SMS alert pricing and charges in STOQ

STOQ charges a small fee to send each SMS notification for back in stock alerts and preorder notifications. These charges are separate from your subscription fee, and you’re only billed for messages that are actually sent. If no SMS goes out in a given month, there’s no SMS charge that month.

How the charge works

SMS is billed by segment. A segment holds up to 160 standard characters, so a longer message is split into multiple segments and billed for each. For example, a 350-character message is about 3 segments.

The price per segment depends on the destination country (see the table below). At $0.025 per segment, 100 single-segment messages to US or Canada numbers cost $2.50 for the month.

For a full explanation of segments and how to keep messages to one, see How SMS segments work.

Special characters cost more

Emojis, accented letters (é, ñ), non-Latin scripts, and special symbols switch the message to a different encoding that fits only 70 characters per segment instead of 160. Even one such character in an otherwise standard message triggers this, which can double or triple the number of segments (and the cost).

Countries that can’t receive SMS

STOQ cannot send SMS to these regions: Benin, China, Greece, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Russia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.

Price per segment by country

Country	Code	Price per segment
United States & Canada	1	$0.025
Australia	61	$0.15
Christmas Island	61	$0.15
Cocos (Keeling) Islands	61	$0.15
Brazil	55	$0.20
Guernsey	44	$0.25
Isle of Man	44	$0.25
Jersey	44	$0.25
Luxembourg	352	$0.25
Sweden	46	$0.25
Switzerland	41	$0.25
United Kingdom	44	$0.25
Austria	43	$0.30
Colombia	57	$0.30
Denmark	45	$0.30
France	33	$0.30
Hungary	36	$0.30
Italy	39	$0.30
Portugal	351	$0.30
Puerto Rico	1-787, 1-939	$0.30
Spain	34	$0.30
Vatican City	39	$0.30
Argentina	54	$0.35
Belgium	32	$0.35
Germany	49	$0.35
Iceland	354	$0.35
India	91	$0.35
Ireland	353	$0.35
Japan	81	$0.35
Malta	356	$0.35
Netherlands	31	$0.35
New Zealand	64	$0.35
Norway	47	$0.35
Poland	48	$0.35
Svalbard and Jan Mayen	47	$0.35
South Africa	27	$0.50
Curaçao	599	$0.55
French Polynesia	689	$0.55
Mexico	52	$0.55
Monaco	377	$0.55
New Caledonia	687	$0.55
Panama	507	$0.55
Martinique	596	$0.60
Mayotte	262	$0.60
Montenegro	382	$0.60
North Macedonia	389	$0.60
Réunion	262	$0.60
Slovenia	386	$0.60
Bolivia	591	$0.65
Fiji	679	$0.65
Oman	968	$0.65
Antigua and Barbuda	1-268	$0.70
Cabo Verde	238	$0.70
Guadeloupe	590	$0.70
Morocco	212	$0.70
Ukraine	380	$0.70
Venezuela	58	$0.70
Belarus	375	$0.75
DR Congo	243	$0.75
Guatemala	502	$0.75
Israel	972	$0.75
Kosovo	383	$0.75
Peru	51	$0.75
St Kitts and Nevis	1-869	$0.75
Algeria	213	$0.80
Barbados	1-246	$0.80
Liberia	231	$0.80
Mauritius	230	$0.80
Qatar	974	$0.80
Aruba	297	$0.85
Belize	501	$0.85
Haiti	509	$0.85
Angola	244	$0.90
El Salvador	503	$0.90
Mongolia	976	$0.90
Nepal	977	$0.90
Seychelles	248	$0.90
Trinidad and Tobago	1-868	$0.90
Cameroon	237	$0.95
Jamaica	1-876, 1-658	$0.95
Kuwait	965	$0.95
Laos	856	$0.95
Turkmenistan	993	$0.95
Zimbabwe	263	$0.95
Ecuador	593	$1.00
Ethiopia	251	$1.00
Guyana	592	$1.00
Honduras	504	$1.00
Kazakhstan	7	$1.00
Malawi	265	$1.00
Rwanda	250	$1.00
Uganda	256	$1.00
Maldives	960	$1.05
Ghana	233	$1.10
Lebanon	961	$1.10
Niger	227	$1.10
Somalia	252	$1.10
Nigeria	234	$1.15
Zambia	260	$1.15
Azerbaijan	994	$1.20
Egypt	20	$1.20
Palestine	970	$1.20
Serbia	381	$1.20
Mozambique	258	$1.25
Myanmar	95	$1.25
Sri Lanka	94	$1.25
Cambodia	855	$1.30
Indonesia	62	$1.30
Jordan	962	$1.30
Libya	218	$1.30
Kyrgyzstan	996	$1.35
Uzbekistan	998	$1.35
Pakistan	92	$1.40
Côte d’Ivoire	225	$1.45
Bosnia and Herzegovina	387	$1.50
Tunisia	216	$1.60
Papua New Guinea	675	$2.20
Rest of world		$0.50

If STOQ reaches your Shopify spending limit

Shopify only lets STOQ charge up to the spending limit you approved for the app. That limit covers all of STOQ’s usage charges: SMS alerts, preorders above your plan and notifications above your plan. When STOQ reaches it, Shopify won’t accept more charges, so STOQ pauses SMS alerts and alerts above your plan. Preorders and email alerts within your plan keep working.

STOQ tells you right away in two places:

• An email with the subject “STOQ | Action needed: increase your spending limit”. It shows your current limit and the steps below.
• A red banner at the top of STOQ’s Home page titled SMS and alerts above your plan are paused, with the same steps and an I’ve raised the limit button.

Raise the limit and unlock SMS

1. Open STOQ’s billing in Shopify

   1. In your Shopify admin, click Settings, then click Billing.
   2. Find STOQ in the list of apps and click ⋯ (three dots) next to it.

2. Increase the spending limit

   1. Click View spending limit.
   2. Click Increase, set a higher limit, then click Save.

3. Let us know you’ve raised it

   1. Open the STOQ app in your Shopify admin. It opens on the Home page.
   2. In the SMS and alerts above your plan are paused banner, click I’ve raised the limit. This opens the support chat and sends us a message asking us to unlock SMS and alerts for your store.

   You can also reply to the spending limit email instead. Raising the limit in Shopify doesn’t unlock STOQ by itself: our support team checks the new limit and unlocks your store.

4. Turn SMS back on

   Reaching the limit turned off both back in stock SMS and preorder SMS, and they stay off after the unlock until you turn them on again. Once support confirms your store is unlocked:

   1. For back in stock alerts, follow Set up SMS alerts.
   2. For preorder confirmations, follow Send preorder SMS confirmations.

FAQ

Are SMS charges part of my subscription?

No. SMS fees are separate from your plan subscription and are billed on top of it, only for messages actually sent.

Why did one message cost more than one segment?

The message was longer than 160 standard characters (or it contained an emoji or special character, which drops the limit to 70). See How SMS segments work.

What if I don't send any SMS in a month?

You aren’t charged any SMS fee for that month. You only pay for messages that are sent.

Can I send SMS to any country?

Most, but not all. The countries listed above can’t receive SMS, and prices vary by destination. Anywhere not listed is billed at the “Rest of world” rate.

Why did my SMS alerts suddenly stop?

The most common reason is that STOQ reached the spending limit you approved for it in Shopify. Check STOQ’s Home page for the SMS and alerts above your plan are paused banner, or your inbox for the spending limit email, and follow the steps to raise the limit.

Are SMS alerts that came due during the pause sent later?

No. SMS alerts that came due while SMS was paused are marked as blocked and aren’t resent after the unlock. Email alerts within your plan kept sending throughout.

Related guides

How SMS segments workWhy messages split into segments and how to keep them short.

Set up SMS alertsTurn on SMS, verification, and cost.

Check your plan usage and remaining alertsSee how many alerts and SMS segments you've sent.