Character Counter
Count characters, words, sentences and reading time — with live platform limit bars for Twitter, LinkedIn, SMS and more.
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Characters
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No spaces
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Words
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Sentences
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Paragraphs
< 1 min
Read time
About this tool
Character count is the constraint most writing actually lives inside: Twitter's 280, LinkedIn's 3,000, the 160-character SMS limit, the 60-character SEO title. This counter tracks them all simultaneously, with a progress bar per platform that turns red if you go over — so you can write in this tool and know at a glance which platforms your draft fits.
The core stats cover every level of text structure: characters with spaces (what most platforms count), characters without spaces (useful for comparing text density), words, sentences, paragraphs, and a reading time estimate at 200 words per minute — the standard used by publishers and Medium. For quick copy decisions like "will this fit an SMS?" the answer is instant and visual; for longer content like blog posts, the reading time gives readers accurate expectations.
Everything updates live as you type or paste, with no delay. Paste a LinkedIn post draft and see immediately that you're at 2,847 of 3,000 characters with room to add a call to action. Paste a meta description and watch the bar hit yellow at 130 characters as a heads-up to stop. The tool has no word limit and no paste size restriction — it handles book chapters as readily as tweets.
How to use the Character Counter
- 1Paste or type your text — all stats update live.
- 2Check the platform limit bars to see which channels your text fits.
- 3Red bars mean you're over the limit; yellow means you're approaching it.
- 4Use the character-without-spaces count for comparing text density across drafts.
Frequently asked questions
Does Twitter count characters with or without spaces?
With spaces — every character including spaces counts toward the 280 limit. URLs are shortened to 23 characters regardless of their actual length. This counter shows total characters as Twitter sees them; for URL shortening, subtract accordingly.
What does the reading time estimate assume?
200 words per minute — the commonly cited average for adult silent reading of plain prose. Technical content reads slower; light fiction faster. Publishers and content platforms like Medium use similar assumptions. It's a useful estimate, not a precise prediction.
Why do some platforms show different character counts for my text?
Emoji count differently across platforms: most count emoji as 2 characters (Twitter historically; some SMS systems), some as 1. Non-standard Unicode characters (fancy text, some symbols) also vary. This counter counts each character as 1 code unit, matching most platforms' displayed behaviour.
What's the difference between characters and bytes?
Characters are what you see and count; bytes are what's stored. ASCII text is 1 byte per character. Unicode characters (emoji, accented letters, scripts like Devanagari) use 2–4 bytes in UTF-8. Platform limits almost always refer to characters, not bytes.
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