How to use the Character Counter
- Type or paste your text.
- Read the character count with and without spaces.
- Check the bars to see if you're within limits for each platform.
What does this tool do?
Social networks, SMS and search engines limit text by characters, not words. The counter shows characters with and without spaces, words and the size in bytes (UTF-8), which matters for some databases and APIs.
Emoji and accented letters are counted as one character each, the way you see them.
Why use it?
- Write posts that fit without being cut off.
- Keep SEO titles and descriptions the right length.
- Check byte sizes for forms and databases.
Use cases
- Fit a post, bio or ad headline into a platform's limit before you publish.
- Keep SEO titles and meta descriptions short enough not to be cut off.
- Check text against a database field or API limit measured in bytes.
Common character limits
X (Twitter) posts: 280. SMS: 160 in the basic GSM alphabet (70 if you use emoji or other special characters). Google search snippets show roughly 150–160 characters of a meta description.
Common mistakes
- Assuming every platform counts the same way. Some count each emoji as two characters, and X counts every link as 23 — so stay a little under the limit.
- Mixing up characters and bytes. In UTF-8 a plain letter is 1 byte, é is 2 and most emoji are 4, so byte limits fill up faster with non-English text.
Accuracy and limits
- Some platforms count certain emoji or URLs differently (for example, X counts every link as 23 characters).
Privacy
Everything you type is processed in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to our servers or stored by us. There's no account to create and nothing to install.
Frequently asked questions
Do spaces count as characters?
Usually yes. Most limits, including X and SMS, count spaces. That's why both numbers are shown.
How many characters is 100 words?
In English, roughly 500–600 characters including spaces — words average about 4–5 letters plus a space. It varies with the writing: technical text with long words runs higher.
Why is the byte count higher than the character count?
Bytes measure storage, not letters. Every character outside basic Latin — accents, other alphabets, emoji — takes 2 to 4 bytes in UTF-8.
How many characters fit in a text message?
A single SMS holds 160 characters using the standard character set. One emoji or certain accented letters switch the whole message to Unicode, which cuts the limit to 70 characters per part.
Last reviewed by the M2Toolkit team.