DailyCalc

Character Counter (with Platform Limits)

Count characters and bytes, and check X, SMS and other limits.

Counted in your browser. Your text is never uploaded, saved or put in the page link.

For a form, bio or assignment. Remembered in this browser only.

Try an example

Characters

0

Type or paste your text above to count its characters.

Without spaces
0
Words
0
Lines
0
Size in UTF-8
0 bytes
UTF-16 units (HTML maxlength)
0
X (Twitter) count
0 of 280
SMS
0 messages
SMS encoding
GSM-7, 160 per message

Fix the highlighted field to update the result.

Platform limits

Your text against common limits (checked October 2026)
WhereLimitYour textStatus
X (Twitter) post2800Fits, 280 left
SMS text message160 (GSM-7)0Fits, 160 left
Instagram caption2,2000Fits, 2,200 left
LinkedIn post3,0000Fits, 3,000 left
YouTube title1000Fits, 100 left
YouTube description5,0000Fits, 5,000 left
Search result titleabout 600Fits, 60 left
Meta descriptionabout 1550Fits, 155 left

X counts most emoji and Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters as 2, and every link as 23. Search titles and descriptions have no fixed limit: Google cuts them to fit the screen, so treat those two as guides.

How to use

  1. Type or paste your text. The counts update as you type.
  2. Read the characters, with and without spaces, plus words, lines and size in bytes.
  3. Check the Platform limits table. Each row says “Fits” or how far over you are.
  4. Add your own limit for a form, bio or assignment. It is remembered on this device only.

How each limit works

  • Characters are counted as you see them: “é” and 👍🏽 count as 1 each.
  • X (Twitter), 280: most letters and punctuation count 1. Emoji and Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters count 2. Every link counts 23, however long it is.
  • SMS, 160: a text in the GSM-7 alphabet holds 160 characters, and € [ ] { } ~ ^ | \ take two places each.
  • SMS, 70: any other character, such as a curly quote or emoji, switches the whole text to Unicode, which holds 70.
  • Long texts are sent in parts of 153 (GSM-7) or 67 (Unicode).
  • Instagram caption 2,200, LinkedIn post 3,000, YouTube title 100 and YouTube description 5,000 are each platform’s own limit.
  • Search title about 60 and meta description about 155: Google sets no fixed limit and shortens them to fit the screen, so treat these as guides.
  • Bytes: UTF-8 uses 1 byte for English letters, 2 for most accented letters, 3 for most other scripts and 4 for emoji.

Examples

Text Characters X count SMS
Hello world 11 11 GSM-7, 1 message
café 4 4 GSM-7, 1 message
naïve 5 5 Unicode (ï), 1 message
It’s fine 9 9 Unicode (’), 1 message
こんにちは 5 10 Unicode, 1 message
👍🏽 1 2 Unicode, 1 message
“a” typed 161 times 161 161 GSM-7, 2 parts

The sample post (tap A post with an emoji and a link) has 84 characters but counts 62 on X. Its 46-character link counts as 23, and the 🎉 counts as 2.

Fine print for developers and SMS senders
  • UTF-16 units are what HTML maxlength and JavaScript .length count. Emoji usually take 2, so a form may reject text that looks short enough.
  • SMS: we follow the GSM-7 default alphabet in 3GPP TS 23.038. Some networks use extra national tables (Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese and Indian languages) that we don’t model.
  • X: links are found when they start with http://, https:// or www. X may also treat a bare domain such as example.com as a link.
  • Limits were checked on each platform’s own pages in October 2026 and can change.

Counting words for an essay or speech? Use the word counter.

Frequently asked questions

Do spaces count as characters?

Yes. Spaces, line breaks and punctuation count toward most limits, including X, SMS and Instagram. The counter also shows a total without spaces.

How does X (Twitter) count characters?

A post allows 280. Most letters and punctuation count 1, emoji and Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters count 2, and every link counts 23, however long it is.

Why does my text message split into several parts?

One SMS holds 160 GSM-7 characters. A single character outside that alphabet, such as a curly quote or emoji, switches it to Unicode with 70. Longer texts go in parts of 153 or 67.

How long should a meta description and title be?

Google sets no fixed length and shortens them to fit the screen. About 155 characters for descriptions and 60 for titles are common guides, not rules.

Why is the byte count higher than the character count?

UTF-8 stores each character in 1 to 4 bytes. English letters take 1, accented letters 2, most other scripts 3, and emoji 4 or more.

Is my text saved anywhere?

No. Everything is counted in your browser. Your text is never uploaded, stored or added to the link. Only your optional custom limit is remembered on this device.

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