Beginning January 1, 2026, Postscript is updating how SMS usage is billed. These updates bring our billing model in line with industry standards and support long-term investment in deliverability tools, list-cleaning protections, and improved subscriber list health.
These changes will appear on your February 1, 2026 invoice.
What’s Changing
1. Undelivered messages will be billed at standard send rates
Messages that are sent but ultimately undelivered will now be billed at your standard Postscript message rate.
Undelivered messages typically account for 2–4% of total send volume. While these messages do not reach your subscribers, they do consume platform and infrastructure resources.
2. Inbound messages will now be billed
Today, Postscript passes through any carrier fees associated with inbound messages. Beginning January 1, 2026, inbound messages will also incur a Postscript message charge at your standard or negotiated rate.
This applies to inbound replies from automations, campaigns, and customer service conversations, as well as opt-ins.
How Postscript Helps Reduce Undelivered Messages
Even before this update, Postscript has taken steps to reduce undelivered sends and protect merchants from unnecessary costs.
What Postscript does today
- We automatically opt out subscribers after receiving certain carrier error codes, including:
- 30006 – Landline or unreachable handset
- 21610 – Subscriber opted out
- 21211 – Invalid phone number
- 21408 – Unsupported location
- We also proactively flag delivery issues related to international traffic patterns.
New: Global Opt-Out Enforcement (effective January 1, 2026)
To further reduce undelivered sends, Postscript will now automatically and globally opt out numbers associated with key failure codes.
This means:
- If a number is marked invalid or fails on any Postscript shop, it is opted out across all Postscript shops.
- This prevents repeated sends to invalid or unreachable numbers.
- Over time, this leads to cleaner subscriber lists, fewer undelivered messages, and more reliable deliverability.
While merchants will still see undelivered charges, the volume of undelivered sends should decrease as global opt-outs take effect.
What to Expect on Your Invoice
Previously, merchants accrued message charges throughout the billing cycle and received a credit for undelivered messages at the end of the month.
Beginning January 1, 2026, this credit will no longer be applied. Instead:
- Undelivered sends will appear as standard billable messages.
- Inbound messages will appear with their corresponding rate.
FAQs
If you find yourself with more credits than you use at the end of each billing cycle, then you might choose to downgrade your plan. You can view your current plan and additional plan options in your account settings.
Why am I being charged for messages that weren’t delivered?
Billing for undelivered messages is standard across the SMS industry. With this update, Postscript pairs industry-standard billing with stronger protections, including global opt-out enforcement that reduces repeated failures and helps improve list health.
Will this increase my SMS bill?
Most merchants may see a modest increase (typically 2–4%). As global opt-out enforcement takes effect, we expect undelivered sends to decrease, resulting in cleaner lists and more accurate spend over time.
How can I reduce undelivered messages?
Postscript now handles this automatically. Global opt-out enforcement removes invalid or unreachable numbers across all Postscript merchants, significantly reducing the likelihood of repeated undelivered sends.
How will this appear in the app?
Undelivered messages will no longer be credited back at the end of each billing cycle. Inbound messages will appear as billable usage at your standard or negotiated rate.
What if I have concerns about how this affects my account?
If you have questions, contact our Support team or your Customer Success Manager.
Get Support
Have questions? Please feel free to reach out to our wonderful Support team at support@postscript.io or via live chat. You can also submit a support request here!
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