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universal Character Counter

universal

Free Character Counter

Count characters, words, sentences and reading time as you type — free, instant and entirely in your browser.

✓ Characters & words✓ No account needed✓ Text never uploaded✓ Any device
  • 0Characters
  • 0Words
  • 0Characters (no spaces)
  • 0Sentences
  • 0Paragraphs
  • 0Lines
  • 0 secReading time
  • 0 secSpeaking time
More details and most used words
  • Letters0
  • Digits0
  • Spaces and line breaks0
  • Punctuation and symbols0
  • Size in UTF-8 bytes0
  • Average word length0
  • Longest word—

Most used words

  • Type some text to see the most used words.

A word is any group of letters or digits between spaces. Emoji and accented letters count as one character each; Japanese and Chinese words are split automatically.

Your text never leaves your browser. Nothing is sent to any server and nothing is stored.

How it works

Three steps, no account

Type or paste your text

Click into the text box and type, or paste text from an email, document, post or web page. The counts start at once; there is nothing to install or submit.

Read the counts

Characters with and without spaces, words, sentences, paragraphs, lines, reading time and speaking time update with every keystroke. Open the details for letters, digits, size in bytes and your most used words.

Check a limit and copy

Pick a limit such as an X post, an Instagram caption or a meta description, or enter your own number, and watch the bar show how many characters are left. Copy the text with one click or clear the box to start again.

Why it matters

Know the length before you publish

Posts, ads, titles and forms cut text off at a fixed length, and essays and assignments are set by word count. Finding out afterwards means rewriting under pressure.

A character counter shows the exact length while you write. It also shows why two tools can disagree: some count line breaks, some leave out spaces, some count an emoji as two characters. This one counts what you see, so an emoji or an accented letter is one character, and it tells you separately how many characters you have without spaces.

Use cases

Where a character counter helps

Social media posts

Check a post against the limit of X, Bluesky, Threads, Instagram or LinkedIn before you publish it.

Titles and meta descriptions

Keep page titles and meta descriptions near the lengths search engines usually show in full.

Essays and assignments

See your word count while you write and know how much is left to reach a required length.

Ads and short copy

Fit headlines and descriptions into strict limits, such as 30 characters for a Google Ads headline.

Reading and speaking time

Estimate how long a text takes to read or to say aloud, for a blog post, a speech or a video script.

100% private

Your text stays on your device. Nothing is uploaded or stored, and once the page has loaded the counter keeps working without a connection.

Under the hood

How the counting works

Characters are counted as the symbols you see, so an emoji or a letter with an accent is one character. Characters without spaces leave out spaces, tabs and line breaks. A word is a group of letters or digits between spaces; for Japanese and Chinese the browser's built-in word segmentation splits the text. Sentences end at a full stop, question mark, exclamation mark or their Japanese forms. Reading time assumes about 238 words per minute and speaking time about 130; for Japanese and Chinese it uses characters instead. Everything is calculated locally in your browser.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Basics
Is this character counter really free?
Yes. The counter is completely free, with no limit on how much text you check. There is no paid tier and no feature locked behind a payment.
Do I need an account to use it?
No. There is no sign-up, no login and no account of any kind. Open the page, type or paste your text and read the counts.
Is my text stored or sent anywhere?
No. Everything happens inside your own browser. The text you type or paste is never uploaded, stored or transmitted to any server. After the page has loaded, the counter works the same even without an internet connection.
How are characters counted?
Every visible symbol is one character, including letters, digits, spaces, punctuation and line breaks. An emoji or a letter with an accent counts as one character, not two. The second figure, characters without spaces, leaves out spaces, tabs and line breaks.
Counting & limits
How are words counted?
A word is a group of letters or digits separated by spaces or line breaks, so “well-known” is one word and “it’s” is one word. Japanese and Chinese are written without spaces, so the browser’s word segmentation splits that text into words. Counts for such text are an estimate and can differ slightly from other tools.
What is the difference between characters with and without spaces?
Characters with spaces counts everything you typed. Characters without spaces leaves out spaces, tabs and line breaks. Some forms and assignments ask for one figure and some for the other, so the counter always shows both.
How is the reading time calculated?
Reading time assumes about 238 words per minute, an average for silent reading of non-fiction in studies, and speaking time assumes about 130 words per minute. For Japanese and Chinese text the tool uses about 500 characters per minute for reading and 300 for speaking. Both are estimates; real speed depends on the reader and the text.
Which character limits can I check?
You can compare your text with the limits of X (280), Bluesky (300), Threads (500), an Instagram caption (2,200), a LinkedIn post (3,000), a YouTube title (100) and description (5,000), a Google Ads headline (30) and description (90), and the recommended lengths of a meta title (60) and meta description (160). You can also enter any limit of your own. Platforms change limits from time to time, so check the current rule on the platform itself.
Why does X show a different count?
X counts every link as 23 characters, whatever its length, and counts every emoji and every Japanese, Chinese or Korean character as 2. This counter shows the plain number of characters, so a post with links, emoji or CJK text can be longer on X than it is here.
Privacy & technical
Can I use it for SEO titles and meta descriptions?
Yes. Choose the meta title or meta description limit to see how close you are to about 60 and 160 characters. Search engines truncate by pixel width rather than by character count, so these figures are a guide and not a hard rule.
How much text can I paste?
Hundreds of thousands of characters work without trouble on a modern device. Everything is calculated in your browser, so the practical limit is the memory of your device and browser; very long texts update a little more slowly.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. The page works in current versions of Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge on phones, tablets and computers. Paste text with the usual long-press menu or keyboard shortcut and the counts update at once.