Character Counter
Count characters and see how close you are to common platform limits.
How to use: Type or paste your text to see the character count, and how it compares with common limits.
How to use the Character Counter
Many places cap how much you can write: a post on X, a text message, an SEO page title, a meta description or a product listing. This tool counts characters in real time and shows how much room you have left for each common limit.
The headline number counts every visible character, including spaces, using Unicode code points so an emoji counts as one character rather than two. You also get the count without spaces, the number of letters, digits and spaces, the number of lines, and the size in UTF-8 bytes, which matters for databases and SMS encoding.
The limit bars turn red when you go over. For search results, aim for page titles under about 60 characters and meta descriptions under about 155 to 160 so they are not cut off, although search engines measure by pixel width and may truncate slightly earlier or later. For SMS, messages with special characters or emoji may switch to a different encoding with a lower per-message limit.
Use the counter to trim headlines, tighten ad copy and fit text into form fields. Platform rules change, so confirm limits on the service you are using. As with all tools on this site, your text stays in your browser and is never sent to a server.
Frequently asked questions
Do spaces count as characters?
Yes, in most limits. The tool shows both counts so you can see either.
Why do bytes differ from characters?
In UTF-8, accented letters, symbols and emoji use two to four bytes each, so the byte size can be larger than the character count.
What is the ideal meta description length?
Aim for roughly 120 to 160 characters so that most of it displays in search results.