Understanding your SMS and MMS charges

Each month, Aircall issues an invoice that includes charges for your SMS and MMS usage. These charges are calculated based on your contract terms and actual message consumption. This article explains how SMS and MMS are billed, how to review your usage, and how to optimize your messaging to manage costs effectively.

Reviewing your SMS and MMS usage

You can review your SMS and MMS activity using the usage report available in the Billing tab of your Aircall dashboard.

Important: Only users with Owner permissions can access the Billing tab.
Usage reports are available for 90 days. If you need data older than this period, please contact Aircall support.

Steps to access your usage report

Steps:

1. Go to Billing > Invoices in your Aircall Dashboard.
2. Download the usage report for the relevant billing period.
3. Open the file and filter the Type column to display only SMS and or MMS entries.
4. Use the Description column to filter by the specific message type you want to review, for example Outbound SMS – United States.
5. Review the Segment count column to see the total volume of SMS or MMS messages for the selected period. For more details, see Understanding your Aircall invoice usage report.

Note: Invoices always cover the previous month usage.
For example, an invoice issued on May 14, 2025, includes calls made between April 14 and May 13, 2025.

Tip: To calculate SMS or MMS expenses per user, filter the “From number” column using the phone number assigned to the agent.

Understanding SMS and MMS pricing

Note: All screenshots and price examples in this article are for illustration purposes only and may not reflect actual rates.

SMS pricing: segments and characters

SMS messages are billed per segment, and pricing depends on your contract and the destination country.

• One SMS segment includes up to 160 standard characters.
• Messages longer than 160 characters are automatically split into multiple segments.
• The total number of segments determines the total SMS cost.

Special characters and encoding

Using special characters such as é, ü, ’, or emojis changes the message encoding and reduces the number of characters allowed per segment, sometimes to as few as 70 characters. As a result, even short messages may be split into multiple billable segments. Messages containing characters like é, ü, or ’ may exceed the 160 character limit due to encoding, even if they appear shorter.

Tip: To estimate how many segments a message will use, try an online tool such as Twilio’s Message Segment Calculator.

MMS pricing

MMS messages are billed per message, with pricing that varies by carrier and destination.

• MMS messages can include text, images, videos, or attachments.
• Size limits and supported formats depend on the carrier.
  For more information, see MMS (Business Multimedia Messaging).

Identifying your message costs

Option A: Download a previous invoice

Steps:

1. Go to Billing > Invoices.
2. Download the relevant invoice PDF.
3. Locate the Messages from the Previous Month section.
4. Check the Unit price column for SMS or MMS rates.

Option B: Contact our Customer Success team

For detailed or destination specific pricing, contact our Customer Success team.

Note: Pricing may vary based on your number prefix and destination country.
SMS and MMS are not included in Aircall call bundles.

Third-party SMS billing policy update

Effective February 2025, Aircall updated its billing policy for third-party SMS consumption. This change affects customers using Aircall numbers configured with third-party SMS integrations such as Sakari or Texline.

Previous policy

Previously, Aircall covered all SMS carrier costs for numbers connected to third-party SMS integrations.

New policy

Under the new policy, customers using numbers with third-party SMS enabled are billed by both Aircall and their third-party SMS provider. Aircall’s SMS partners have migrated to a new messaging API that provides a more stable and efficient integration experience. However, Aircall continues to incur carrier costs for SMS traffic on Aircall numbers, even when messages are sent through external providers. These carrier costs are now passed through to customer accounts.

Important: You will see additional SMS usage charges from Aircall for messages sent via numbers connected to third-party SMS tools.
Depending on your agreement, you may also receive charges directly from your third-party provider.

Recommended actions for cost's efficiency

Steps:

1. Review recent invoices to identify new SMS usage charges from Aircall.
2. Contact your third-party SMS provider, such as Sakari or Texline, to discuss potential pricing adjustments.
3. Consider switching to Aircall’s native SMS or Advanced Messaging features for consolidated billing and simpler management.

Tip: If you are interested in transitioning to Aircall’s native messaging solutions, contact our Customer Success team for personalized assistance.

For more details, see Third-Party SMS.

Viewing SMS and MMS details on your invoice

Your invoice includes a summary of inbound and outbound SMS and MMS usage for the billing period. All messages are listed under the Messages from the Previous Month section. If a message is included in your plan, it will be marked as included in the Total Amount column of your invoice.
Example:

Note: If your plan includes a US or Canada Fair Use Bundle, messages within the included quota appear as “Included.”
Usage beyond the quota is billed separately and shows a unit price and total amount.

Fair Use Policy for US and Canada SMS and MMS

Aircall applies a Fair Use Policy for eligible accounts with a US or Canada domestic bundle. This policy provides a monthly allowance of SMS and MMS usage per user before additional charges apply. Only Owners can confirm plan details in the Plan tab. For more information, see Understanding your subscription and Aircall plan.

How the Fair Use quota works

For example, a company with 8 active users receives 2,000 SMS segments as part of its pooled quota, calculated as 8 × 250. If the company exceeds this limit, only the additional usage is billed.Pooling system

To confirm outbound SMS segment counts, go to the Overview section, select the Messages tab, and ensure the date range matches the billing period on your invoice.

Monthly quota calculation

Each committed user license includes:

• 250 SMS segments
• 50 MMS segments
  Any additional user added during the billing period contributes the same quota.
  • Example: If a plan includes 5 users and 3 additional users are added:
• Total users: 8
• SMS quota: 8 × 250 = 2,000 segments
• MMS quota: 8 × 50 = 400 segments

Impact of annual plans

For annual plans, additional user licenses are billed until the contract end date. Even if a user is deactivated, their quota remains part of the total allowance for the paid term. For more details, see How will my additional users & numbers be billed?

Optimizing your SMS consumption

Use the following best practices to reduce costs and stay within your quota:

• Avoid special characters such as é, ü, or ’, which reduce characters per segment.
• Keep messages under 160 characters whenever possible.
• Shorten URLs using link shorteners.
• Avoid emojis unless they are essential.
• Use a segment calculator before sending messages to estimate billing impact.

Tip: Make sure your team understands how SMS segments work. Small message changes can significantly reduce monthly costs.

For additional guidance, see our SMS & MMS articles collection.