Online Character Counter — Count Characters & Words Instantly
TextCounter is a free online character and word counter. Characters, words, sentences, paragraphs, and spaces all update in real time as you type or paste — no button to press, no page reload, no sign-up.
Character Limits for Popular Platforms
Most platforms cap the number of characters you can use. Paste your text above and check it against these limits instantly:
| Platform | Character limit | Notes |
|---|
| X (Twitter) | 280 | Per tweet |
| Instagram (caption) | 2,200 | ~125 chars visible without "more" |
| Instagram (bio) | 150 | Profile description |
| Facebook (post) | 63,206 | Per post |
| LinkedIn (post) | 3,000 | ~210 chars in preview |
| LinkedIn (headline) | 220 | Job title / profile headline |
| TikTok (bio) | 80 | Profile description |
| YouTube (title) | 100 | ~70 chars visible in search results |
| YouTube (description) | 5,000 | ~157 chars in preview |
| WhatsApp (status) | 139 | Per status message |
| SEO — Page title | 50–60 | Google recommendation |
| SEO — Meta description | 150–160 | Google recommendation |
| SMS | 160 | Per message (GSM encoding) |
| Google Ads (headline) | 30 | Per headline (up to 3) |
| Google Ads (description) | 90 | Per description line |
| Email subject line | 50–60 | Recommended for mobile display |
What Is a Character Counter Used For?
- Social media: tweets, Instagram captions, LinkedIn posts, and TikTok bios must stay within strict character limits.
- SEO: page titles and meta descriptions must be precisely calibrated so Google displays them in full in search results.
- Online advertising: Google Ads and Meta Ads impose hard limits per headline and per description line.
- Email marketing: subject lines under 50 characters display fully on mobile and improve open rates.
- Essays and academia: many assignments, abstracts, and online forms specify a maximum character count rather than a word count.
- Translation work: translated text is often 10–30% longer than the original — a character counter helps catch this instantly.
- App development: database fields, API parameters, and UI labels often have hard character limits that need to be validated.
What Does Each Statistic Mean?
- Characters: every symbol including spaces, punctuation, and special characters.
- Characters (no spaces): letters, digits, and punctuation only — whitespace excluded.
- Words: any sequence of non-whitespace characters separated by spaces.
- Sentences: segments ending with a period, exclamation mark, or question mark.
- Paragraphs: blocks of text separated by blank lines.
- Spaces: space characters only — tabs and line breaks are not counted.
How to Use This Character Counter
Paste or type your text into the editor above (Ctrl+V / Cmd+V). The character count, word count, and all other statistics update with every keystroke. Use the Uppercase / Lowercase buttons to change case, Copy to put the text on the clipboard, and Clear to start fresh.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this tool save my text?
Your text is automatically saved in your browser's local storage and restored when you return to the page. It is never sent to any server or shared with third parties. You can clear it at any time using the Clear button.
How many characters does a tweet have?
X (Twitter) allows up to 280 characters per tweet. Links are shortened to 23 characters regardless of their actual length. Use our counter to check your tweet text before posting.
How many characters should a meta description be?
Google recommends 150–160 characters for meta descriptions. Longer descriptions are truncated in search results. For SEO page titles, 50–60 characters is ideal to avoid truncation.
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time is estimated at 238 words per minute, close to the average adult silent reading speed. Speaking time uses 130 words per minute, suitable for presentations and podcasts. Both are approximations.
What counts as a word?
Any sequence of non-whitespace characters separated by spaces counts as one word. Hyphenated compounds like "well-known" count as one word. Numbers and mixed alphanumeric strings are also counted.
Does the counter work on mobile?
Yes. The tool is fully responsive and works on any modern smartphone or tablet browser with no app download required.
Does it work with non-English text?
Yes. Character and word counting works with any Unicode text including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Cyrillic, Hindi, and others. The interface is available in 15 languages.
Is there a character limit for pasted text?
There is no imposed limit. The tool handles very long documents, though files exceeding several megabytes may slow the real-time analysis on older devices.
What is keyword density?
Keyword density shows how often each meaningful word appears as a percentage of the total word count. Common stopwords are excluded by default so repeated terms are easier to spot.
How do I count characters without spaces?
The second stat box shows the character count with all whitespace excluded. Many platforms — particularly for SMS and certain forms — count only non-space characters.