Messaging credits are used for all outbound text messages. In its simplest definition, one credit is an outgoing text of up to 160 characters to a single recipient. For example, if you send a message of 150 characters (1 credit) to 50 people, you have used 50 credits.

You can view how many messaging credits you have used in the bottom left corner of your Communications tab by clicking Credit Usage just below your account's phone number. This number updates in real time, so each time you send a message it will change. For example, in the screenshot below this Gloo+ account has used 4,836 messaging credits so far this month out of their available 5,000.

If you are using a free Gloo account, your free messaging credits will always refresh on the first day of each month, making the full amount available again. Unused credits do not roll over.

If you have a Gloo+ subscription, your credits refresh every month on the same date and at the same time that you originally purchased your subscription. For example, if you purchased your Gloo+ subscription on July 15 at 2:00 PM, your credits will refresh on August 15 at 2:00 PM, and then continue refreshing on the 15th of each month at 2:00 PM.

This applies to both monthly and annual Gloo+ subscriptions. Credits refresh monthly based on your original purchase date and time. Also note that if you purchase Powerpacks for additional credits, these credits will be granted immediately and will expire/refresh at the same time as the rest of your credits.

Unused credits (included credits or additional credits from Powerpacks) do not roll over.

With Gloo Workspace, you can send messages that contain text and/or emojis (SMS), as well as messages that contain pictures and other media (MMS). Because of the difference in how these messages are configured and sent, credit usage varies slightly between these 2 types.

You can read more details below, but for the short and sweet version, you can think of it this way:

So, the maximum number of credits that will be spent for any message you send on Gloo is 3, per contact that message is sent to. So a message costing 3 credits that is sent to 100 contact would cost a total of 300 credits.

Because the texting industry as a whole counts SMS messages as something called "segments", Gloo counts segments the same way. In Gloo, one SMS segment = one credit. Unfortunately, there are some guidelines for defining segments that are out of our control. For all the technical details on message segments, visit this article from one of our partners.

Remember, SMS messages are text messages that contain only text and/or emojis (no media or pictures). Basically, when sending an SMS message over 160 characters, the message gets split into segments of 153 characters. A recipient's device shows the text as one message even though there are multiple segments.

If there are no emojis present in your text message, use this chart for character count:

For example, if you send a message of 310 characters with no emojis (3 credits) to 50 people, you have used 150 message credits.

Emojis change the way a message is sent and how the segments work. If there are one or more emojis present in any of the text, use this chart for character count:

For example, if you send a message of 100 characters with emojis (2 credits) to 50 people, you have used 100 message credits.

Whenever you are typing a text message in Gloo, you will see how many characters you have used, and how many credits that message will cost per recipient.

If you are sending a message to multiple recipients, like a Broadcast, the Broadcast preview will tell you how many total credits the message will cost by multiplying the base cost times the number of recipients.

What happens if you run out of messaging credits and need more? No problem! That's where Gloo+ and Messaging Powerpacks come in.

If you have a free account, are at the limit, and try to send or schedule a message for the same calendar month that goes over the limit, you will be prompted to upgrade to a Gloo+ account so that you can purchase additional credits. In order to access more messaging credits per month, all Gloo free accounts must first upgrade to Gloo+.

If you are already a Gloo+ user and have hit your monthly limit, you can also purchase additional Messaging Powerpacks of 5,000 messaging credits each. Messaging Powerpacks are a monthly add-on to your account, so they renew along with your Gloo+ subscription each month.

Any time you purchase a Messaging Powerpack, the additional credits will be granted immediately and will expire/refresh at the same time as the rest of your credits. So beware! If you purchase a Messaging Powerpack on June 12 and your renewal date is June 15, you'll have to spend all of those credits before June 15, or you'll lose them, and your Messaging Powerpack will automatically renew, and you'll be charged again.