Character counter
Character/byte count and common platform length limits.
Character counter shows character and byte counts alongside common platform length limits (for things like social media posts, SMS messages, and SEO meta fields), so you can see at a glance how much room you have left.
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Characters
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Characters (no spaces)
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UTF-8 bytes
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Words
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Lines
How to use
- Paste or type your text into the box.
- Watch the platform limit bars to see how much room you have left.
Common use scenarios
- Checking a tweet or social media post stays under the platform's character limit.
- Making sure an SMS message doesn't get split into multiple texts.
- Writing an SEO meta description that fits within search engines' typical display length.
- Checking a form field's input stays within a database column's character limit.
✓Content & verification reviewed: 2026-08-25
How we verify Character counter
How to confirm the limit bars reflect what a given platform will actually accept.
Byte count vs. character count
For text with only basic Latin characters, byte count and character count are usually the same. For CJK text, emoji, or other non-Latin scripts, each character can take multiple UTF-8 bytes — if a platform limits by bytes rather than characters, watch the byte count instead.
Limit bars are reference points, not guarantees
The built-in platform limits reflect commonly published values at the time they were added — always double-check against the specific platform's current official limit if it's critical, since platforms occasionally change their rules.
"Used" percentage updates live
As you type, the limit bars fill up in real time, showing what percentage of each platform's limit you've used — watching this while writing helps you avoid a surprise truncation later.
Before you rely on the result
- You know whether your target platform limits by character count or by byte count.
- You've checked the specific limit bar relevant to where you're posting (not just the overall character count).
- For non-Latin text, you've paid attention to the byte count if that matters for your platform.
- You've double-checked against the platform's current official limit if getting it exactly right really matters.
Who this is for
- Social media managers checking posts fit within platform character limits.
- Anyone writing SMS messages who wants to avoid an unexpected multi-part text.
- SEO writers crafting meta descriptions and titles within typical display limits.
- Developers or form-builders checking input length against a database field limit.
Real-world examples
Fitting a post under a platform's limit
A social media manager drafts a post and watches the relevant platform limit bar to trim it down before it gets cut off or rejected.
Avoiding a split SMS message
Someone drafting a marketing SMS checks the character count against the standard single-message SMS limit to avoid it splitting into (and costing) multiple messages.
Writing a search-friendly meta description
An SEO writer crafts a meta description and uses the character count to keep it within the length search engines typically display in full.
Limitations
- Byte count assumes UTF-8 encoding, which is what almost every modern platform uses.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the byte count higher than the character count?
This happens with non-Latin characters (like Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or emoji), which each take more than one byte in UTF-8 encoding — if a platform limits by bytes, this is the number that matters.
Are the platform limits always accurate?
They reflect commonly published limits at the time they were added, but platforms do change their rules occasionally — verify against the platform's current official documentation if precision really matters.
Does emoji count as one character or more?
This depends on how the specific platform counts it — some emoji are technically composed of multiple Unicode code points, which can cause different tools to count them differently; the byte count is the most literal measure.
Can I check a limit that isn't listed?
The character and byte counts are always shown regardless of the built-in platform limit bars, so you can compare them manually against any limit not explicitly listed.
🔒 Runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded. Results are for reference only; see the disclaimer. Last updated: 2026-08-25
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