Character Counter
Count characters, words, sentences, and more - with live platform limits.
Platform character limits
How to use
- Paste or type your text into the input area.
- The character count, word count, and line count update live as you type.
- Check the platform indicators to see whether your text fits limits like Twitter, SMS, or meta descriptions.
- Use the Trim spaces or Clear buttons to clean up the input quickly.
- Copy the text or stats with one click when you are happy with the result.
Frequently asked questions
Does the counter include spaces and line breaks?
It shows both totals separately so you can copy whichever number a platform expects. Some systems, like Twitter, count whitespace, while others, like SEO meta tags, sometimes do not.
How are emojis counted?
An emoji typically counts as one or two characters in UTF-16, which matches what most social platforms enforce. The counter uses the same encoding so your number lines up with what those services see.
Is my text sent to a server?
No. Everything happens in your browser using plain JavaScript, so nothing you paste leaves your device.
Why does the character count differ from another tool?
Different tools count differently. We use code-unit counts that match social media platform rules, but some text editors count code points or graphemes, which can differ for emoji and combining characters.
The limits that actually govern your text
Character limits shape more writing than style guides do. X/Twitter allows 280 characters (URLs always count as 23). SMS splits at 160 characters... but at 70 if the message contains a single non-GSM character such as a Greek letter or an emoji, which is why one character can triple the cost of a campaign. Google truncates title tags around 60 characters and meta descriptions around 155-160 on desktop (about 120 on mobile). Instagram captions cap at 2,200 but truncate at about 125 in feed; LinkedIn posts cut at about 210 before "see more". Writing to the truncation point, not the maximum, is the professional habit.
When "one character" is not one character
- Emoji and accented characters may occupy multiple bytes (UTF-8) and even multiple code units; platforms count differently, so edge-case posts can pass one counter and fail another.
- A family emoji can be seven code points joined invisibly... one visible symbol, many counted characters.
- Spaces count everywhere; line breaks count and on some platforms count as two.
- For database fields like VARCHAR(255), the limit may be bytes, not characters: 255 bytes holds 255 ASCII letters but only 127 Greek ones.
Counting with vs without spaces
Both counts have constituencies: social platforms and SEO count spaces; translation pricing and some academic word-equivalent rules use characters without spaces (a common convention: 1,800 characters per standard page). Knowing which convention your target uses prevents the unpleasant discovery at submission time... measure with the rule that will judge you.
Writing to fit: techniques for hard limits
When the text must shrink to a limit, cuts have an order of efficiency. Symbols first: an ampersand saves two characters over "and", digits beat spelled numbers, and "&" tricks compound across a long message. Then redundancy: "in order to" is "to", "at this point in time" is "now". Then restructuring... active voice runs consistently shorter than passive, and front-loading the key point lets the trailing qualifier be the casualty if something must go. The last resort is meaning, and reaching it is rare: most prose carries 15-20% of removable padding before any substance is touched, which is exactly the margin between a 172-character draft and a 160-character SMS.
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