Guide
What SMS marketing costs.
How texting platforms charge, what a segment is, what carriers add, and how to work out a monthly bill before you sign up.
Updated · 5 min read · Klaviyo’s prices read August 30, 2026
The short answer
Most texting platforms charge for each segment you send. A segment is up to 160 plain characters, or 70 once a text contains an emoji or another special character. On top of that comes a platform fee, a monthly commitment, credits or carrier fees, depending on the tool. Klaviyo’s published US toll-free prices run from $15 a month for 1,000 texts to $240 for 20,000, plus carrier fees. Amy charges $0.009 per segment, with nothing to pre-commit: 1,000 one-segment texts cost $9.00 and 10,000 cost $90.00.
How texting platforms charge
Every platform passes on what the carriers charge to deliver a text, then packages it differently. These are the shapes you’ll see:
- Per segment, pay as you go. Each segment you send has a price and nothing is prepaid. Amy works this way: $0.009 per segment.
- A monthly spend commitment. You commit to a dollar amount each month and send against it. Klaviyo has sold texting this way since July 2026 (Klaviyo: mobile messaging update).
- A platform fee plus per-message rates. A fixed monthly fee, then a price per message, with carrier fees passed through at cost. Postscript publishes plans like this (Postscript pricing).
- Credits that expire. You buy a monthly bundle of credits, and unused ones lapse. Mailchimp’s SMS add-on works this way (Mailchimp: SMS credits).
- An add-on to a higher plan. Since May 4, 2026, Omnisend sells SMS for new subscribers only as a Pro plan add-on, billed per segment (Omnisend: SMS subscription).
- A quote. Attentive prices by volume, list size and channels, and bills each message sent and each subscriber reply (Attentive: messaging and billing).
What a segment is, and why it matters
Carriers bill texts in segments. A text written only in the standard texting alphabet fits 160 characters in one segment. Longer texts are split, and each part carries 153 characters. A single emoji, or another character outside that alphabet such as some curly quotes, switches the whole text to an encoding that fits 70 characters, or 67 per part (Twilio: SMS character limits). A text that looks short on screen can cost two or three segments.
| Text | Segments | Cost on Amy |
|---|---|---|
| A 120-character text, plain letters | 1 | $0.009 |
| A 200-character text, plain letters | 2 | $0.018 |
| A 400-character text, plain letters | 3 | $0.027 |
| A 60-character text with one emoji | 1 | $0.009 |
| A 100-character text with one emoji | 2 | $0.018 |
Amy keeps the texts she writes to the standard alphabet, so a stray character can’t cut a segment from 160 characters to 70.
Carrier fees and sending numbers
US carriers charge businesses a small fee on each text they deliver. Some platforms add these to your bill as a separate line, as Klaviyo’s published prices do (“plus carrier fees”) and as Postscript does at cost. Amy’s $0.009 per segment is the whole per-text price.
Before you can send marketing texts in the US, carriers have to verify your sending number. Toll-free numbers and 10-digit long codes (10DLC) both go through a registration review, which can take a while. Amy includes your sending number in the $10 a month, and texting starts once carriers verify it. Until then you can send email.
Klaviyo SMS prices against Amy
Klaviyo’s published US toll-free prices, beside what the same number of one-segment texts costs on Amy:
| Texts a month | Klaviyo | Amy, one segment each |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 texts a month | $15 | $9.00 |
| 5,000 texts a month | $70 | $45.00 |
| 10,000 texts a month | $125 | $90.00 |
| 20,000 texts a month | $240 | $180.00 |
More on Klaviyo’s pricing, including email and its AI credits, is in Klaviyo pricing, explained.
Work out your monthly cost
Multiply four numbers: the people who opted in to texts, the texts each one gets a month, the segments per text, and the price per segment. Then add any platform fee or commitment.
For example, a store with 2,000 SMS subscribers that sends four one-segment campaign texts a month sends 8,000 segments. Add 1,000 automated texts (welcome codes, abandoned checkouts, shipping updates) and that’s 9,000 segments: $81.00 on Amy. On Klaviyo the same store needs the 10,000-send commitment: $125 a month plus carrier fees. Estimate your own bill.
Ways to keep texting costs down
- Keep each text to one segment. Say one thing, link to it, and leave out emoji in long texts.
- Text the moments that sell. A welcome code, an abandoned checkout and a shipping update earn more per text than another broadcast.
- Text people who want texts. Marketing texts need prior opt-in, and a list that replies STOP costs you twice: the texts, and the carriers’ trust in your number.
- Don’t prepay for a channel you can’t use yet. Number registration can take a while. On Amy, texting is pay as you go, so nothing is charged before carriers approve your number.
Is texting worth more than email?
Per message, a text costs far more. On Amy a text segment is $0.009 and an email past the included 2,000 is $0.0009, so one text costs about the same as ten emails. Texts tend to earn their price on short, time-sensitive moments, and email on everything else. Amy runs both from the same automations: All 12 can send texts too, and texting stays off for each one until you turn it on. Campaigns always need your approval.
Sources: klaviyo.com/pricing (read August 30, 2026), Klaviyo’s mobile messaging update, Postscript pricing, Mailchimp SMS credits, Omnisend SMS, Attentive billing and Twilio on segments, gathered October 2026. We only quote Klaviyo’s prices; check each tool’s own page for its current figure.
Questions
How much does SMS marketing cost?
Most platforms charge per text segment, plus a platform fee, a monthly commitment or carrier fees. Klaviyo’s published US toll-free prices run from $15 a month for 1,000 texts to $240 for 20,000, plus carrier fees. Amy charges $0.009 per segment, with nothing prepaid.
How much does it cost to send 1,000 texts?
On Amy, $9.00 if each text fits in one segment. On Klaviyo’s published US toll-free prices, $15 a month for 1,000 sends, plus carrier fees.
What is an SMS segment?
The unit carriers bill texts in. A text in the standard texting alphabet fits 160 characters in one segment, and longer texts are split into parts of 153. A text with an emoji or another special character fits 70, or 67 per part.
Do emojis make texts cost more?
Often, yes. One emoji switches the whole text to an encoding that fits 70 characters per segment instead of 160, so a text that was one segment can become two or three.
What are carrier fees?
Fees US carriers charge businesses on the texts they deliver. Some platforms list them as a separate line on top of their own price. Amy’s $0.009 per segment is the whole per-text price.
Is SMS marketing more expensive than email?
Per message, yes. On Amy one text segment is $0.009 and an email past the included 2,000 is $0.0009, so a text costs about as much as ten emails.
How much does Klaviyo SMS cost?
Klaviyo sells texting as a monthly spend commitment. Its published US toll-free prices are $15 a month for 1,000 sends, $70 for 5,000, $125 for 10,000 and $240 for 20,000, plus carrier fees, read August 30, 2026.