Free Character Counter
Tweets, bios, meta descriptions and SMS all have hard character limits. This free counter shows your characters live — with and without spaces — plus words, lines and UTF-8 bytes, so you always know exactly where you stand.
Stats update live as you type. 100% private.
How to Use the Character Counter
- Type or paste your text into the box.
- Watch all six counts update live as you type.
- Compare against your limit (280 for X, ~155 for meta descriptions).
- Trim or expand your text until it fits.
Features
Live counts for characters, characters excluding spaces, words, lines, UTF-8 bytes and true Unicode characters — the last two matter because emoji and accented letters can count differently across platforms. Zero buttons to press: every keystroke recalculates instantly. Byte count helps with SMS segments and database field limits.
Benefits & Use Cases
Social media managers keep posts within platform limits. SEO writers nail meta description length. Developers check string lengths against database columns and SMS segment boundaries. Students verify abstract and short-answer lengths without opening a word processor.
Tips
X/Twitter counts most characters as one but some emoji as two — the Unicode character count here is the safer number to watch. For SMS, 160 GSM characters make one segment; the byte count approximates this for basic text. Meta descriptions truncate around 155–160 characters in Google results.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the character counter free?
Yes — free, unlimited, no account needed.
Do spaces count as characters?
The tool shows both: total characters and characters excluding spaces, so you can use whichever your limit requires.
Why do bytes and characters differ?
Characters like emoji use multiple UTF-8 bytes. Platforms and databases often limit bytes, not characters.
What is the X/Twitter limit?
280 characters per post. This counter updates live so you can edit down to fit.
Is my text stored anywhere?
No. Counting is done locally; nothing is uploaded or saved.
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