> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.sequenzy.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # SMS & MMS > Send SMS and MMS messages from sequences with the SMS add-on: toll-free number provisioning, consent, quiet hours, cost-weighted credits, international destinations, and click tracking # SMS & MMS The SMS add-on lets you send text and picture messages to subscribers in the United States, Canada, and 20+ international destinations as steps in your sequences. It is a paid add-on at \$16/month, which includes 1,000 message credits every month; larger prepaid bundles lower the per-credit price as volume grows. SMS sends require either a paid plan (from \$19/mo) or a positive SMS credit balance. Free workspaces without SMS credits see an upgrade prompt in `Settings -> SMS`; sending pauses automatically when a workspace has neither a paid plan nor credits. ## Enabling The Add-on Go to `Settings -> SMS` and subscribe to the add-on. If you are upgrading your plan, you can also add SMS in the same step: the plan upgrade dialog lists it under **Add-ons** with a volume slider, so you can pick a monthly credit bundle (from 1,000 credits at \$16/mo up to 75,000) and buy it together with the plan. SMS is billed monthly even alongside an annual plan. Once payment completes, Sequenzy automatically: 1. Purchases a dedicated toll-free number for your workspace (no number picker needed - it just works) 2. Opens the toll-free verification wizard so you can register the number with carriers You never deal with a telecom provider directly - Sequenzy manages the number and carrier relationships for you. ## Toll-Free Verification US and Canadian carriers require every toll-free number to be verified before it can send marketing messages. The verification form asks for: * Legal business name and address * Website * Contact information * A description of how subscribers opt in to SMS * Sample messages you plan to send * An estimated monthly volume Sequenzy prefills most of the form from your workspace - business name, website, address, and your contact details - so you usually just review it, add your business registration number, and submit. Review typically takes **1-5 business days**. The SMS settings tab shows a setup checklist with the current state: **Action needed** (you still have to submit the form), **In carrier review**, **Verified**, or **Rejected** with the carrier's reason. If your submission is rejected, you can edit the form and resubmit. Until the number is verified, the composer and settings are fully available, but sending is blocked. ## SMS Consent SMS consent is **completely separate from email status**. A subscriber can be active for email but not subscribed to SMS, and vice versa. Every subscriber has: * A **phone** field (stored in E.164 format, country derived automatically) * An **SMS status**: `not_subscribed` (default), `subscribed`, or `unsubscribed` * A consent **source** and timestamp when subscribed: `import`, `api`, `manual`, `form`, `checkout`, or `shopify` Key rules: * **Consent is never inferred from a phone number.** Adding a phone via the UI, CSV import, or API does not subscribe anyone to SMS - you must set consent explicitly, and only when you have express written consent. * **STOP applies per phone number.** When someone replies STOP, every subscriber in your workspace who shares that phone number is unsubscribed from SMS, and the number is suppressed from future sends. * **START re-subscribes.** If a subscriber who opted out via STOP replies START, the suppression is removed and they are subscribed again. You can set consent when importing a CSV (map a phone column and confirm the contacts gave SMS marketing consent), through the [subscriber API](/api-reference/subscribers/create) with the `smsConsent` field, or manually on a subscriber's profile. ### Shopify SMS consent sync If you use the [Shopify integration](/integrations/shopify), phone numbers and SMS marketing consent your store collects (for example at checkout) sync automatically: * The **initial customer sync** imports each customer's phone number and SMS marketing state. Customers who opted in at your store arrive as `subscribed` with consent source `shopify` and Shopify's consent timestamp. * **Customer webhooks** keep consent current: when a customer opts in or out on Shopify, the change is applied to the matching subscriber within seconds. * Consent stays TCPA-safe: a customer is only subscribed on an explicit Shopify opt-in, an explicit opt-out unsubscribes them, and a phone number without consent is stored as `not_subscribed`. Phone numbers are protected customer data on Shopify, so the store must have approved phone field access. If it hasn't, the sync still runs - it just skips phone and consent. ## Sending Rules The **Send SMS** sequence step sends only when all of these are true: * Your workspace is on a paid plan or has SMS credits available * The add-on is enabled and your number is verified * The subscriber has a phone number in a supported country (see [International destinations](#international-destinations)) * The subscriber's SMS status is `subscribed` * The phone number is not suppressed (for example by a prior STOP) If any check fails, the step is skipped with a recorded reason and the subscriber continues through the rest of the sequence - a missing phone number never stalls a journey. You can change what happens to contacts who can't receive SMS (no phone number, no consent, suppressed, or an unsupported destination) per step: keep the default **Skip this step** to continue the journey, or choose **Exit the sequence** to end it for that contact. Workspace-level issues (add-on disabled, no paid plan or credits, no active number) always skip so an account misconfiguration never ends journeys in bulk. To route contacts by SMS reachability instead, use the **Has phone number** and **Subscribed to SMS** conditions in if/else and multi-branch steps, or the `Phone Number` and `SMS Status` fields in segments. ### Quiet Hours Messages are only delivered between **11:00am and 8:00pm** in the recipient country's reference timezone (Eastern Time for the US and Canada, London time for the UK, and so on). On Sundays the window opens at **2:00pm**. If a sequence step fires outside the window, the message is **deferred until the window opens** - it is never dropped. ### Message Format Every message is sent with your brand name as a prefix (for example `Acme: Your order shipped!`) so recipients always know who is texting them. The very first message a subscriber receives also includes a compliance footer: `Msg&data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help.` ## The Composer The Send SMS step opens a lightweight composer designed for texting: * **Text** with merge tags for personalization (like `{{firstName}}`) - type `{{` to pick a merge tag inline * **Emoji** via an inline searcher - type `:` and a few letters (like `:fire`) to search and insert an emoji without leaving the keyboard * **Images** - up to 2 per message, JPEG/PNG/GIF, 1MB max each. Attaching an image turns the message into an MMS * A **live counter** showing character count, encoding, segment count, and the credit cost of the message * A phone-frame **preview** showing the message exactly as recipients will see it, including the brand prefix, footer, and shortened links ### Segments And Encoding SMS messages are billed in segments, and the segment size depends on the characters you use: | Encoding | Single message | Per segment when concatenated | | ---------------------------------- | -------------- | ----------------------------- | | GSM-7 (standard characters) | 160 characters | 153 characters | | Unicode (emoji, non-Latin scripts) | 70 characters | 67 characters | A single emoji switches the whole message to Unicode encoding, so a 150 character message with one emoji costs 3 segments instead of 1. The composer's counter shows the encoding and segment count live so there are no surprises. Sequenzy automatically normalizes typographic characters (smart quotes, dashes, ellipses) to their standard equivalents so pasted text doesn't accidentally trigger Unicode pricing. **MMS** (any message with an image) costs a flat **3 credits** regardless of text length. ## International Destinations Sending is not limited to the US and Canada: the UK, Ireland, most of Western and Northern Europe, Poland, Czechia, Ukraine, Australia, and New Zealand are supported out of the box. A few things to know: * **Credits are cost-weighted by country.** A US or Canadian SMS segment is always 1 credit; international segments consume a per-country multiplier that reflects what carriers in that country charge (for example a UK segment costs several credits, and Ukraine more still). * **`Settings -> SMS` includes a calculator.** Pick a destination country and a monthly budget to see how many messages it buys, the effective per-SMS rate, and the credit multiplier. A "View all country rates" table lists every supported destination. * **International marketing is one-way.** Outside the US and Canada, messages are delivered from a sender that can't receive replies, so keyword STOP is unavailable; opt-outs run through unsubscribe links instead. * **MMS is US/Canada only.** Steps with images are skipped for international recipients with an `mms_not_supported` reason. * **Unsupported countries are blocked, never silently billed.** If a subscriber's phone country has no published rate, the step is skipped with an `unsupported_country` reason and the subscriber continues the sequence. * Rates are estimates and international carrier costs can change; some routes may require sender approval before going live. The subscriber profile shows each contact's phone country, the credit multiplier that applies to them, and whether they can currently receive SMS (with the exact reason when they can't). ## Credits And Billing SMS is prepaid: * The add-on costs **\$16/month and includes 1,000 credits** each month, and the per-credit price scales down gradually with larger monthly bundles * Extra credit packs are available at **\$0.012 per credit** (1k, 5k, and 20k packs) * **1 credit = 1 US/CA SMS segment**; US/CA MMS = 3 credits; international segments use the per-country multiplier shown in the rate table * When your balance runs low, you receive an email alert so you can top up before sends start skipping * If a message can't be sent because your balance is empty, the step is skipped with a `no_credits` reason and the subscriber continues the sequence. Sending resumes once you top up Your balance and a transaction ledger are visible in `Settings -> SMS`. ## One-Off Sends You can text a single contact directly from their subscriber page: when the contact is subscribed to SMS marketing, a **Send SMS** button appears next to **Send email**. It opens the same composer used in sequences, shows the estimated credit cost for the contact's destination country, and queues the message immediately. One-off sends follow all the [sending rules](#sending-rules) above, including quiet hours - a message composed outside the delivery window is deferred until it opens. ## Test Sends You can send a test message to any phone number from the composer or the SMS settings tab. Test sends: * Are limited to **5 per hour** * Are **exempt from quiet hours** so you can test any time * **Charge credits** like a real send * Are **excluded from step stats** Your number must be verified before test sends work. ## Short Links And Click Tracking Links in your messages are automatically shortened to `https://api.sequenzy.com/s/...` (about 30 characters). When a recipient taps a link, the click is recorded and feeds into the same [revenue attribution](/concepts/metrics) as email clicks, so SMS-driven purchases show up in your reporting. ## Replies When a subscriber texts your number: * **STOP** (and variants) - handled automatically: the carrier-grade auto-responder confirms the opt-out, and Sequenzy unsubscribes every subscriber with that phone number * **HELP** - answered automatically with your help message * **Anything else** - forwarded to your account email as a notification, so you never miss a reply There is no two-way SMS inbox yet - replies arrive as email notifications. ## Step Stats Each Send SMS step shows its own stats in the sequence builder: sent, delivered, clicked, opted out, and credits spent. Test sends are excluded. ## AI Assistant The sequence builder's AI assistant can add and edit SMS steps natively. Ask it things like "add a shipping confirmation text after the order email" and it proposes an `action_sms` step with drafted copy. SMS additions always require your explicit approval before they are applied, because they text real subscribers and spend credits. ## API, CLI, And MCP SMS is a first-class citizen on every agent surface: * **API** - create sequences with SMS steps (`type: "sms"` with `text` in [Create Sequence](/api-reference/sequences/create) steps, branch paths, and `insertSteps`), edit existing SMS steps with `smsSteps` in [Update Sequence](/api-reference/sequences/update), draft copy with [Generate SMS](/api-reference/generate/sms), check readiness with [Get SMS Settings](/api-reference/sms/settings), and verify end to end with [Send Test SMS](/api-reference/sms/test) * **CLI** - `sequenzy sms settings` shows add-on status, credits, and numbers; `sequenzy sms send-test` sends a real test message; `sequenzy generate sms ""` drafts message variants; SMS steps work in `sequenzy sequences create --steps-*`, `update --insert-steps-*`, and `update --sms-steps-*` * **MCP** - the `generate_sms`, `get_sms_settings`, and `send_test_sms` tools plus SMS steps in `create_sequence`, `insert_sequence_step`, and `update_sequence.smsSteps` let AI agents build and maintain SMS journeys end to end * **Outbound webhooks** - subscribe to `sms.sent`, `sms.delivered`, `sms.failed`, and `sms.opted_out` events (included in the default event set for new webhooks) to track SMS delivery from your own systems; see [Outbound Webhooks](/integrations/outbound-webhooks) Generated and API-provided messages should never include opt-out text or a brand prefix - Sequenzy adds the brand prefix to every message and the compliance footer to the first message automatically. ## Related * [Subscribers](/concepts/subscribers) * [Sequences](/concepts/sequences) * [Create subscriber API](/api-reference/subscribers/create) - set `phone` and `smsConsent` programmatically * [Generate SMS API](/api-reference/generate/sms) * [SMS settings API](/api-reference/sms/settings)