Using Data for group texts

Hi! I often am in group chats where there is at least one non-Apple user. And it absolutely drives me nuts that whenever a text is sent in that group chat I have to use my data. I save my data and do not have an unlimited data plan and considering this occurs when I’m not sending any media and I don’t know when a message is sent (the time stamp reflects the time I turn my data back on.) Is it supposed to be like this?