Character counter
Count characters with and without spaces as you type, with X, text message and meta description limits.
- ๐บ๐ธ US federal & state rules
- X counting rules and GSM 7-bit SMS
- See sources
Characters
104
88 without spaces, 17 words
- Without spaces
- 88
- Words
- 17
- Sentences
- 2
- Paragraphs
- 1
Counted in your browser. Your text is not saved or sent anywhere.
Limits
| X post (280) | 104 counted, 176 left |
|---|---|
| Text message (160) | 104 used, 56 left |
| Meta description (about 155) | 104 of 155, 51 left |
| Page title (about 60) | 44 over |
More counts
| Lines | 1 |
|---|---|
| Bytes (UTF-8) | 104 |
| SMS encoding | GSM-7 (plain text) |
- Your text is counted in your browser. It is not sent anywhere or saved.
- Characters are counted the way you see them, so an emoji with a skin tone is 1 character. X counts links as 23 and emoji as 2, which is why its number can differ.
What to do next
How it works
Characters are counted the way you see them on screen, so letters, spaces, punctuation and each emoji count as one. The without-spaces count drops spaces, tabs and line breaks.
The X count follows X's published rules: links count as 23, emoji as 2, and most Latin letters and punctuation as 1. Text messages use the GSM 7-bit alphabet, which fits 160 characters, unless the text has an emoji or other special character.
Things to keep in mind
Each app has the final word on its own limit. If a form rejects your text, use that form's counter.
The meta description and title numbers are guides, not limits. Google cuts snippets by pixel width, so a line of wide letters is cut sooner.
Sources
Rules applied as of 2026-10-19. See the sources below for details.
- X Developer Platform: Counting charactersChecked 2026-10-19
- twitter-text weighting config v3 (280 weighted length, 23 per URL, weight ranges)Checked 2026-10-19
- 3GPP TS 23.038 Alphabets and language-specific information (GSM 7-bit default alphabet)Checked 2026-10-19
- Google Search Central: Control your snippets in search results (no meta description length limit)Checked 2026-10-19
Frequently asked questions
How many characters can a post on X have?
280 for a standard account. Each link counts as 23 characters however long it is, each emoji counts as 2, and Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters count as 2 each.
How many characters fit in one text message?
160 characters of plain text. If the message has an emoji or a character outside the GSM alphabet, the limit drops to 70, and longer messages are sent in parts of 153 or 67 characters.
How long should a meta description be?
Google has no fixed limit, but snippets are often cut off around 150 to 160 characters on desktop. Keeping the main point in the first 155 characters is a common rule of thumb.
Do spaces count as characters?
Usually yes. Most limits, including X and text messages, count spaces. Some application forms count without spaces, so this tool shows both.