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Understanding Text Credits: A Simple Guide

Text credits are a core part of how Chatavise keeps texting costs transparent and manageable. In this guide, we’ll break down what text credits are, when they apply, and how they’re calculated—so you can make the most of your messaging plan.

📌 What Are Text Credits?

Text credits are units used to measure and bill for automated and campaign-based text messages. This system only applies to:

  • Campaign texts
  • Automated texts

Why? Because these types of messaging typically generate high volume. Meanwhile, one-on-one texting remains unlimited (both inbound and outbound) on all plans.

✉️ SMS vs. MMS: What’s the Difference?

Before diving into credit usage, it’s important to understand the two types of messages:

  • SMS (Short Message Service):
    • Standard text message
    • Limited to 160 characters
    • Uses 1 text credit
  • MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service):
    • Allows media (images, emojis, links, etc.)
    • Supports up to 1,600 characters
    • Uses 3 text credits

🧠 Pro Tip:

  • Messages between 161–320 characters will be charged 2 credits.
  • Messages over 320 characters are auto-converted to MMS (capped at 3 credits), giving you 1,600 characters to work with.

📦 How Many Credits Are Included in Each Plan?

Every Chatavise plan includes a monthly allotment of text credits:

PlanIncluded Credits
Solo2,000
Professional5,000
Business12,000

💸 What Happens If You Go Over?

Going beyond your plan’s included credits results in text credit overages, billed according to your plan:

PlanCost per Extra CreditExample: 1,000 Extra Credits
Solo$0.04$40
Professional$0.025$25
Business$0.015$15

✅ Final Takeaways

  • Text credits only apply to campaigns and automations.
  • One-on-one messaging is unlimited on all plans.
  • Understand your plan’s limits to avoid unexpected charges.
  • As your business scales, consider upgrading for better cost efficiency.

Need help optimizing your text strategy? Reach out to our support team or explore your dashboard for insights on usage.

See you in the next lesson!

In this lesson, we will discuss text credits—what they are, when they apply, and how they are calculated. So let’s get started.

Text Credits Overview

Text credits are the system we use to keep costs transparent and easy to understand. The system only applies to text messages sent via campaigns and text messages sent using automation. We do this because these are the two mechanisms that drive large text message volumes. For any one-on-one text messages, all plans currently offer unlimited inbound and outbound texts.

SMS vs. MMS Messages

To understand how text credits are calculated, we need to understand the difference between SMS and MMS messages.

  • SMS stands for Short Message Service. These are standard text messages limited to 160 characters.
  • MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service. These messages allow you to include emojis, pictures, links, and longer blocks of text—1,600 characters to be exact, which is 10 times more than SMS messages.

Because MMS messages carry more data, they cost more than SMS messages. In our system:

  • Each SMS message uses 1 text credit
  • Each MMS message uses 3 text credits

If you attempt to send an SMS message with more than 160 characters but fewer than 320 characters, it will count as 2 text credits. If you go over 320 characters, our system will automatically convert your message into an MMS one. This is beneficial because the cost stays at 3 text credits, and you can include up to 1,600 characters.

Included Text Credits by Plan

Every Chatavise plan includes a set number of text credits:

  • Solo Plan: 2,000 text credits
  • Professional Plan: 5,000 text credits
  • Business Plan: 12,000 text credits

If you go over the text credits included in your plan, this results in what we call text credit overages.

Overage Costs by Plan

The cost per text credit depends on your plan:

  • Solo Plan: $0.04 per text credit
  • Professional Plan: $0.025 per text credit
  • Business Plan: $0.015 per text credit

Example Cost of Overage (1,000 Text Credits):

  • Solo Plan: $40
  • Professional Plan: $25
  • Business Plan: $15

Summary

Understanding how text credits work helps you stay within budget and avoid surprises. Remember: text credits only apply to campaigns and automations. One-on-one text messaging is unlimited.

As your business grows, upgrading to a more robust plan may bring you savings.

With that said, I’ll see you in the next lesson.