Message Parts per Second (MPS) limits - AWS End User Messaging SMS

Message Parts per Second (MPS) limits

SMS messages are delivered in 140-byte sections known as message parts. Messages that are very long, or that contain many multi-byte characters, are split into several message parts. These messages are usually re-assembled on the recipient's device, appearing as a single long message rather than several small ones. For more information about SMS character limits, see SMS character limits.

For this reason, SMS throughput limits, also referred to as throttling, are measured in Message Parts per Second (MPS)—that is, the maximum number of message parts that you can send in a second. Your MPS limit depends on the destination country of your messages, and the type of phone number, known as the origination number, that you use to send the message. For example, if you use a United States short code to send messages to recipients in the US, you can send 100 MPS. However, if you use a US toll-free number to send to US recipients, you are throttled to only send 3 MPS.

MMS message are delivered as a single message part and are not broken into multiple message parts. The maximum media file size can be up to 2MB for gif, jpeg, png, and 600KB in size for all other media file types and can contain up to 1600 characters, from any character set, in the message body, see MMS file types, size and character limits. If you are sending SMS messages that have more than 3 message parts you should consider sending an MMS message instead. For example if you send an SMS message with 481 GSM 03.38 characters then the SMS message will be split into 4 message parts. You are billed for each of those message parts. If you send the 481 GSM 03.38 characters in the MMS message body you are only billed for one message parts. Also only sending 1 MMS message part instead of 4 SMS message parts will increase your message throughput. For more information on pricing, see AWS End User Messaging Pricing.

The following sections describe the MPS for various types of origination numbers and for various countries.

Short codes

The following table shows general MPS limits for dedicated short codes.

Geographic area SMS MPS MMS MPS
United States (US) 100 MPS 40 MPS
Canada (CA) 100 MPS 40 MPS
All other countries and regions Varies by country or region. N/A

Long codes

The following table shows general MPS limits for dedicated long codes.

Geographic area SMS MPS MMS MPS
United States (US) (10DLC) Default 1 MPS. Limit increase varies. Carrier-dependent, based on the type or brand level, see 10DLC registration. To submit a limit increase see Quotas for AWS End User Messaging SMS. 1 MPS
Canada (CA) 1 MPS 1 MPS
All other countries and regions 10 MPS N/A

Toll-free numbers

Toll-free numbers are currently only available in the United States. US toll-free numbers support 3 MPS and require that you register the toll-free number. For more information about registering a toll-free number, see US toll-free number registration form.

Geographic area SMS MPS MMS MPS
United States (US) 3 MPS 3 MPS
Important

If your throughput requirements exceed 3 MPS, you should use a 10DLC number or a short code. If you purchase multiple toll-free numbers and attempt to distribute your throughput across them, the mobile carriers are likely to identify this as "snowshoeing" and filter all of your messages from their networks. For more information about "snowshoeing", see Prohibited message content

Sender IDs

The following table shows general MPS limits for sender IDs.

Sender ID type SMS MPS MMS MPS
Customer-defined using the AWS End User Messaging SMS API or from the AWS End User Messaging SMS console 10 MPS N/A

Shared routes

The following table shows general MPS limits for shared routes.

Sender ID type SMS MPS MMS MPS
Shared routes/customer-owned number 20 MPS N/A