Character Counter
Count characters with and without spaces in real time, and instantly see whether your text fits Twitter/X, SMS, Instagram and Google snippet limits. Free and private — everything is counted in your browser.
Platform limits
| Platform | Limit | Remaining | Status |
|---|
Limits are counted on characters including spaces. Twitter/X applies extra rules to links and some symbols — see the FAQ below.
How to use the character counter
- Paste or type your text. Drop a tweet, SMS, caption, meta description or any other snippet into the box above.
- Watch the live counts. Characters (with and without spaces), words, lines, letters, digits and UTF-8 bytes all update as you type.
- Check the platform limits. The table shows how many characters you have left for Twitter/X, SMS, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Google search snippets.
About this tool
This free character counter is built for the many places where length is measured in characters rather than words: Twitter/X posts capped at 280 characters, single SMS messages at 160, Google title tags at roughly 60 and meta descriptions at about 160 characters. It counts Unicode characters (code points), so emoji and accented letters each count as one character, and it also shows the UTF-8 byte size — handy when a form or database field limits bytes instead of characters.
All counting happens locally in your browser as you type. Nothing you paste is uploaded, stored or logged, so drafts of confidential messages, ad copy and unpublished content stay completely private on your device.
Frequently asked questions
Do spaces and line breaks count as characters?
Yes. The main “Characters” number includes spaces, tabs and line breaks, because that is how most platforms count. The “Without spaces” number strips all whitespace, which is the convention used for some essay and translation quotes.
How are emoji counted?
Each emoji counts as one character here, because the tool counts Unicode code points. Note that some platforms count differently: Twitter/X counts most emoji as two characters, and an emoji in an SMS switches the message to UCS-2 encoding, cutting the single-message limit from 160 to 70 characters.
Why is my remaining count different from Twitter’s?
Twitter/X uses weighted counting: every link counts as 23 characters regardless of its real length, and characters outside a basic Latin range (including most emoji and CJK text) count as two. This tool shows the plain character count, which matches Twitter exactly for ordinary Latin text without links.
What is the UTF-8 bytes number for?
Many databases, APIs and form fields limit input by bytes, not characters. Plain English letters are 1 byte each, accented letters usually 2, and emoji typically 4, so a text can be well under a character limit yet still exceed a byte limit. The bytes stat lets you check both at a glance.