Character Counter
Live character, no-space and byte counter with an optional limit indicator.
What is the Character Counter?
The Character Counter shows the total number of characters in your text — with and without spaces — plus a byte count for developers who need to worry about encoding. It also enforces custom limits, changing colour when you go over so you can stop typing before your caption, meta tag or SMS runs long.
Character limits appear everywhere: Twitter (280), SMS (160), meta descriptions (160), Instagram captions (2,200), YouTube titles (100). Missing the cap by one character can get your post truncated or rejected. This tool gives you a real-time countdown so you always land on the right side of the limit.
The counter runs entirely in your browser and never uploads what you type. Draft private messages, legal clauses or personal emails without giving up privacy.
How to use the Character Counter
- 1Type or paste your text into the counter box.
- 2Set the maximum character limit for your target platform.
- 3Watch the counter update as you type. It turns red when you cross the limit.
- 4Toggle between "characters with spaces" and "characters without spaces".
- 5Copy the text back to your clipboard when it fits.
Key features
- Live character total with and without spaces
- Byte counter for UTF-8 encoded output
- Custom limit with visual over-limit warning
- Word and sentence counts on the side
- Emoji-aware counting (correctly counts multi-byte characters)
- Runs offline in the browser
Examples
Twitter thread
Split a long announcement into tweets that each stay under 280 characters.
SEO meta tag
Trim a meta title to 60 characters and a description to 160 for optimal SERP display.
SMS marketing
Keep SMS blasts under 160 characters to avoid multi-part charges.
Why use this tool
- Never overshoot a platform character cap
- Real-time feedback lets you edit as you type
- Handles emojis and special characters correctly
- Free, private, no sign-up
- Byte count helps developers estimate storage
Common use cases
- Writing tweets and social captions
- Composing SEO meta tags
- Preparing SMS marketing broadcasts
- Fitting product titles inside e-commerce limits
- Checking database field lengths
- Formatting messages for chatbots with input caps
Frequently asked questions
Do emojis count as one character?
A single emoji shows as one visible character but may be several bytes. The tool counts both.
What is the difference between characters and bytes?
A byte is the storage unit. Latin letters are 1 byte, accented letters 2, most emojis 4 bytes in UTF-8.
Can I set multiple limits at once?
The tool supports one custom limit at a time. Presets for Twitter, SMS and meta tags are provided.
Does pasting rich text keep formatting?
No — the counter treats input as plain text so counts are consistent.
Is my text stored anywhere?
No — clear the page to erase everything.