A complete guide explaining your monthly texting credit allowance, how to track your usage, and why a single message can cost more than one credit.
✨ When You Need This Guide
This guide is your go-to resource for all questions related to texting credits. Use this if you're asking:
"How many texting credits are included in my monthly plan?"
"What is the cost if we go over our credit allowance?"
"Where can I check how many credits I've used this month?"
"I'm sending a bulk message and it says it will be 2 credits. Why?"
"How can I write messages that use fewer credits?"
You'll Need:
Administrator or Manager access to view billing and dashboard stats.
📊 Understanding Texting Credits (Allowances, Overage, and Costs) A complete guide explaining your monthly texting credit allowance, how to track your usage, why a single message can cost more than one credit, and how to see the cost before you send.
Tags: texting-credits, sms-credits, character-limit, overage-fees, billing, dashboard | Updated: June 12, 2025
✨ When You Need This Guide
This guide is your go-to resource for all questions related to texting credits. Use this if you're asking:
"How many texting credits are included in my monthly plan?"
"What is the cost if we go over our credit allowance?"
"Where can I check how many credits I've used this month?"
"I'm sending a bulk message and it says it will be 2 credits. Why?"
"How can I write messages that use fewer credits?"
You'll Need:
Administrator or Manager access to view billing and dashboard stats.
✅ Your Monthly Allowance and Overage Costs
Each Aloha package includes a monthly allowance of texting credits.
Package | Text Credit Allowance |
Premium | 7,500 |
Pro | 10,000 |
Elite | 12,500 |
Once you exceed your monthly allowance, additional texts are billed at $0.02 per credit. For example, using 500 extra credits would result in an additional $10 charge on your bill.
*Accounts opened prior to January 1st, 2019 may have different overage fees. Please check your invoice or contact us if you are unsure.
✅ How to Monitor Your Credit Usage
You can easily track your usage on your main Dashboard.
Go to your Dashboard.
Find the metric called Texting Credits Used.
To see usage for your current billing cycle, use the Reporting Period filter in the top-right corner and set it to reflect your billing period.
An Administrator can find your exact billing dates by going to the Gear Icon (⚙️) > Billing.
✅ Why a Single Text Can Cost More Than 1 Credit
The short answer is the character count. Phone carriers have a strict limit on the number of characters allowed in a single "text segment." If your message exceeds that limit, it's broken into multiple segments, each costing credits.
A standard SMS message segment is limited to 160 characters. A message of 161 characters will be delivered as one seamless message to the patient, but will use 2 credits.
Using even a single emoji (like 😊) or certain special characters changes the message encoding and lowers the limit for a single segment to just 70 characters. This is the most common reason a seemingly short message costs more than one credit.
Here is a breakdown of how many characters phone carriers allow you to use per text message when using different types of messaging
To help you understand how your message will translate into Texting Credits used, here is a breakdown of various messaging type combinations:
✅ How to See a Bulk Message's Character and Credit Count Before You Send
Aloha gives you a live tool to see the exact credit and character count for a text before you send any bulk message.
Go to CONTACTS > Send Bulk Message.
As you type your message in the text box, look at the Character Counter and Texting Credit Counter in the bottom-right corner.
Watch these numbers change as you type. Try removing an emoji or rephrasing a sentence to see how you can lower the credit count!
Before sending your message, you will also receive a pop-up letting you know how many of your remaining credits will be utilized for that message.
💡 Common Questions
What You Might Notice | Why It's Happening | What to Do |
My message seems short, but the credit counter says it will use 2 credits. | This is almost always because you have used an emoji or a non-standard special character. This forces the message into a different encoding (UCS-2), which has a much smaller character limit per text segment (70 characters). | To reduce the message to 1 credit, remove all emojis and non-standard special characters. Rewrite the message using only standard letters, numbers, and punctuation. Watch the on-page credit counter change as you edit. |
Where can I find my current billing period dates? | Billing dates are specific to your account's sign-up date. | An Administrator can view your billing history and cycle dates by going to the Gear Icon (⚙️) > Billing page. |
Do images (MMS) cost more credits? | Yes, sending an image (MMS) uses more credits than a standard text-only message (SMS). The exact credit cost for an MMS message will be shown on the credit counter. | To save credits, you can remove the image. This sends the message as a standard SMS, which uses fewer credits. |
💬 Need Help? We're Here!
If you have other questions about your texting credits or billing, our support team is ready to help. Contact us at 800-563-0469 or support@getaloha.com.