Character Counter
Count characters, words, sentences, emojis and syllables, set a custom limit, check readability and see live platform limits.
Open file loads a text file (or drop one on the box) instead of pasting. Character limit shows how many characters remain, or how many you are over. Include spaces toggles whether spaces count toward the total.
Detailed statistics
Length limits
Length limits count all characters including spaces. Readability is an estimate (difficult words approximated by syllable count).
Stat glossary
What each statistic means. Hover any stat above for a quick definition, or read the full list here.
- Words
- Number of words, counted by splitting your text on spaces and line breaks.
- Unique words
- Number of distinct words, ignoring case and surrounding punctuation.
- Sentences
- Number of sentences, detected by ending punctuation such as a period, question mark or exclamation mark.
- Paragraphs
- Number of paragraphs, separated by blank lines.
- Lines
- Number of lines, based on line breaks in your text.
- Pages (est.)
- Estimated page count, based on about 500 words per page.
- Characters (with spaces)
- Total characters in your text, including spaces.
- Characters (no spaces)
- Total characters after spaces and whitespace are removed.
- Spaces
- Number of spaces and other whitespace characters.
- Alphanumeric
- Letters and digits combined.
- Alpha (letters)
- Number of alphabetic letters, A to Z.
- Numeric (digits)
- Number of numeric digits, 0 to 9.
- Emojis
- Number of emoji characters in your text.
- Symbols
- Number of symbol characters, such as currency, math signs and emoji.
- Short words (≤3)
- Words with three or fewer letters or digits.
- Long words (≥7)
- Words with seven or more letters or digits.
- Monosyllabic
- Words with a single syllable.
- Polysyllabic (≥3)
- Words with three or more syllables.
- Difficult words
- Longer, less common words (approximated by three or more syllables) that can be harder to read.
- Longest word
- The longest word found in your text.
- Syllables
- Total estimated syllables across all words.
- Syllables / word
- Average syllables per word. Higher usually means harder to read.
- Avg word length
- Average number of letters and digits per word.
- Avg sentence length
- Average number of words per sentence.
- Dale-Chall score
- A readability score. Higher means harder to read (this is an estimate).
- Reading level
- Estimated US school grade needed to read the text comfortably.
- Reading time
- Estimated silent reading time at about 200 words per minute.
- Speaking time
- Estimated speaking time at about 130 words per minute.
About the Character Counter
A character counter tells you exactly how long your text is, which matters any time you write for a field with a strict limit: tweets, meta descriptions, SMS messages, ad copy, bios and form fields.
This tool goes beyond a simple count. It breaks your text into characters (with and without spaces), words, unique words, sentences, paragraphs and lines, plus a full character breakdown of letters, digits and spaces.
It also estimates readability using the Dale-Chall method, counts syllables, monosyllabic and difficult words, and shows your average word and sentence length, so you can tell at a glance how easy your writing is to read.
Finally, the length limits panel compares your text against the real limits used by popular platforms, from a 280 character tweet to a 5000 character YouTube description and a 255 character Git branch name, turning red the moment you go over.
Key features
- 30+ live stats: characters, words, sentences, paragraphs, syllables and more
- Set a custom character limit and see the remaining or over count live
- Character breakdown: with/without spaces, alpha, numeric, emojis, symbols
- Estimated pages plus a readability estimate (Dale-Chall) with a reading level
- Live length limits for Twitter, SEO, YouTube, SMS and developer fields
How to use
- 1Type or paste your text into the box.
- 2Stats, readability and length limits update instantly as you type.
- 3Watch a limit bar turn red when your text exceeds that platform's maximum.
Examples
Hello5 characters, 1 wordEach letter counts as one character.
Hello world!12 characters, 2 wordsThe space and exclamation mark are included in the total.
Hello world11 with spaces, 10 withoutTurn off include spaces to count only visible characters.
A tweet draft with the 280 limit setShows how many characters remain or how many you are overSet any limit to write for a strict field like a tweet or SMS.
Frequently asked questions
- Does this count characters with spaces?
- Yes. You get both totals: characters including spaces and characters without spaces, plus a separate spaces count.
- How is a word counted?
- Words are counted by splitting your text on spaces and line breaks, so anything separated by whitespace counts as one word. Punctuation attached to a word does not add an extra word.
- How is the readability score calculated?
- It uses the Dale-Chall formula. Because no word list is bundled, difficult words are approximated by syllable count, so treat the score and level as a close estimate rather than an exact grade.
- What are syllables and difficult words used for?
- They feed the readability estimate. Text with more syllables per word and more long, less common words is generally harder to read.
- What do the length limits show?
- Each bar compares your text length (including spaces) to a platform limit, such as a 280-character tweet, a 100-character YouTube title or a 255-character Git branch name, and turns red when you go over.
- Why is my Twitter/X count different here?
- X counts links and some emoji as a fixed number of characters, while this tool counts the raw characters you typed. For plain text the numbers match; text with links can differ slightly.
- Can I upload a file instead of pasting?
- Yes. Click Open file to load a .txt, .csv, .md, .json or code file, or drag and drop a file onto the text box. The file is read in your browser and never uploaded.
- What does the character limit do?
- Enter an optional limit, such as 280 for a tweet, and the tool shows how many characters you have remaining or, in red, how many you are over. It follows the same include-spaces setting as the main count.
- What does include spaces in count mean?
- When it is on, spaces count toward the main character total and the remaining count. Turn it off to count only visible characters, since some platforms and forms ignore spaces.
- Is my text uploaded anywhere?
- No. All analysis happens in your browser. Your text never leaves your device.
Helpful guides
Continue your workflow
Open a related tool to prepare your files or refine the finished result.