Character Counter

Counts characters with and without spaces, words, lines and UTF-8 bytes — live, as you type or paste. The numbers that matter when a form says 500 characters max, a submission wants 300 words, or an SMS gateway bills by the byte.

How to use

1. Paste or type the text.
2. All counts update on every keystroke — no button.
3. Match the right number to your limit: forms usually count spaces, manuscript conventions often do not.
4. Trim and recheck until the count clears the limit.

When you actually need this

• Fitting a self-introduction or essay into an application form's character cap.
• Writing headlines and meta descriptions against length budgets.
• Checking an SMS's byte size before it splits into multiple billed messages.
• Confirming a word-count requirement on an assignment or abstract.

Which count does your limit mean?

A "500-character" limit is ambiguous until you know whether spaces count — web forms usually include them, editorial and manuscript traditions often exclude them, which is why both figures show here. Word counts split on whitespace, matching what word processors report for European languages. The byte count is UTF-8: ASCII letters take one byte but Korean, Japanese and emoji take three or four, so 70 Korean characters can weigh what 200 ASCII ones do — the figure that matters for SMS billing and database column limits. When a form rejects text that looks short enough, the byte count is usually the culprit.

Related tools

FAQ

How does Character Counter count characters with spaces and emoji?

It reports both a count with spaces and one without, so you can match whichever rule your form uses. Emoji and other characters outside the basic range are counted as a single visible character rather than as the two code units JavaScript stores internally.

Does Character Counter work for languages other than English?

Yes. Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic and accented European text are all handled correctly. Word counting splits on whitespace, so for Chinese and Japanese the character count is the more meaningful figure.

Is my text saved anywhere?

No. Everything runs in the page itself and nothing is transmitted or stored — you can paste a draft, a contract or private notes without it leaving your device.