Outbound SMS and MMS messaging is billed on usage. Your account gets a monthly pooled allowance, and only outbound messages beyond that allowance are charged. Inbound messages are always free.
Applies To
8x8 Work (UC)
SMS and MMS messaging
United States and Canada
How Your Allowance Is Calculated
Your monthly outbound allowance is the number of applicable X2 and higher licences on your account, multiplied by 50 message segments, pooled across the whole account.
Only outbound messages count. Inbound messages are free.
Unused segments do not roll over to the next month.
X1 licences use metered per-message billing. They do not add to the pool, but X1 messages are drawn from the pool before metered charges apply.
Example: 20 applicable licences × 50 = an allowance of 1,000 outbound message segments per month.
Why One Message Can Bill as Several
Carriers bill by segment, not by message. Both length and characters matter — an emoji or an accented letter switches the message to an encoding with a much shorter segment limit.
Message type | Characters per segment | Billed as |
|---|---|---|
Standard text (GSM-7) | 160 single; 153 each once it splits | 1 segment up to 160 characters |
Text with emoji or special characters (UCS-2) | 70 single; 67 each once it splits | 1 segment up to 70 characters |
MMS (image, audio, video, document) | Up to 1,600 characters, 1 MB attachment | 1 segment |
Group SMS or MMS | Up to 1,600 characters | 1 segment at the MMS rate, per recipient |
Note:
Accented letters such as é count as special characters. A 200-character message containing a single emoji is billed as three segments. For full detail, see How are SMS and MMS usage charges determined?
Check Your Usage Against Your Allowance
Open your billing statement and select Download SMS/MMS Usage (CSV).
Open the file in a spreadsheet application.
Total the Message Segment Count column — that is your usage for the period.
Compare it with your allowance (applicable licences × 50). Anything above the allowance is charged as overage.
For how to reach your statement, see How to download invoices from billing portal.
Where It Appears on Your Bill
Your SMS/MMS Usage Summary appears near the end of your billing statement. The Usage & Service Summary CSV includes a separate column for SMS/MMS charges, kept apart from other usage overages such as international calls and call recordings. See Understanding your 8x8 bill.
Campaign Registration Is a Separate Charge
Registering your SMS campaign with The Campaign Registry carries a one-time $89 USD (CA$121) fee plus applicable taxes, which appears as a billing adjustment. This is separate from usage charges, and 8x8 absorbs the ongoing monthly campaign maintenance fees. See SMS Campaign Registration and Impact.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: Is the $89 campaign registration fee the same as SMS usage charges?
A: No. The one-time $89 USD (CA$121) fee registers your SMS campaign with The Campaign Registry and appears as a billing adjustment. Usage charges are separate and reflect actual outbound messaging.
Q: Can I use 8x8 Work for bulk messaging?
A: No. 8x8 Work is not designed for mass messaging. Proactive Outreach is the product for one-to-many campaigns.
Q: Does this apply outside the US and Canada?
A: It applies to US and Canadian accounts and to users provisioned in the US or Canada, including users belonging to customers based elsewhere.
Q: Am I charged for messages people send to us?
A: No. Inbound messages are free and do not count toward your allowance.
Additional Information
SMS and MMS detail
Your bill
If a charge looks wrong