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Character Counter

100% Free

Real-time character, word, line, sentence count plus Twitter / SMS / meta-description limit warnings. Grapheme-aware (emoji counts as 1).

Real-time
Client-Side
Grapheme-aware
Characters
0
No Spaces
0
Graphemes
0
Words
0
Sentences
0
Paragraphs
0
Lines
0
Reading
0 sec
Platform character limits
Page Title0 / 60
SMS0 / 160
Meta Description0 / 160
Twitter / X0 / 280
Reading time (200 wpm)
0 sec
Speaking time (130 wpm)
0 sec

Embed This Tool

Easy to Embed

Add Character Counter to your website or blog in seconds.

  • Responsive design
  • Lightweight & fast
  • No backend required
  • Always up-to-date 
<iframe
  src="https://tools.town/embed/character-counter/"
  width="100%"
  height="600"
  style="border:none; border-radius:12px;"
  loading="lazy"
  title="Character Counter">
</iframe>

Share This Tool

Share Instantly

Share Character Counter with anyone โ€” no login required.

  • Shareable link
  • No login required
  • Works on any device
  • No account needed

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How to Use

  1. 1 Type or paste any text
  2. 2 Watch character/word/line counts update in real time
  3. 3 Check the platform limits panel for Twitter, SMS, meta description, page title
  4. 4 Reading and speaking time estimates appear at the bottom

Features

  • UTF-16 character count (matches JavaScript .length)
  • Grapheme count (correctly counts emoji and clusters as 1)
  • Word, line, sentence, paragraph counts
  • Twitter / X (280), SMS (160), meta-description (160), title (60) progress bars
  • Reading time at 200 wpm, speaking time at 130 wpm
  • 100% client-side

Why it Matters

Almost every platform has a hidden character limit โ€” Twitter cuts at 280, Google truncates titles at 60, SMS gateways split at 160. Knowing exactly how close you are to the limit before publishing avoids ugly truncation. The grapheme count makes this accurate even with emoji-heavy text.

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Use Cases

Tweet Drafting

Stay within 280 chars without copy-paste-checking

Meta Description SEO

Hit the 150-160 sweet spot for Google snippets

Reading Time Estimate

Tell readers upfront how long an article takes

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does emoji ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ‘งโ€๐Ÿ‘ฆ count as 11 characters but 1 grapheme?
JavaScript .length counts UTF-16 code units. The family emoji is built from 7 code points connected by zero-width joiners, totalling 11 code units. Visually it's one character โ€” that's the grapheme count.
Which count does Twitter use?
Twitter uses code points (almost โ€” they have a custom weighted scheme). For most text the grapheme count is the closest practical proxy.
Why is reading time longer for the same text in some tools?
Different wpm assumptions. We use 200 wpm (silent reading); some tools use 250 (skim) or 150 (slow). Speaking time is 130 wpm (presentation pace).
๐Ÿ“–

Want to go deeper?

Browse all guides โ†’
How to Use Character Counter
character-count

How to Use Character Counter โ€” Complete Guide

Learn how to count characters, words, sentences, and paragraphs in real time using Tools.Town's free Character Counter.

8 May 2026

5 min read

Word Count vs Character Count
word count

Word Count vs Character Count โ€” What They Measure & When Each Matters

Word count and character count both measure text length, but they serve different purposes. Learn what each counts, why the distinction matters for essays, tweets, SMS, and SEO, and how counting works under the hood.

3 May 2026

4 min read

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