Character Counter

A character counter is a simple tool that counts the number of characters in a piece of text — including or excluding spaces — along with related stats like words, sentences, and paragraphs. You paste or type your text, and the count updates instantly. Our free online character counter runs entirely in your browser, so nothing you type is ever uploaded or stored, and there is no sign-up.

Character counting sounds trivial, but it matters enormously the moment you have to work within a fixed limit. Translators, writers, marketers, and students all run into character caps constantly, and going even one character over can break a design, get a post rejected, or push a subtitle off the screen.

Character count is a daily concern in translation and localization, because translated text rarely comes out the same length as the original. German, for example, often runs significantly longer than English, while Chinese is usually far more compact. A button label, menu item, or heading that fits perfectly in the source language can overflow its space once translated — so translators frequently have to hit a strict character budget rather than simply translating freely.

This is especially true in subtitling, where each line is limited to a set number of characters (commonly around 42 per line) so viewers can read it in the time it is on screen. It is just as true for app and software strings, SEO meta titles and descriptions, product names, and social media posts — all of which enforce hard character limits. A quick, accurate character count is the difference between text that fits and text that breaks.

Type or paste your text into the box above. The counter immediately shows your total characters, characters without spaces, words, sentences, and paragraphs. Watch the relevant number as you edit to stay within your target limit — for instance, keep an SEO meta description under about 160 characters, or a subtitle line near 42 characters.

Because everything is calculated locally in your browser, the tool is instant and private, and it works just as well for a single tweet as for a full document.

Translators and localizers use it to keep translated UI strings, subtitles, and marketing copy within source-language limits. SEO specialists use it to fit page titles (around 60 characters) and meta descriptions (around 160). Social media managers use it to stay within platform limits. Students and writers use it to meet assignment or abstract length requirements. Anyone working to a character budget benefits from seeing the count update in real time.