Sophie
20 октября 2026 г. · 11 мин чтения
A number starting with +34, +212 or +1 pops up in your message thread. You read it, you type three words, you hit send. You may have just triggered the most expensive line on your next bill. The rule is simple and almost nobody knows it: in France, receiving a text message is always free, including from the other side of the world; replying to a foreign number is almost always billed outside your plan, even if your plan advertises "unlimited texts".
Updated 20 October 2026.
Is it expensive to receive a text from a foreign number?
No. From mainland France, receiving a text message is free whatever the sender's country: the sender pays for delivery, under the "calling party pays" principle applied to SMS in GSM networks. Your carrier charges you nothing for the incoming message, even if it comes from Movistar, Telcel or Vodafone.
Two important nuances:
- While roaming outside the European Union, receiving remains free as well. What costs money is sending (and data, if the message is actually an RCS message or an MMS attachment). We covered this mechanism in detail in our guide to texting and data outside the European Union.
- In some countries, though not in France, receiving has historically been billed to the subscriber (this was the case in the United States and Canada on many plans). If you write to someone living there, they may be the one paying for your messages.
In other words: letting a foreign text arrive costs you nothing. The trap snaps shut the second you press "send".
Why does replying cost money when my plan says "unlimited texts"?
Because the "unlimited SMS/MMS" wording on French plans covers, in virtually every case, text messages sent from France to French numbers (mainland, and depending on the offer, the overseas départements). A message sent from France to a foreign number falls under a different pricing line, "international SMS", billed per message and excluded from the unlimited allowance.
It's exactly the same logic as with calls: your "unlimited calls" plan doesn't let you call a Brazilian mobile. Texting follows the same border, but nobody mentions it in the advertising, because the word "unlimited" takes up all the space.
Three distinct scenarios that absolutely must be kept apart:
| Situation | Who pays | Is it in the unlimited allowance? |
|---|---|---|
| You're in France and receive a foreign text | Nobody (on the French side) | Not applicable |
| You're in France and send to a foreign number | You, per message | No, unless you have an add-on |
| You're abroad within the EU, sending to France or another EU country | You, from your plan's allowance | Yes (EU roaming regulation) |
| You're abroad outside the EU, sending | You, at the zone's roaming rate | No, unless you have a pass |
The line that surprises people most is the second one: staying home doesn't protect you. Sending a text from your sofa in Paris to a Moroccan number is an "international SMS", not a roaming text.
How much does a text to a foreign country from France actually cost?
France's four network operators publish these rates in their official price lists, and they vary by a factor of one to three depending on the offer. The ballpark figure to remember in 2026: around €0.20 to €0.30 per text sent from France to a foreign number, before any add-ons.
A few useful benchmarks, to be checked at the time of sending against your carrier's price list (Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free Mobile each publish a legally binding tariff PDF, updated several times a year):
- some premium plans include texts to the EU from France, but not to the rest of the world;
- with several MVNOs, international texting isn't available at all on prepaid offers without credit;
- a text longer than 160 characters is split into several messages and billed as many times: a slightly long reply to a foreign number means three units, not one. We explained this splitting in our article on the 160-character limit of a text message.
Worth doing once and for all: open your carrier's price list PDF, search for "international SMS", and save the price in your phone's notes. It takes three minutes, and it's the only reliable figure, because it changes and no comparison site keeps it properly up to date.
What about MMS to a foreign number?
Even more expensive, and more fragile. MMS travels over data and through the recipient carrier's MMS gateways, which multiplies the points of failure. In practice, a photo sent to a foreign number often arrives as a link, or doesn't arrive at all. The details are in our article on MMS not received abroad.
How can you reply to a foreign text without paying?
The short answer: don't reply with a standard text message. Four free or near-free methods, in order of reliability.
- RCS, if it's active on both ends. In Google Messages or the iOS Messages app, if the conversation shows encryption or a "read" status, you're on RCS: the message goes over data, not the SMS channel, so it isn't billed per message. RCS is international by nature. Its weak point: it switches silently to SMS when data is unavailable — and then you're billed. Our comparison of RCS versus SMS explains how to check which mode you're in.
- Internet messaging apps (WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram…): free over Wi-Fi or data, but it assumes the other person has them installed. For someone you met once abroad, that's far from guaranteed.
- An online text-messaging service. You can send a text from your browser without going through your carrier's international channel; this is the solution when all you have is the number and no shared app. Rates by destination are shown on our pricing page.
- Wi-Fi calling and texting, mainly useful the other way round: it lets you send from an area with no network coverage, but the billing is still your carrier's. Details in our guide to Wi-Fi calling.
If you exchange messages regularly with the same country, your carrier's "international" add-on (a few euros a month) becomes worthwhile from around twenty messages onward. Otherwise, it's pointless.
Is a foreign number necessarily a scam?
No, but a little doubt is healthy. Three types of legitimate foreign senders come up constantly:
- global platforms (banks, social networks, delivery companies) that send their one-time codes from gateways located outside France: the displayed number may be a +44, a +1 or simply an alphanumeric sender ID;
- hotels, rental companies and airlines from the country you've just visited;
- friends and family using a local SIM card, whose number changes — a case we describe in our article on local SIM cards abroad and lost French texts.
The real warning sign isn't the country code, it's the call to action: a link to click, a number to call back, a code to pass on. A message asking you to call back a foreign number should be treated as null and void: calling internationally is billed by the minute and can run to several euros. If in doubt, France's reporting system for fraudulent messages is 33700 (a service run by AF2M in cooperation with the carriers), and the reference platform remains cybermalveillance.gouv.fr.
To stop receiving the legitimate marketing texts that clutter your inbox, the keyword STOP remains the normal route: we summarise the procedure and the available recourse on our STOP SMS page.
How can you check where a number really comes from?
A country code reads from left to right and doesn't lie about the country of allocation — but it says nothing about where the sender physically is, or who they are.
A few country codes that often show up in French messaging apps:
| Country code | Country | Common note |
|---|---|---|
| +32 | Belgium | Nearby, often business contacts |
| +34 | Spain | Movistar, Vodafone ES, Orange ES |
| +41 | Switzerland | Outside the EU: roaming not included |
| +44 | United Kingdom | Outside the EU since Brexit |
| +212 | Morocco | Orange Maroc, Maroc Telecom, Inwi |
| +216 | Tunisia | Outside the EU |
| +1 | United States / Canada | Receiving is sometimes charged to the recipient |
| +52 | Mexico | Telcel, AT&T Mexico |
Watch out for one formatting trap: a foreign number saved incorrectly in your contacts (with a leading 0, or without the +) will never go through. It's the leading cause of silent failure, covered in detail in our article on the international number format. The rule: + then the country code, then the number without its leading zero.
If you manage a lot of international contacts, a paper address book remains surprisingly useful for keeping numbers in the right format before entering them, and a phone stand on your desk saves you from mistyping a country code while holding the device one-handed.
The special cases that cost the most
Foreign short codes
A code received from a five-digit foreign number generally can't be replied to from France: short codes are national. Replying "STOP" to a foreign short code often has no effect at all, and the message may still be billed to you as an international text to a gateway. You're better off blocking the sender in your messaging app.
The overseas départements and territories
Mayotte, Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana are within the European Union and benefit from the roaming framework, but New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon are not: a text to or from Papeete is an international text outside the EU, at the corresponding rates. Always check the exact zone in your carrier's price grid.
Older phones and the 2G shutdown
An old device that supports neither 4G nor VoLTE will lose its ability to send text messages as networks are switched off. The timetables have been published: we've gathered them for the end of 2G and the end of 3G. If you're lending a backup phone to someone who travels, a 4G VoLTE-compatible model is now the bare minimum — and a compact power bank avoids the classic scenario of the banking code arriving on a phone that's switched off.
Five habits that prevent a nasty surprise
- Read without replying. Receiving is free: there's no rush.
- Identify the country code before writing anything at all.
- Check the channel: if the conversation shows no "read" status or mention of encryption, you're on standard SMS, so you'll be billed.
- Switch to data (RCS, internet messaging, an online sending service) for any reply going abroad.
- Turn on usage tracking in your online account: out-of-plan charges show up several days late, and a spending cap prevents a double-digit bill. The steps for disputing charges are described in our article on out-of-plan charges on your mobile bill.
For frequent travellers, a universal multi-plug USB-C charger and a SIM card storage pouch prevent the other great travel classic: the French nano-SIM lost in a hotel pocket, and a number left unreachable for two weeks.
Frequently asked questions
Does receiving a text from abroad cost me anything?
No, in France receiving a text message is free, whatever the country the message comes from. The sender pays for delivery.
Why is my text to a foreign number billed when I have unlimited texts?
Because the unlimited allowance on French plans covers texts to French numbers. Sending to a foreign number falls under the "international SMS" pricing line, billed per message, at around €0.20 to €0.30 depending on the carrier and the plan in 2026.
Can I reply to a foreign number for free?
Yes, if the conversation goes over RCS or an internet messaging app via Wi-Fi or data. Otherwise, an online text-messaging service lets you write without using your carrier's international channel.
Should I reply STOP to a marketing text from a foreign number?
No. The word STOP works on French short codes. With a foreign number, the reply may be billed and have no effect at all: block the sender, and report it to 33700 if it's a fraudulent message.
Does a long text to a foreign country cost more?
Yes. Beyond 160 characters (70 with emojis or certain accented characters), the message is split into several texts and each one is billed separately. A three-sentence reply can therefore cost double or triple.
