What is a character counter?
A character counter is a tool that counts the number of characters, words, sentences and paragraphs in a piece of text in real time. Writers, students, marketers and social media managers use it to keep their text within platform limits without counting by hand.
Character limits on popular platforms (2026)
| Platform / Field | Limit |
|---|---|
| X (Twitter) post | 280 characters |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 characters |
| Meta / Facebook post | 63,206 characters |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 characters |
| YouTube title | 100 characters |
| YouTube description | 5,000 characters |
| Meta title (SEO) | ~60 characters |
| Meta description (SEO) | ~160 characters |
| SMS message | 160 characters |
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time uses an average silent-reading speed of 238 words per minute; speaking time uses 140 words per minute. Both are estimates — adjust mentally if your text is technical or your audience reads slowly.
Do spaces and punctuation count?
It depends what you're checking. Most platforms count every character including spaces and line breaks, which is why we show both totals. The "no spaces" number is useful for SMS and for tasks where only visible characters matter.
Is my text private?
Yes. This tool runs entirely in your browser with JavaScript. Your text is never sent to a server, stored, or logged.