How SMS, MMS, and 4K Video Pricing Works

Vottiv shows message cost before you prepare or send a text campaign. The estimate is based on the message body, attached media, your account rates, and the number of recipients.

Price per text

For a quick estimate, Vottiv's default rates for a local SMS number are:

4K Video Texting uses the MMS rate plus the default 2¢ video surcharge. Your organization may have a different video surcharge.

These are default rates, not a fixed price for every account. Negotiated or legacy rates can differ. Check the Current Rates cards or the composer cost preview for the exact rate on your account.

Here, “subscribed” and “unsubscribed” describe the organization's Vottiv messaging subscription. They do not describe whether a voter has opted out of SMS.

If your organization uses a toll-free SMS number, add 1¢ to the SMS and MMS base rates. The composer shows the final 4K Video Texting price.

SMS Segments

Text-only SMS messages are billed by segment. A standard GSM-7 message fits up to 160 characters in one segment. Longer GSM-7 messages use 153 characters per segment because multipart messages include carrier headers.

Messages with emoji or other Unicode characters use Unicode SMS limits: 70 characters for a single segment and 67 characters per segment for multipart messages. Emoji changes the segment calculation, but emoji by itself does not mean you added an image or created a picture message.

MMS and Images

If you attach an image, the message is billed as MMS. MMS is also the pricing cap for text-only messages: if the SMS segment total would cost more than the MMS rate, Vottiv caps the text-only message price at the MMS rate shown in your account.

4K Video Texting

Video messages sent with 4K Video Texting are billed at the MMS rate plus a per-message video surcharge. The effective surcharge for your account is shown in the composer and included in the cost preview before you send. The surcharge is charged once per recipient — if delivery automatically falls back to a preview-image or text-plus-link message, you are not charged again. Test sends are billed like normal video messages, since they generate real carrier and playback costs.

Credits and Preview

The composer and manual-send queue show the per-recipient cost using the actual message text. For manual sends, that means the personalized or translated message for the next recipient, not just the original template.

Translated SMS messages include the translation surcharge shown in the product.

Managed-send fees and exemptions

Managed sends normally add a 1¢ fee per message. Some accounts have a managed-send fee exemption set by Vottiv. For these accounts, estimates and charges omit this fee. The exemption also applies to scheduled messages that have not yet been sent.

Message rates, registration fees, translation fees, and video fees still apply. The exemption does not change past charges. Messages covered by a paid texting-plan waiver also omit the managed-send fee. If you have a question about a fee on your account, contact Vottiv support.