Count characters with and without spaces instantly. Everything runs in your browser — nothing you type is uploaded, and recent history stays in your browser.
Common Character Limits (Quick Reference)
| Platform / field | Limit |
|---|---|
| SMS (single message) | 160 characters |
| Twitter / X post | 280 characters |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 characters |
| Instagram bio | 150 characters |
| TikTok caption | 4,000 characters |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 characters |
| YouTube title | 100 characters |
| Google title tag (display) | ~60 characters |
| Meta description (display) | ~160 characters |
| Google Ads headline | 30 characters |
| Email subject (mobile display) | ~41 characters |
Limits verified as of July 2026. Platforms change limits occasionally — if you spot one that moved, let us know.
Characters With vs. Without Spaces
Most platform limits — tweets, captions, SMS — count every character including spaces. “Without spaces” counts matter mainly in translation, typesetting, and some academic submission systems that bill or limit by visible characters. The Characters stat includes spaces, tabs, and line breaks. The Without spaces stat excludes all whitespace, including non-breaking spaces. Both counts treat each Unicode code point as one character; a combined emoji can contain several code points. For word-based limits, use the Words stat.
When Character Counts Matter Most
- Hard limits: the platform physically stops you (SMS, X, ad headlines) — going over means being cut off.
- Display limits: the text exists but gets truncated (title tags, meta descriptions, email subjects) — going over means losing your message, not your text.
- Soft norms: no enforcement, but readers expect a length (bios, headlines) — brevity wins.
Do emoji, punctuation, and line breaks count as characters?
Yes — every visible symbol and space counts. Note that some platforms count emoji as two characters (X does), so leave a small buffer when your text is emoji-heavy.
Why does my character count differ from another tool?
Most differences come down to invisible characters. WordCountly counts everything in your text — spaces, line breaks, and emoji included. Other tools may count UTF-16 units or visible graphemes instead of Unicode code points. For example, 😀 counts as one code point but two UTF-16 units. Platform-specific tools may apply their own rules, such as X weighted counting.
👉 Need words, sentences, and reading time too? Use the full word counter