Understanding how SMS pricing and credits work is essential for budgeting your business communications effectively. Sakura SMS uses a straightforward credit-based system priced entirely in Tanzanian Shillings (TZS), with no hidden fees or currency conversion charges. This guide explains everything you need to know about costs, credits, and optimising your messaging spend.
How the Credit System Works
Sakura SMS operates on a prepaid credit model. You purchase credits in advance and each SMS sent deducts from your balance. This gives you full control over spending with no surprise bills or overages.
- Credits are purchased in TZS and never expire
- Each SMS segment has a fixed cost depending on the destination network
- Your real-time balance is always visible on your Sakura SMS dashboard
- Low-balance alerts notify you before credits run out
- Unused credits are fully refundable within 90 days of purchase
SMS Pricing by Network
SMS pricing in Tanzania varies by the recipient's mobile network operator. Sakura SMS automatically detects the destination network and charges the appropriate rate. Current indicative rates per SMS segment:
| Network | Prefix | Rate per SMS (TZS) |
|---|---|---|
| Vodacom | 074x, 075x, 076x | 25.00 |
| Airtel | 068x, 069x, 078x | 25.00 |
| Tigo (MIC) | 065x, 067x, 071x | 25.00 |
| Halotel | 062x | 25.00 |
| TTCL | 073x | 25.00 |
Understanding SMS Segments
A single SMS message has character limits. If your message exceeds these limits, it is split into multiple segments, and each segment counts as one SMS for billing purposes.
GSM-7 Encoding (Standard Latin Characters)
- 1 segment: up to 160 characters
- 2 segments: 161-306 characters (153 per segment due to concatenation headers)
- 3 segments: 307-459 characters
- Maximum: 10 segments (1,530 characters)
UCS-2 Encoding (Unicode Characters)
If your message contains characters outside the GSM-7 alphabet (such as certain special characters, Arabic, Chinese, or some extended Swahili characters), the encoding switches to UCS-2:
- 1 segment: up to 70 characters
- 2 segments: 71-134 characters (67 per segment)
- 3 segments: 135-201 characters
Purchasing Credits
Payment Methods
Purchase SMS credits through billing.sakurahost.co.tz using any of the following methods:
- M-Pesa (Vodacom): Instant top-up via M-Pesa paybill
- Airtel Money: Instant top-up via Airtel Money
- Tigo Pesa / MIX by Yas: Instant top-up via mobile money
- Bank Transfer: CRDB Bank transfer (credits applied within 2-4 hours during business hours)
- Credit/Debit Card: Visa and Mastercard accepted
Volume Discount Tiers
| Monthly Volume | Discount | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 10,000 SMS | Standard pricing | As listed above |
| 10,001 - 50,000 SMS | 10% discount | Contact for rates |
| 50,001 - 200,000 SMS | 15% discount | Contact for rates |
| 200,001+ SMS | Custom enterprise pricing | Contact sales |
WhatsApp Pricing
WhatsApp Business API pricing follows Meta's conversation-based pricing model. Costs are per 24-hour conversation window, not per message. Each business gets 1,000 free service conversations per month. Beyond that, costs vary by conversation category (marketing, utility, authentication, service) and are passed through at Meta's rates plus a small platform fee.
Cost Optimisation Strategies
- Keep messages under 160 characters: This is the single most effective way to reduce costs. A 161-character message costs twice as much as a 160-character one
- Clean your contact lists: Remove invalid and inactive numbers to avoid wasting credits on undeliverable messages
- Use personalisation wisely: Dynamic tags like {first_name} vary in length. Test with the longest expected values to ensure messages stay within one segment
- Segment your audience: Send targeted messages to relevant groups rather than broadcasting to everyone
- Use WhatsApp for media-rich content: Instead of sending long multi-segment SMS, use WhatsApp for messages that need images, documents, or detailed information
- Set up low-balance alerts: Configure alerts in your dashboard to receive notifications when credits drop below a threshold, preventing interrupted campaigns
- Monitor delivery reports: Track failed deliveries and investigate patterns to improve your delivery rate and reduce wasted credits
Billing and Invoicing
All credit purchases generate an automatic invoice available in your billing portal. Invoices include TIN for tax purposes and can be downloaded as PDF. For enterprise accounts, we offer monthly invoicing with net-30 payment terms. Contact our billing team to discuss enterprise billing arrangements.
Questions about pricing or need a custom quote for high-volume messaging? Get in touch with our sales team.