Aircall provides reliable and compliant SMS capabilities for your business. To maintain service quality and prevent misuse, SMS messaging is subject to certain limits. This article explains how these limits work and what happens when they are reached.

Why limits exist

Limits are in place to ensure a consistent and compliant messaging experience. They serve the following purposes:

  • Industry standards and compliance: Aircall adheres to telecommunications regulations and best practices.
  • Spam and fraud prevention: Restrictions reduce the risk of spam, fraud, and misuse.
  • Provider requirements: Different carriers enforce limits that Aircall must respect.
  • Service quality: Managing volume helps ensure stable SMS delivery for all customers.

Understanding SMS segments

An SMS segment is defined as 160 characters using GSM-7 encoding.

  • Messages longer than 160 characters are split into multiple segments, up to 1,600 characters.
  • Recipients see these combined segments as a single message.
Tip: Use a segment calculator to optimize your templates or automated messages and reduce the number of segments.

SMS limits

The limits below apply depending on whether SMS is sent by a user, through the Aircall app, or via the API.

Per user limits

  • Outbound SMS: 13,000 segments per user, per month
  • Messages sent via HubSpot workflows count toward the user limit based on the “Sender User” defined in the workflow configuration

Per number limits

SMS sent via Aircall app

  • All numbers: 20,000 outbound SMS segments per month
  • French mobile numbers:
    • 100 outbound segments per hour
    • 1,000 outbound segments per day
    • 10,000 outbound segments per month

Here you learn more about French messaging limitations.

SMS sent via Aircall API, Third-Party SMS, or HubSpot workflows integration

  • US & Canada numbers:
    • 1,000 outbound segments per hour
    • 10,000 outbound segments per day
    • 100,000 outbound segments per month
  • French mobile numbers:
    • 100 outbound segments per hour
    • 1,000 outbound segments per day
    • 10,000 outbound segments per month
  • All other countries:
    • 500 outbound segments per hour
    • 2,000 outbound segments per day
    • 20,000 outbound segments per month
Note: API volume is restricted to 60 requests per minute, per company.
Advanced Messaging customers benefit from 120 requests per minute, per company.

To request a limit increase, please submit a request to our Customer Support team. 

What happens when limits are reached

If a limit is reached:

  • The Aircall app or API will block additional outbound SMS until the limit resets (hourly, daily, or monthly depending on the rule).
  • Once the time period resets, messaging resumes automatically for the user or number that reached the limit.
  • Failed messages due to limits will not be retried by the system.

Using both the API and the Aircall app

If you send SMS through both the API and the Aircall app, the limits for each source are tracked independently.