Character Counter
Count characters live and see how many you have left against a character limit.
Set a limit to see characters left.
ToolsSoup's Character Counter is a free online tool that counts characters as you type and shows exactly how many characters you have left against any character limit. Pick a platform preset like a tweet, SMS, or meta description, or set your own limit, and watch the remaining count and over-limit warning update live. Everything runs in your browser — no uploads, no sign-up, and your text never leaves your device.
What is a character counter?
A character counter measures how many characters are in your text and, when you set a maximum, tells you how many characters are left before you hit the limit. Unlike a plain word counter, it is built around character limits: it highlights when you go over, so you can trim a tweet, an SMS, an SEO meta description, or a form field down to size. It counts every character — letters, numbers, spaces, punctuation, and emoji — and also shows the count without spaces.
How to count characters with a limit
Checking your character count against a limit takes just a few seconds:
- Type directly into the text box or paste text from anywhere.
- Choose a preset such as Tweet, SMS, or Meta description, or type your own number into the character-limit field.
- Watch the characters-left count and progress bar update live, and see a red over-limit warning the moment you exceed the limit.
Common character limits
Different platforms cap text at different lengths. A post on X (formerly Twitter) allows 280 characters, a single SMS message fits 160 characters, an SEO meta description is usually trimmed by Google around 160 characters, and a page title tag is best kept near 60 characters. Instagram captions allow up to 2,200 characters and LinkedIn posts up to 3,000, though only the first couple of hundred characters show before the See more link. Presets in this tool match these common caps so you can check characters left in one click.
Why use this character counter?
- Live characters-left count for any limit you set, with a red warning when you go over.
- One-click presets for tweets, SMS, meta descriptions, title tags, and social captions.
- Counts characters with and without spaces, plus words and lines.
- Runs entirely in your browser — your text is never uploaded to a server.
- 100% free with no ads, sign-up, or usage limits.
Frequently asked questions
How many characters are left in my text?
Set a character limit using a preset or the limit field, and the tool subtracts your current character count from that limit to show exactly how many characters are left. If you go over, it shows how many characters you are above the limit in red.
Do spaces count as characters?
Yes. Spaces, line breaks, punctuation, and emoji all count toward the main character total, which is what most platforms measure. The tool also shows a separate count of characters without spaces in case you need it.
What is the character limit for a tweet, SMS, or meta description?
A post on X allows 280 characters, a single SMS message fits 160 characters, and an SEO meta description is usually cut off around 160 characters. Use the matching presets to check characters left for each.
Is my text private?
Absolutely. All counting happens locally in your browser using JavaScript, so the text you enter is never sent to or stored on any server.
How is this different from a word counter?
A word counter focuses on total words and reading time. This character counter is built around character limits: you set a maximum and it shows characters left and an over-limit warning, which is ideal for tweets, SMS, and SEO fields that cap by character.