Character Counter
Count characters in your text instantly — with and without spaces — plus words, sentences and reading time.
About the Character Counter
Character limits are everywhere — a tweet, an SMS, a meta description, a bio field, a form answer — and going one character over can get your text cut off or rejected. This character counter shows your character count the instant you type or paste, both including and excluding spaces, so you can trim to fit any limit with confidence.
Counting characters by hand is tedious and error-prone, especially for the tight limits that matter most. Seeing the number update live lets you edit right up to the boundary — making a headline punchy within its cap, fitting a meta description into the length search engines display, or keeping a message within a single SMS. The with- and without-spaces distinction matters because different platforms count differently.
Alongside characters, you get words, sentences and reading time for fuller context, and everything runs in your browser so your text stays private. Paste your content or type it in, and shape it precisely to whatever character limit you are working to.
Looking for more options? Open the full Word & Character Counter — it’s the same tool with every feature.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the character count include spaces?
It shows both: characters including spaces and characters excluding spaces. This matters because platforms differ — some count every keystroke including spaces, others only visible characters. Having both figures lets you match whichever rule the limit you are working to uses.
What are character counts used for?
They are essential wherever text is capped: tweets and social posts, SMS messages, meta titles and descriptions, bios, and form fields with limits. Counting live lets you edit your text to fit exactly without exceeding the limit and having it truncated or rejected.
Is my text private?
Yes. The counting runs entirely in your browser, so your text is never uploaded or stored. You can safely count characters in private messages, drafts or confidential content without it leaving your device.
Understanding Character Counting
Why character limits exist
Many systems cap text by characters to keep content consistent and displayable — search engines truncate long meta descriptions, social platforms enforce post lengths, SMS splits messages beyond a set size, and databases limit field lengths. Writing within these caps ensures your text appears in full rather than being cut off at an awkward point.
Spaces, and why counts differ
Whether spaces count toward a limit varies by platform, which is why a reliable counter reports characters both with and without them. A description that fits one platform’s "no spaces" count might exceed another’s "all characters" count. Checking the relevant figure avoids the surprise of text being rejected or trimmed despite looking the right length.
Editing to fit
When you are over a character limit, live counting makes tightening text efficient — you can see each edit’s effect immediately and stop exactly at the cap. This is especially valuable for high-impact short text like headlines, meta descriptions and ad copy, where every character counts and the limit is strict.