Character Counter — Free Online Character Count Tool

Count characters, letters, and spaces instantly. No sign-up, no ads-heavy layouts.

TT
TextTally Editorial Team
Updated · 8 min read

What Is a Character Counter?

A character counter is a simple but essential tool that counts every letter, number, punctuation mark, and space in your text. Whether you are composing a tweet, writing a LinkedIn post, drafting an SMS message, or optimizing a meta description, knowing your exact character count helps you stay within platform limits.

TextTally's character counter gives you instant results with two key metrics: characters with spaces and characters without spaces. This dual view is important because different platforms count characters differently — some include spaces, others do not.

For full text statistics including word count, sentence count, and reading time, use our main word counter tool.

Why Character Limits Matter

Social media platforms, messaging services, and SEO tools all enforce strict character limits. Exceeding them means your content gets cut off, rejected, or doesn't display properly. Here are the most common limits:

  • X (Twitter): 280 characters per tweet (up to 4,000 for Premium subscribers)
  • LinkedIn: 3,000 characters for posts; 150 characters for article summaries
  • SMS: 160 characters per message (longer texts split into 153-character segments)
  • Google Meta Descriptions: Typically 150–160 characters displayed in search results
  • Facebook Posts: 63,206 characters maximum (though engagement drops with longer posts)

Using a character counter before you post saves you from embarrassing truncations and ensures your message lands exactly as intended.

How to Use This Character Counter

Using TextTally's character counter is straightforward: type or paste your text into the text area on our main tool page, and the character count updates in real time. You'll immediately see:

  • Total characters with spaces
  • Total characters without spaces
  • Word count
  • Sentence and paragraph counts
  • Estimated reading and speaking time

All calculations happen entirely in your browser — your text never leaves your device.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to count characters online?

Simply paste or type your text into TextTally's word counter at texttally.nl. The tool instantly displays the total character count with and without spaces alongside other useful statistics.

What is the Twitter character limit?

X (formerly Twitter) has a character limit of 280 characters for standard tweets. X Premium subscribers can write up to 4,000 characters per post.

What is the LinkedIn character limit?

LinkedIn posts are limited to 3,000 characters. LinkedIn article descriptions are capped at 150 characters for the summary field that appears in feeds.

Do character counts include spaces?

Most character counters, including TextTally, show both counts: characters with spaces and characters without spaces. Different platforms count differently, so checking both metrics is good practice.

Is a character counter the same as a word counter?

A character counter counts individual letters, numbers, punctuation, and spaces. A word counter counts complete words. TextTally's word and character counter does both simultaneously.

When Character Count Matters — A Platform-by-Platform Guide

Every digital platform — from social media networks to search engines — imposes character limits that directly affect how your content displays. Exceeding these limits means truncated text, broken formatting, or rejected submissions. Here is exactly when and why character count matters for each major platform, with reference limits you can bookmark.

Platform / Use Case Character Limit Includes Spaces? What Happens If You Exceed It
X (Twitter) — Standard 280 characters Yes Tweet is blocked from posting; counter turns red. X Premium subscribers get up to 4,000 characters.
X (Twitter) — Premium 4,000 characters Yes Available only to X Premium (formerly Twitter Blue) subscribers.
LinkedIn — Posts 3,000 characters Yes Text is cut off with a "see more" link. Engagement drops sharply after the truncation point.
LinkedIn — Article Summaries 150 characters Yes Summary is truncated in feeds. Write the most compelling part first.
Facebook — Posts 63,206 characters Yes Very high limit, but engagement drops significantly after 80 characters. Shorter posts perform better.
Instagram — Captions 2,200 characters Yes Truncated after ~125 characters in feed view. Put key info and hashtags early.
Instagram — Bio 150 characters Yes Cannot exceed at all. Use concise language and emoji sparingly.
TikTok — Captions 2,200 characters Yes Only the first ~80 characters are visible before the "more" link in the feed.
YouTube — Video Titles 100 characters Yes Titles beyond 70 characters may be truncated in search results. Keep key words first.
YouTube — Descriptions 5,000 characters Yes Only the first ~157 characters appear above the "Show more" fold. Front-load important links.
Google — Meta Descriptions ~160 characters Yes Longer descriptions are truncated with "..." in search results. Aim for 150–160 for desktop, 120 for mobile.
Google — Title Tags ~60 characters Yes Longer titles are truncated in SERPs. Include primary keyword near the beginning.
SMS — Standard Message 160 characters Yes Longer messages are split into multiple segments of 153 characters. You may be charged per segment.
App Store — App Title 30 characters Yes Exceeding prevents submission. Apple is strict about this limit.
App Store — Subtitle 30 characters Yes Key secondary keywords go here — make every character count.
Google Play — Short Description 80 characters Yes This is the first thing users see. Pack it with your value proposition.
Email — Subject Lines ~50–60 characters Yes Best practice is 30–50 characters for mobile. Longer subject lines get cut off in inbox previews.
Reddit — Post Titles 300 characters Yes Cannot exceed. Descriptive but concise titles get the most engagement.
💡 Pro Tip: Bookmark this page as your character limit reference. Before posting on any platform, use TextTally's word counter → to check both word and character counts simultaneously — the character count (with spaces) is the one that matters for most platform limits.

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