Character counter with live limit checks
See your character total the instant you type it — with spaces and without — and watch a set of common limits fill up as you go, from a tweet to a meta description. Your text is processed here in the browser and never sent anywhere.
Fits within
Using the character counter
Enter your text
Type it out or paste it in. The big number on the right is your live character count, updated on every keystroke.
Pick the figure you need
Some forms count spaces, some do not. Both totals sit side by side, along with words, lines and the UTF-8 byte size.
Stay under the limit
The bars turn amber as you approach a platform's cap and red once you pass it, so you always know how much room is left.
Where character limits bite
Social posts and bios
Platforms cut off anything past their ceiling. Checking the count first means your call to action never gets chopped mid-sentence.
Search snippets
Page titles and meta descriptions get truncated in results when they run long. Trim them to the sweet spot before you publish.
Forms and databases
Text fields often reject input over a set length. The byte count matters too when a field is measured in bytes rather than characters.
Characters, bytes and why they differ
For plain English text, one character is one byte and the two counts match. The moment you add an accented letter, an emoji or a non-Latin script, that stops being true. Characters are counted the way a person reads them, while bytes reflect how the text is stored in UTF-8 — and many systems enforce their limits in bytes.
A quick example
The word "café" is four characters, but five bytes, because the "é" needs two bytes in UTF-8. A single emoji is usually one visible character yet four bytes, and some emoji are built from several code points joined together. If a field keeps rejecting text that looks short enough, the byte count is almost always the reason.
With spaces or without
Most people mean "including spaces" when they say character count, and that is the headline figure here. Some academic and translation contexts, though, quote the count with spaces stripped out. Rather than make you guess which one a form wants, both are always visible so you can copy whichever applies.
Counting the way limits are counted
The limit bars use the plain character total, which is how the major platforms describe their caps. They are handy guides rather than a guarantee — a service can change its rules or count links and mentions differently — so when a limit is critical, confirm against the platform itself before you post.
Frequently asked questions
Does the count include spaces?
The main number does. A separate line shows the total with all spaces, tabs and line breaks removed, so you have both figures at a glance.
Are emoji counted as one character?
A simple emoji counts as one character here because it is a single code point, though it takes about four bytes. Some newer emoji are made of several joined code points and can count as more than one.
What is the UTF-8 byte count for?
Some databases and messaging systems limit fields by bytes rather than visible characters. If your text is all plain English the two match; add accents, emoji or other scripts and the byte figure climbs.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No. All counting happens locally in your browser. Nothing is transmitted to a server, and closing the tab clears it from memory.
Are the platform limits always current?
They reflect widely published caps, but services do change them and may count links or handles specially. Use the bars as a strong guide and verify anything mission-critical on the platform.
Can I count a whole document?
Yes. Paste in as much as you like; there is no length limit beyond what your device's memory can hold.