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How much do SMS cost?

Learn how your business will be charged for sending and receiving SMS messages

Lindsey Gagnon avatar
Written by Lindsey Gagnon
Updated this week

Waitwhile is integrated with Twilio, a leading SMS messaging vendor. Waitwhile agrees to act as an intermediary between Twilio and the Customer for the purpose of facilitating payment for SMS segment costs incurred by the Customer in connection with the performance of the Services.

How are we charged for SMS?

Twilio charges for SMS based on a few key factors:

  1. Destination of Message: The cost of sending an SMS varies depending on the destination country and the type of message being sent. For example, sending an SMS to a mobile number in Australia might have a different cost compared to sending one to a mobile number in France.

  2. Carrier: The carrier to which the SMS is being sent can also affect the pricing. Different carriers may have different rates.

  3. Message Segments: SMS messages are charged per segment. A single SMS message can be split into multiple segments if it exceeds a certain character limit. One segment is 160 characters but the limit can vary depending on the type of characters used (e.g. emojis, accented characters). Each segment is billed separately.

  4. Inbound and Outbound Messages: There are separate charges for inbound and outbound messages. For example, receiving an SMS might have a different cost compared to sending one.

SMS Cost by Country

The below table includes SMS pricing for Waitwhile's top 40 used countries. This chart details out:

  • Country: The country of the business sending messages and the customer receiving messages.

  • Plan: The subscription plan(s) that support messaging for the country

  • Phone Number Type: The type of number that will be assigned by default when you create a location within your account

  • 2-way messaging supported: Whether Waitwhile can receive messages back from your customers in the country.

  • Outbound price: Sending message to customers & staff

  • Inbound price: Receiving messages from customers

  • Requires Registration: Additional steps are required to properly send/receive messages or provision a dedicated number/Sender ID. If additional registration is required, refer to the compliance considerations

  • Compliance considerations: Additional details that may impact your ability to send/receive messages.

Country

Plan

Phone number type

2-way messaging supported

Outbound Price

Inbound Price

Requires Registration

Compliance considerations & Additional Notes

Australia

All Paid Plans

Mobile

YES

$0.0209

$0.00726

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

Austria

All Paid Plans

Mobile

YES

$0.09477

$0.00712

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

Bahamas

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

NO

$0.05082

NO

Sender number will be overwritten by a random Sender ID

Belgium

All Paid Plans

Mobile

YES

$0.10164

$0.00726

NO

Brazil

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

NO

$0.05798

NO

Sender number will be overwritten by a random Sender ID

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

Canada

All Paid Plans

Toll Free

YES

$0.01382

$0.00506

NO

Canadian mobile carriers enforce strict filtering on A2P messages

Chile

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

NO

$0.0703

NO

Sender number will be overwritten by a random Sender ID

China

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

NO

$0.03737

NO

Denmark

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

YES

$0.05072

$0.00347

NO

Finland

All Paid Plans

Mobile

YES

$0.08335

$0.011

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

France

All Paid Plans

Sender ID

NO

$0.04862

NO

Shortened URLs may produce SMS filtering. Using full URLs is suggested. Contact support to have URL shortening disabled

Germany

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

YES

$0.09099

$0.00347

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

Hong Kong

Enterprise Only

Mobile

YES

$0.066

$0.03872

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

Iceland

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

YES

$0.0605

$0.00347

NO

India

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

NO

$0.08053

NO

Indonesia

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

NO

$0.4275

NO

Ireland

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

YES

$0.07115

$0.00347

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

Italy

All Paid Plans

Mobile

YES

$0.08974

$0.01937

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

Japan

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

YES

$0.08131

$0.00347

NO

Phone numbers in message content are not allowed

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

Malaysia

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

NO

$0.23785

NO

Malta

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

YES

$0.06292

$0.00347

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

Mexico

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

NO

$0.10445

NO

Namibia

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

YES

$0.0606

$0.00347

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

Netherlands

All Paid Plans

Mobile

YES

$0.09351

$0.00727

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

Norway

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

YES

$0.0495

$0.00347

NO

Portugal

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

YES

$0.04577

$0.00347

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

Puerto Rico

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

YES

$0.03179

$0.00347

NO

Qatar

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

NO

$0.2147

NO

Romania

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

NO

$0.07135

NO

Saudi Arabia

All Paid Plans

Sender ID

NO

$0.13765

NO

Singapore

Enterprise Only

Sender ID

NO

$0.04211

YES

South Africa

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

NO

$0.07328

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

South Korea

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

NO

$0.04782

NO

Only EUC-KR characters are supported by the South Korean mobile operators;

Sender Number will be appended with 009 or 006

Spain

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

YES

$0.05335

$0.00347

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

Sweden

All Paid Plans

Mobile

YES

$0.0429

$0.00716

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

Switzerland

All Paid Plans

Mobile

YES

$0.07018

$0.00726

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

Thailand

All Paid Plans

US Toll Free

NO

$0.02952

NO

United Arab Emirates

All Paid Plans

Sender ID

NO

$0.10571

NO

United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland

All Paid Plans

Mobile

YES

$0.03509

$0.00715

NO

*Additional options available on Enterprise plan

United States of America

All Paid Plans

Toll Free

YES

$0.00675

$0.00347

NO

*Additional phone number options are available on the Enterprise Plan. Please reach out to your Customer Success Manager if you are a current subscriber or reach out to our support team if you would like to inquire for more information.

Registration requirements are currently displayed based on self-serve plans. Registration may be required if you wish to customize the message templates, provision a dedicated number/Sender ID. Please refer to the compliance considerations for more details.

All prices are shown in USD. Prices are subject to change and the above table is updated on a quarterly basis

Last update: January 9, 2025

Example Pricing

Example 1:

You are a US based business subscribed to the Business plan and provides services to customers within the United States.

  • Configuration: You will be assigned to one of Waitwhile's US Toll Free shared pool numbers. There is not additional set-up required or registration

  • To send messages: $0.00675/message segment

  • To receive messages: $0.00347/message segment

  • Additional considerations: If you want to include a custom URL in any of your message templates, such as a link to a feedback survey, you will need to reach out to Waitwhile support to request the feature be enabled.


Example 2:

You are a US based business subscribed to the Business plan and provides services to customers within the United States & Canada.

  • Configuration: You will be assigned to one of Waitwhile's US Toll Free shared pool numbers. There is not additional set-up required or registration.

  • To send messages:

    • US customers: $0.00675/message segments

    • CA customers: $0.01382/message segment

  • To receive messages: $0.00347/message segment

  • Additional considerations: If you want to include a custom URL in any of your message templates, such as a link to a feedback survey, you will need to reach out to Waitwhile support to request the feature be enabled.


Example 3:

You are a FR based business subscribed to the Starter plan and provides services to customers all over Europe.

  • Configuration: You will be assigned to Waitwhile's registered Sender ID for France. There is not additional set-up required or registration.

  • To send messages:

    • FR customers: $0.04862/message segment

    • BE customers: $0.00726/message segment

    • DE customers: $0.09099/message segment

  • To receive messages: 2-way messaging is not supported

  • Additional considerations: Shortened URLs may produce SMS filtering. To use full URLs, reach out to Waitwhile support and request to have this feature disabled.


Additional country support

The above list is not a full comprehensive list of supported countries. If you are looking for a country not listed, please reach out to support for further assistance.


Have additional questions or need assistance? Reach out to us via chat or at support@waitwhile.com

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