Hello
Hello
Characters: 5
Each letter counts as one character.
Character Counter
Use this free character counter to count characters, words, spaces, and more. Type or paste text below, and the counts update automatically.
Characters
Words
Set Character Limit
(Optional)
Remaining Characters
0
0
—
Spaces
0
Characters Without Spaces
0
Letters
0
Unique Characters
0
X/Twitter
0 / 280
Text Message (SMS)
0 / 160
Instagram
0 / 2200
LinkedIn
0 / 3000
Pages
0
Paragraphs
0
Sentences
0
Unique Words
0
Reading Time
0m 0s
Speaking Time
0m 0s
Avg. Word Length
0
Lines
0
Words Per Sentence
0
Emojis
0
Symbols
0
Numbers
0
Common Character Limits
Here are common character limits for social media, SEO, messaging, and online forms. Limits can change, so always check the platform’s latest rules before publishing.
| Platform or Use Case | Common Character Limit |
|---|---|
| X/Twitter post | 280 characters |
| Instagram caption | 2200 characters |
| LinkedIn post | 3000 characters |
| YouTube title | 100 characters |
| YouTube description | 5000 characters |
| Text Message (SMS) | 160 characters |
| Meta description | About 150–160 characters |
Character Counter Guide
What Is a Character Counter?
A character counter is a tool that counts how many characters are in a piece of text. Characters can include letters, numbers, spaces, punctuation marks, symbols, emojis, and line breaks.
How to Use the Character Counter
Type or paste your text into the text box above. The character count, word count, space count, letter count, sentence count, paragraph count, line count, unique word count, unique character count, emoji count, symbol count, number count, common platform character limit counts, and estimated page count update automatically as you type.
How to Check a Character Limit
Enter a number in the optional Set Character Limit box. The tool will show how many characters you have remaining or how many characters you are over the limit.
Common Platform Character Limits
On desktop, the counter also compares your current character count with common limits for X/Twitter, Text Message (SMS), Instagram captions, and LinkedIn posts. These boxes show your current count next to each platform limit, such as 142 / 280.
Characters With Spaces vs Without Spaces
Spaces usually count as characters when a platform, form, or application gives a character limit. The include-spaces checkbox is checked by default. Uncheck it if you want the main character count and remaining character calculation to ignore spaces.
Characters vs Letters
Letters are only alphabetic characters, such as A, B, and C. Characters can include letters, numbers, spaces, punctuation, symbols, emojis, and line breaks.
Paragraphs, Unique Characters, and Unique Words
On desktop, the counter also shows paragraph count, unique character count, and unique word count. These extra text statistics can help with essays, articles, online forms, repetition, formatting, and more detailed text analysis.
Reading Time and Speaking Time
The desktop counter also estimates reading time and speaking time. These estimates are based on word count and are meant to give a quick general idea of how long text may take to read or speak aloud.
Lines, Words Per Sentence, Emojis, Symbols, and Numbers
The desktop counter also shows line count, average words per sentence, emoji count, symbol count, and number count. These extra character-level and text-level counts can help with social media posts, usernames, passwords, product names, technical text, and content that uses special characters.
When Character Count Matters
Character count matters when writing social media posts, Text Message (SMS), meta descriptions, titles, usernames, bios, online forms, essays, product descriptions, comments, and application responses. If a platform has a strict limit, checking your text before submitting can help you avoid errors.
Character Counter FAQ
What is a character counter?
A character counter is a tool that counts the number of characters in text, including letters, numbers, spaces, punctuation marks, symbols, emojis, and line breaks.
Do spaces count as characters?
Yes, spaces usually count as characters. The include-spaces checkbox is selected by default for the main character count and remaining character calculation.
How do I count characters online?
Type or paste your text into the text box above. The character count updates automatically as you type.
Can I set a character limit?
Yes. Enter a number in the optional Set Character Limit box to see how many characters are remaining.
What is the difference between characters and letters?
Letters are alphabetic characters such as A, B, and C. Characters can include letters, numbers, spaces, punctuation, symbols, emojis, and other marks.
Is this character counter free?
Yes. CharacterCounter.com is free to use.
Character Counter Examples
A character can be a letter, number, space, punctuation mark, symbol, emoji, or line break. Here are a few simple examples of how character counting works.
Hello world!
Hello world!
Characters: 12
The space and exclamation mark are included in the total character count.
Without spaces
Hello world
Characters: 11
Characters without spaces: 10
Emoji and symbols
Hi 🙂!
Characters: 5
Emoji, symbols, and punctuation can count as characters too.
For more advanced text measurements, you can also try our Byte Counter, Grapheme Counter, Emoji Counter, and Character Identifier.
Character Counter Features
| Feature | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Characters | Total characters in your text. When the include-spaces checkbox is selected, spaces are included. When it is unchecked, spaces are excluded. |
| Words | The estimated number of words in your text. |
| Set Character Limit | Enter an optional character limit to check whether your text fits within a specific requirement. |
| Remaining Characters | See how many characters are left, or how many characters your text is over the selected limit. |
| Include spaces | Keep the checkbox selected to include spaces in the main character count and remaining character calculation, or uncheck it to ignore spaces. |
| Spaces | The number of spaces and whitespace characters in your text. |
| Characters Without Spaces | Total characters after spaces and whitespace characters are excluded. |
| Letters | The number of alphabetic letters in your text. |
| Unique Characters | The number of different characters used in your text. |
| X/Twitter | Your current character count compared with the common 280-character X/Twitter post limit. |
| Text Message (SMS) | Your current character count compared with the common 160-character text message limit. |
| Your current character count compared with the common 2200-character Instagram caption limit. | |
| Your current character count compared with the common 3000-character LinkedIn post limit. | |
| Pages | An estimated page count based on word count. |
| Paragraphs | The estimated number of paragraphs in your text. |
| Sentences | The estimated number of sentences in your text. |
| Unique Words | The number of different words used in your text. |
| Reading Time | An estimated reading time based on word count. |
| Speaking Time | An estimated speaking time based on word count. |
| Avg. Word Length | The average number of letters and numbers per word in your text. |
| Lines | The number of lines in your text, based on line breaks. |
| Words Per Sentence | The average number of words per sentence in your text. |
| Emojis | The estimated number of emojis in your text. |
| Symbols | The number of symbol characters in your text. |
| Numbers | The number of numeric digits in your text. |
About Character Counter
CharacterCounter.com is a free online character counter that updates instantly as you type. Paste text into the box above to count characters, words, spaces, letters, sentences, paragraphs, lines, estimated pages, reading time, speaking time, emojis, symbols, numbers, common platform limits, and more.
The tool is useful for social media posts, essays, Text Message (SMS), meta descriptions, application forms, product descriptions, comments, bios, usernames, and any text field with a character limit.
A character count can include letters, numbers, spaces, punctuation marks, symbols, emojis, and line breaks. You can enter an optional custom limit to see how many characters remain.
You can use CharacterCounter.com when you need a quick character count online without opening Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or another editor. The counter is designed to be simple, fast, and easy to use on desktop and mobile.