 characters. URL buttons support 1 variable appended to the end.
0 / 1024 characters for Cloud API image, video, and document captions.
WhatsApp Cloud API text body
4096
Free-form service conversation text. It is not a template and does not need template approval, but it is generally used within an active customer service window.
Template body
1024 / 32768
Pre-approved template content. Limit is 1024 when the template has other components, or 32768 when the body is the only component after parameters are filled.
Template footer & button limits
Component Limit Notes
Category Marketing, utility, authentication Meta validates categories and can reject or recategorize mismatched templates.
Template name 512 characters Lowercase alphanumeric characters and underscores only.
Footer 1 footer, 60 characters Optional text-only component shown after the body.
Buttons total Up to 10 More than 3 buttons display behind a See all options button.
Quick reply buttons Up to 10, 25-character labels Must be grouped correctly if mixed with non-quick-reply buttons.
URL buttons Up to 2, 25-character labels URL value supports up to 2000 characters.
URL variable 1 variable Supported variable must be appended to the end of the URL.
Phone number button Up to 1, 25-character label Phone number value supports up to 20 characters.
Copy code button Up to 1 Copies a code value when the user taps it.
Templates with 4 or more buttons, or mixed quick reply and other button types, may not render on WhatsApp desktop clients.
WhatsApp media size limits

Official Cloud API supported media types

Media Formats Max size
Image JPEG, PNG 5 MB
Video 3GP, MP4 16 MB
PDF / Document PDF, TXT, XLS/XLSX, DOC/DOCX, PPT/PPTX 100 MB
Audio AAC, AMR, MP3, M4A, OGG OPUS 16 MB
Sticker WebP 100 KB static / 500 KB animated
Media caption Image, video, document captions 1024 characters
Notes
100 MB
Maximum supported media message size on WhatsApp Cloud API.
Images: must be 8-bit RGB or RGBA.
Videos: H.264 video codec and AAC audio codec only.

SMS limits used

  • GSM-7: 160 units for one SMS, then 153 units per segment.
  • Unicode/UCS-2: 70 units for one SMS, then 67 units per segment.
  • Any non-GSM character switches the full SMS to Unicode counting.

RCS support

  • Plain text messages can contain up to 3072 characters.
  • Rich cards support media, title text, description text, and up to 4 suggestions.
  • Carousels support 2 to 10 vertical cards with image, GIF, video, or PDF media.
  • Small and medium carousel dimensions are specified in DP, not fixed px.

WhatsApp support

  • Cloud API text body supports emojis and markdown, up to 4096 characters.
  • Template media header supports one image, video, GIF, or document.
  • Cloud API messages support image 5 MB, video/audio 16 MB, documents 100 MB, and stickers up to 500 KB.

Limits used as references

These calculations follow common SMS segmentation rules and official platform limits where published.

Provider, carrier, BSP, country, and device support can add stricter limits than the platform maximums shown here.