Character counter
Characters with spaces, characters without, words, sentences and an estimated reading time, updated as you type. Built for a field with a hard cap — a tweet, a meta description, an SMS, a form that counts the spaces.
What this counter treats as a character
A character here is a Unicode code point, which is what a person pointing at the screen expects: one letter, one space, one emoji. It is not a UTF-16 unit and it is not a byte. That matters because a database column, a Twitter-style limit and an SMS segment all count differently, and an emoji can cost two or four of their units while still showing as one here.
Spaces count in the first total and are omitted from the second. A trailing space at the end of a line is still a character in the first number. Tabs and newlines count as characters too — they occupy a position in the string even when they do not look like a letter.
Why two character counters disagree
Twitter-style limits, SMS, and a lot of older databases count UTF-16 units or bytes, not visible characters. Paste the same line into those tools and the number moves. Word and Google Docs mostly agree with a visible-character count on ordinary prose and diverge on emoji, combining accents and anything copied out of a chatbot.
If a specific cap is being enforced — 155 for a meta description, 160 for a single SMS, 280 for a post — count with the tool the person enforcing it uses. This page tells you what is on the screen.
Spaces are the usual argument
Some forms say "200 characters" and mean with spaces; some mean without. The difference on a short paragraph is enough to fail a field. Both numbers sit next to each other here so you do not have to delete the spaces by hand to find out.
A hard limit that does not say which it is is almost always with spaces. That is how HTML maxlength, SMS and most government forms work. The without-spaces figure is the one to use when someone is trying to estimate "how much actual text" is in a block.
Common character caps
These are the boxes people open a character counter for. The number is what the
field usually allows, not what looks best. Count with spaces unless the field says
otherwise — that is how HTML maxlength works.
| Where | Usual cap |
|---|---|
| Google title tag | about 60 |
| Meta description | about 155 |
| SMS (one segment) | 160 |
| X / Twitter post | 280 |
| Google Play short description | 80 |
| App Store subtitle | 30 |
Common questions
Does a space count as a character?
Yes, in the main total. The second figure is the same string with every space, tab and newline removed, which is the number people mean when they say "characters without spaces".
Does one emoji count as one character?
Here, yes — one visible emoji is one. A Twitter-style cap or an older database column may count two or four units for the same emoji. If a specific system is enforcing the limit, count the way that system does.
What is the difference between this and a word counter?
A word counter answers "how long is this to read or to submit as an essay". A character counter answers "will this fit in a box with a hard cap". Both numbers are on this page; the cap is why the characters lead.
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