Buy texts and see your balance

Texting is paid for with credits. One credit is one text. A credit costs 5 cents. There is no setup fee and no monthly fee, and credits never expire. When they run out, sending stops. Nothing is ever charged to your card unless you buy a pack.

#The packs

You buy credits in four packs:

#Where to buy

1. Open Settings, then Billing, then Overview.

   On screenSettings › Billing › Overview

2. Find the Texts card. Its line shows your balance, for example 1,240 texts left, or No texts left.

3. Press a pack button. You go to a secure checkout page, and you return to Settings, then Billing when it is paid.

   On screenSettings › Billing

The card only appears once texting has been switched on for your account. On Home, a Texts tile shows the same balance.

Only owners and admins can buy. If you see a note instead of the buttons, payments are not open on your account yet.

#How a text is counted

The screens always say "texts", not dollars.

• One text is up to 160 characters of plain text. That is one credit.
• A longer text uses one credit per part. 161 characters is two.
• An emoji or one accented letter changes the whole message so each part holds only 70 characters. A long message can then use about three times as many credits. The composer warns you, and a plain apostrophe and hyphen fix it.
• Merge tags such as a first name count towards the length once filled in. The meter uses a short sample name, so a longer real name can add a part.
• The most we send is three parts. A text can be up to 459 characters.
• A picture message uses 3 credits. Texts you write in Amino Engine are plain text today.

Your brand name at the start and "Reply STOP to opt out" at the end are added to marketing texts, and they count too. The composer shows how many texts a message will use before you send it.

#What uses credits

• Every marketing or order text you send, including from a flow.
• A text the carrier accepted and then could not deliver. The carrier charges us for it, so it uses a credit.
• A test text to yourself uses one credit.

#What does not

• Texts people send you.
• Our automatic replies to STOP, HELP and START, and the confirmation text for a cart-reminder opt-in.
• A text that the carrier never accepted. The credit is given back, and your history shows Given back — text failed before the carrier accepted it.

#Before you send a campaign

On the review step of a text campaign, a line shows About 380 texts, how many parts each text uses, and how many people it goes to, next to You have 1,240 texts. If you have fewer than the send needs, the send starts and stops when credits run out. Buy a pack first.

#If it didn't work

• "No texts left." Buy a pack.
• The Texts card is missing. Texting is not switched on for your account yet. See "Register your business for texting".
• The pack buttons say payments are unavailable. Try again later, or email support@aminoengine.com.
• Your balance dropped more than you expected. Check the number of parts. Emoji and accented letters make each part shorter.