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About this character counter
Most cut-offs today are in characters, not words. A Google title starts wrapping around 60 characters. One SMS segment is 160. A post on X is 280. An Instagram caption goes to 2,200. If you only watch the word count, you find out you are over the limit after you hit send.
The numbers update as you type or paste. Characters with spaces is the figure most sites and phones use — spaces, line breaks and punctuation all count. Characters without spaces is the other figure some older forms still ask for. You also get words, lines, and the size in UTF-8 bytes, which matters when an API or a database field is limited in bytes, not letters.
Pick a limit from the list and watch the bar. Counting runs in your browser: the text never leaves this page, so it is fine for unpublished copy and private messages.
Common character limits
| Where | Limit |
|---|---|
| SMS (one Latin segment) | 160 |
| Post on X (Twitter) | 280 |
| Google title in search | 60 |
| Meta description | 155 |
| Instagram caption | 2 200 |
| LinkedIn post | 3 000 |
How to count characters
- Paste or type: Drop the tweet, SMS, title or caption into the box. Nothing is uploaded.
- Read the live counts: Characters with and without spaces, words, lines and UTF-8 bytes update as you type.
- Match a limit: Choose 160, 280 or 60 and watch the bar so you stop before the form cuts you off.
Frequently asked questions
Does the character count include spaces?
Both numbers are on the page. “Characters” includes spaces, line breaks and punctuation — that is the count SMS, X and most web forms use. “No spaces” strips every whitespace character. If a form does not say which one, assume it includes spaces.
How many characters is a tweet or an SMS?
One SMS segment is 160 characters in the Latin GSM alphabet. Emoji or non-Latin letters (Cyrillic, Chinese, and on many phones also some accented letters) drop the segment to 70. A post on X is 280 characters. This tool counts the characters you see; X also weights some emoji and CJK characters as 2, so a tweet packed with emoji can hit the cap a little earlier.
What is the difference between characters and bytes?
A character is what you see: one letter, digit or punctuation mark. Bytes are how that text is stored in UTF-8. The letter “a” is 1 byte; “é” is 2; “я” is 2; many emoji are 4. If a field says “500 characters”, use the character count. If it says “500 bytes” or you are filling an API, use the UTF-8 number.
Is my text uploaded?
No. Counting runs in your browser. Close the tab and the text is gone. Use it for unpublished copy or private messages — nothing is sent to a server.