Character counter
Characters with and without spaces, checked live against the limits you are writing for.
- Words
- 0
- Characters
- 0
- No spaces
- 0
- Sentences
- 0
- Paragraphs
- 0
- Reading time
- 0 sec
- Speaking time
- 0 sec
- Unique words
- 0
Against common limits
- X (Twitter) post0 / 280
- Meta description (approx.)0 / 160
- Title tag (approx.)0 / 60
- SMS message0 / 160
- Instagram caption0 / 2,200
- LinkedIn post0 / 3,000
- Common App essay (words)0 / 650
- UCAS personal statement0 / 4,000
Limits change; check the platform’s current rules. Character counts use Unicode characters, so an emoji counts as one.
With spaces or without?
Most social platforms, SMS and web forms count every character including spaces and line breaks. Some translation and publishing contracts are priced per character without spaces. The counter shows both at once.
This tool counts Unicode characters, so “é” or an emoji counts as one. Platforms differ: X weights emoji and some CJK characters as two, and SMS falls back to 70-character segments as soon as you use a character outside the GSM alphabet.
Questions people ask
Do spaces count as characters?
Usually yes. X (Twitter), SMS and most form fields count spaces. The counter shows both numbers so you can use whichever your platform wants.
Do emoji count as one character?
This counter counts each Unicode character once, so most emoji count as one. Some platforms count certain emoji as two, and X counts every emoji as two characters.
How long should a meta description be?
Google truncates by pixel width, not a fixed count, but around 150–160 characters usually displays in full on desktop.
How many characters is the UCAS personal statement?
The UCAS personal statement has a 4,000-character limit including spaces (and a maximum of 47 lines). Check UCAS’s current guidance, as the format was revised for 2026 entry.
The rest of the kit
Your text follows you between tools, so you can paste once and check everything.