Which character count should I use?

Characters, the grapheme count, is what a reader sees and what most platforms mean. UTF-16 code units is what JavaScript reports. UTF-8 bytes is what a database column or a network payload consumes. All are shown, and each is labelled.

Why do you count one emoji as one character?

Because that is what it is on screen. A family emoji is a single grapheme cluster built from seven code points and eleven UTF-16 units. The other numbers are there when you need them.

Why did my word count change when I picked a locale?

Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Khmer do not put spaces between words, so counting them requires the language's own word-breaking rules. With the wrong locale the number is meaningless.

Is the SMS count reliable?

It follows 3GPP TS 23.038. GSM-7 gives 160 characters in one segment and 153 in each of several; the extended characters like { } [ ] ~ ^ \ | € cost two each. Any character outside GSM-7 switches the whole message to UCS-2 at 70 and 67.

How accurate is the reading time?

It is words divided by a rate you can set. 225 words a minute is a common silent-reading average; adjust it to your audience.

Does the readability score work for my language?

Flesch and Flesch-Kincaid were built for English, so they are only shown when the text is Latin script. Showing them for Telugu or Japanese would be a number without a meaning.

Can I count only part of my text?

Select it. The counts switch to the selection and say so.

How much text can it handle?

Five million characters. Above 250 KB the counting is done in slices with progress and a Stop button, so the page stays responsive.

Text Runs in your browser

Word & Character Counter

Live, Unicode-correct word, character, sentence, paragraph, and line counts with reading time, SMS segments, and platform-limit meters. 100% private.

100% Private Works Offline Instant

Your text

Open a file

0 characters typedLocale in use: en

Counts

Words: 0
Characters: 0; what a reader sees; one emoji is one
Characters without spaces: 0
Sentences: 0
Paragraphs: 0
Lines: 0
Non-empty lines: 0
Unique words: 0
Code points: 0; Unicode scalars
UTF-16 code units: 0; what JavaScript .length reports
UTF-8 bytes: 0
UTF-16 bytes: 0
Spaces: 0
Tabs: 0
Line breaks: 0
Letters: 0
Digits: 0
Punctuation: 0
Emoji: 0
Average word length: 0
Average sentence, in words: 0
Longest sentence, in words: 0

Add some text and every number above fills in.

Time and readability

Reading time

under 1 second

Words per minute: 225

Speaking time

under 1 second

Words per minute: 130

Handwriting time

under 1 second

At about 20 words a minute.

Readability scores are shown for Latin-script text only. Flesch was designed for English, so a number here would not mean anything for this script.

Settings

Language for word breakingJapanese, Chinese and Thai have no spaces, so this changes the word count.Detail table

Count my selection when I select text

Monospace inputUseful for subtitles and code.

Ignore common words in the keyword table

Include my text in share linksOff by default. Only short texts are included.

Keywords

Phrase lengthRows

No keywords yet.

Per line

Sort by

Counts for each line
#	Text	Words	Chars	Sentences
1	(empty)	0	0	0

Download

Every download includes a short note of the settings that produced it, so the numbers can be checked later.

Privacy

Your text is counted in this browser tab. It is never uploaded, and this tool makes no network request at all — it works with the internet switched off. Settings, recent texts and the draft are stored on this device only.

How to use it

Add your text. Type it, paste it, drop a file in, or load a sample.
Read the counts. Words, characters, sentences and bytes update as you type.
Set a goal or a platform. Add a word target, or switch on the platform whose limit you are writing to.
Take the numbers with you. Copy the summary, or download TXT, Markdown, JSON, CSV or HTML.

Questions

Which character count should I use?: Characters, the grapheme count, is what a reader sees and what most platforms mean. UTF-16 code units is what JavaScript reports. UTF-8 bytes is what a database column or a network payload consumes. All are shown, and each is labelled.
Why do you count one emoji as one character?: Because that is what it is on screen. A family emoji is a single grapheme cluster built from seven code points and eleven UTF-16 units. The other numbers are there when you need them.
Why did my word count change when I picked a locale?: Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Khmer do not put spaces between words, so counting them requires the language's own word-breaking rules. With the wrong locale the number is meaningless.
Is the SMS count reliable?: It follows 3GPP TS 23.038. GSM-7 gives 160 characters in one segment and 153 in each of several; the extended characters like { } [ ] ~ ^ \ | € cost two each. Any character outside GSM-7 switches the whole message to UCS-2 at 70 and 67.
How accurate is the reading time?: It is words divided by a rate you can set. 225 words a minute is a common silent-reading average; adjust it to your audience.
Does the readability score work for my language?: Flesch and Flesch-Kincaid were built for English, so they are only shown when the text is Latin script. Showing them for Telugu or Japanese would be a number without a meaning.
Can I count only part of my text?: Select it. The counts switch to the selection and say so.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?: No. Everything is counted in your browser. The tool makes no network request at all and works offline.
How much text can it handle?: Five million characters. Above 250 KB the counting is done in slices with progress and a Stop button, so the page stays responsive.

What this tool assumes

Syllable counting is an English heuristic, so the grade level is an estimate, not a measurement.
Sentence boundaries come from the locale's rules. Abbreviations such as Dr. can still split a sentence early.
Platform limits change without notice. Treat them as a guide and check the platform if a post is close to the edge.
In chunked mode a sentence that spans a blank line is counted as two.

Related tools

Text Statistics — A deeper document report.
Reading Time Estimator — Reading time on its own.
Keyword Extractor — Keywords beyond raw density.
Case Converter — Change the text once you have measured it.

Also known as: word counter, character counter, letter counter, character count online, words to characters, sms character counter, twitter character counter, meta description length checker, essay word count, reading time calculator, utf-8 byte counter, keyword density checker.

About Word & Character Counter

Live, Unicode-correct word, character, sentence, paragraph, and line counts with reading time, SMS segments, and platform-limit meters. 100% private. Everything runs locally in your browser — your data never leaves your device.

How to use

Enter your input in the tool above.
Adjust any options to your preference.
Use the Copy or Download buttons to save the result.
Everything happens locally — your data never leaves your browser.

FAQ

How does this counter handle emoji and CJK characters?

It uses the browser's Intl.Segmenter API to count true graphemes — so 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 counts as 1 character, not 11. CJK text without spaces is segmented using language-aware word boundaries.

Are SMS segments calculated correctly?

Yes. The tool detects whether your text fits the GSM-7 charset (70 chars per segment) or requires UCS-2 (70 chars first segment, 67 chars subsequent). Multi-segment encoding rules are followed exactly.

Is my text uploaded anywhere?

No. All counting happens locally in your browser. For very large texts (>100KB), processing moves to a Web Worker to keep the UI responsive.

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Word & Character Counter

Your text

Counts

Time and readability

Goals and platform limits

Settings

Keywords

Per line

Download

Privacy

How to use it

Questions

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About Word & Character Counter

How to use

FAQ

How does this counter handle emoji and CJK characters?

Are SMS segments calculated correctly?

Is my text uploaded anywhere?

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Word & Character Counter

Your text

Counts

Time and readability

Goals and platform limits

Settings

Keywords

Per line

Download

Privacy

How to use it

Questions

Related tools

About Word & Character Counter

How to use

FAQ

How does this counter handle emoji and CJK characters?

Are SMS segments calculated correctly?

Is my text uploaded anywhere?

Related tools

Abstract Generator

Acronym Expander

Acronym Generator

Search tools and actions

Your text

Counts

Time and readability

Goals and platform limits

Settings

Keywords

Per line

Download

Privacy

How to use it

Questions

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