Fit a link inside an SMS
Shorten a link and see exactly how many of a text message’s 160 characters it uses. Free, no account.
Your short link is ready
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The QR code holds the short link, not the destination, so you can change where it goes even after it’s printed. For print, use the SVG or PDF and keep the code at least 2 cm (¾ inch) wide — about a tenth of the distance people will scan it from, so 30 cm for a poster read from 3 metres.
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How to fit a link in an SMS
- STEP 01
Paste the long link
Paste it into the box above and press Shorten.
- STEP 02
See how much room is left
Under your short link, we show how many of the message’s 160 characters it takes and how many are left for your words.
- STEP 03
Write the rest of your message
Put the short link at the end, where phones turn it into a tappable link.
An SMS link shortener that does the counting
A text message holds 160 characters. A booking page or a tracking page address can take most of them on its own, leaving no room to say what the link is for. Go over the limit and the message is sent as two or more parts, which often costs more.
Characters counted for you
After you shorten, you see exactly how much of the 160 your link uses, with the space before it.
Phones make it tappable
Most phones turn an address like convertavo.com/s/abc123 into a link without the https:// part, so it’s left out of the count.
Clicks from the message
See how many people tapped the link, by day and device.
Stop it after the offer
Set the link to expire when the offer ends, and send late tappers to a page of your choice.
How SMS character limits work
| Message contains | One SMS holds | Longer messages are sent in parts of |
|---|---|---|
| Only standard Latin letters, numbers and common punctuation | 160 characters | 153 characters |
| Any emoji, Urdu, Arabic, Hindi or other non-Latin script | 70 characters | 67 characters |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
The table is the standard SMS rule, and the catch is the emoji. Add a single smiley and the phone sends the whole message under the 70-character limit, even if every other letter is plain English.
Our SMS link shortener counts from 160. The short link convertavo.com/s/4V46JS takes 24 of those with the space in front, which leaves 136. Write the same reminder in Urdu and only 46 are left, because the limit drops to 70.
Things to know
- Some networks and phones are wary of short links in bulk messages, because spammers use them too. If you send messages in bulk, check your SMS provider’s rules first.
- Say who the message is from. People are far more likely to tap a link when they know the sender, and less likely to report it as spam.
- Messages sent for scams are not allowed. Links reported for phishing are removed; see link safety.
Questions about links in text messages
How many characters does a short link take in an SMS?
convertavo.com/s/4V46JS, the one in our example, is 23 characters, so 24 with the space before it. Yours is counted the same way, and the number shows up under the short link once it’s made.
Why does my message say 70 characters, not 160?
Something in it isn’t plain Latin text. One emoji does it, and so do Urdu or Arabic letters. After that the phone counts the whole message against 70.
Will the link be tappable without https://?
Yes, on nearly every phone made in the last few years. The messaging app spots convertavo.com/s/… as a web address and turns it into a link by itself.
Can I see how many people tapped the link?
Yes. The Stats page splits the taps by day, country and device, and no cookies are involved.
Is it free?
Yes, and you don’t need an account.