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Celveri

Character Counter

Count characters against a limit, using the counting rule the platform you are writing for actually applies.

Count characters against a limit

What is the limit for?

Your text stays in this tab. It is not uploaded or saved.

0 / 280

280 left

Set your own limit, counted as characters a reader sees.

Characters a reader seesGraphemes. One emoji is one.
0
UTF-16 unitsWhat JavaScript and most maxlength attributes count.
0
Code pointsUnicode scalar values.
0
UTF-8 bytesWhat most databases limit.
0
Words
0
Lines
0

How to use it

  1. Choose what the limit is for, or set your own. Each preset carries the counting rule that platform uses.
  2. Type or paste your text. The meter updates as you go.
  3. Check the panel underneath if you need a different convention — bytes for a database field, UTF-16 units for a maxlength attribute.

Why counts disagree

A character is not one thing. Take a single grinning face emoji:

  • 1 character to a reader, and to this tool’s default count
  • 1 code point
  • 2 UTF-16 units, which is what JavaScript’s length and most maxlength attributes measure
  • 4 UTF-8 bytes, which is what a database column limited to 255 “characters” usually means
  • 2 under X’s weighting

For plain English all five agree, which is exactly why the disagreement is a surprise when it arrives.

What this tool does not model

  • Links on X are charged as a flat 23 characters each, however long. Text with links will count lower on X than here.
  • Pixel-width truncation in search results. Title and description limits are character guides only.
  • Line wrapping in other editors. The UCAS line count reflects the lines in this box, and their form wraps differently.
  • Carrier quirks. SMS segmentation follows the GSM 03.38 standard; individual networks occasionally differ.

Counting words instead?

The Word Counter gives words, sentences, paragraphs and reading time. This tool is for when a specific character limit is the thing standing in your way.

Common questions

Why does my count differ from the website I am pasting into?
Because “one character” has several meanings and platforms pick different ones. A single emoji is one character to a reader, one code point, two UTF-16 units and four UTF-8 bytes. A form limited to “255 characters” by a database usually means 255 bytes, so accented text runs out sooner than you expect. All four counts are shown so you can match whichever one applies.
How does X count a post?
Not by plain characters. X weighs most Latin text, punctuation and spaces as 1, and everything else — Chinese, Japanese, Korean, emoji — as 2. So 280 Latin characters fit, but only 140 Han characters. This tool applies that weighting. It does not model links: X replaces every link with a t.co address and charges a flat 23 characters however long the original was, so a post with links will count lower there than here.
Why does one emoji turn my 160 character text into two messages?
SMS uses a compact 7-bit alphabet called GSM-7 that holds 160 characters per message. It covers English, common punctuation and a handful of accented letters, but not emoji — and not the curly quotes and dashes that word processors insert automatically. One character outside it switches the whole message to UCS-2, which fits only 70 characters per message. The SMS preset shows which encoding you are in and how many messages will actually be sent.
Which characters are safe in an SMS?
Letters A–Z and a–z, digits, ordinary punctuation, and a set of accented letters including é, ñ, ü, à, Æ and ß. The symbols ^ { } \ [ ] ~ | and € are available but cost two characters each. A straight apostrophe is fine; a curly one is not. Retyping curly quotes as straight ones is often enough to get back under one message.
How accurate are the meta description and title limits?
They are guides, not rules. Google truncates search snippets by pixel width, not character count, so a title full of capitals or wide letters is cut sooner than one of the same length in narrow ones. Around 60 characters for a title and 155 for a description usually survive, but the only reliable check is how it renders.
Is my text sent anywhere?
No. The counting happens in this page, in your browser. Celveri has no upload endpoint and no database, and nothing you type is saved, not even in your browser’s own storage.

Other word & text tools

  • Word Counter

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  • Text Case Converter

    Switch between sentence case, title case, upper, lower and code styles.

  • Word Finder

    Find words and anagrams from a set of letters, using the ENABLE dictionary.