What is a Character Counter?
A character counter is an online tool that counts the total number of characters in any text you type or paste. It shows you the character count both with spaces included and without spaces so you can see exactly how long your text is.
Characters include every letter, number, space, punctuation mark and symbol in your text. Knowing your character count is important for social media posts, SEO meta descriptions, email subject lines, SMS messages and any platform with a strict character limit.
ToolNest's free character counter also shows your word count, sentence count, paragraph count, line count and estimated reading time all in one place. You can also set a custom character limit and watch a live progress bar as you type.
Need to count words specifically? Check out our Word Counter tool for detailed word analysis.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between characters with and without spaces?+
Characters with spaces counts every single character in your text including all spaces. Characters without spaces counts only the letters, numbers and symbols and ignores all blank spaces. Some platforms like Twitter count spaces while others like certain ad platforms do not.
Is this character counter free to use?+
Yes, it is completely free. There is no signup, no account and no payment required. All features including the character limit bar and frequency analysis are available at no cost.
Does the tool save my text anywhere?+
No. Everything runs entirely in your browser. Your text is never sent to any server and is not saved or stored anywhere. When you close or refresh the page the text is gone.
How is reading time calculated?+
Reading time is estimated based on an average adult reading speed of around 200 words per minute. It gives you a rough estimate of how long it would take a typical reader to read through your text.
What is the difference between this and the Word Counter?+
This tool focuses on character-level analysis and is most useful when you need to stay within a specific character limit like for SEO, social media or SMS. The
Word Counter is better when you need to track word count for essays, articles or writing goals.
Does it work on mobile?+
Yes. The character counter is fully responsive and works on any phone or tablet. You can type directly into the text area or paste text from your clipboard on any device.