Character Counter
Paste or type your text and get exact character counts and UTF-8 byte size — built for checking form and database field limits, not for writing analysis.
How it works
Paste or type your text
Drop in a form value, a database field, an API payload — anything you need to measure exactly.
Read the four counts
Characters, no spaces, no newlines and real UTF-8 bytes all update live as you type.
Check it against a limit
Turn on a character limit to see instantly whether your text fits a specific field or column.
What people use a character counter for
Exact counts matter most right before something gets submitted.
Database field limits
API payload byte size
Web form validation
Metadata & tag fields
Text with emoji or accents
A few things worth knowing about character counting
This tool is built around a different question than a typical word counter. Word Counter, also on ToolSprout, is meant for writing — words, sentences, reading time, the kind of numbers a writer checks. This one is meant for validation: the exact character count a form field, a database column, or an API expects, down to the last digit, so you can confirm a value fits before you submit it rather than finding out after a rejection or a silent truncation.
One character is not always one byte. Plain letters, numbers and basic punctuation each take up a single byte in UTF-8, but accented letters like "é" or "ñ" typically take 2 bytes, and most emoji take 4. That gap is easy to miss when you're only looking at how long a string appears on screen, but it matters a lot once that text is encoded and sent somewhere with a strict byte limit — a database column defined by byte size rather than character count, an API with a payload cap, or a legacy system that was never built with emoji in mind. The UTF-8 bytes figure here shows you the real, encoded weight of your text, not just how many characters it visually contains.
The no-spaces and no-newlines counts exist for the same reason: different systems define a "character count" differently. A field might strip whitespace before validating length, or reject line breaks outright and count them as ordinary characters when they do sneak in. Having all four numbers side by side — with spaces, without spaces, without line breaks, and in bytes — means you're not left guessing which definition a specific limit is actually using.
Frequently asked questions
Why does this show a UTF-8 byte count that's different from the character count?
Plain English letters and numbers each take up exactly 1 byte in UTF-8, but accented letters, symbols and emoji don't. An accented character like "é" typically takes 2 bytes, and most emoji take 4. So a string that looks short on screen can still be considerably heavier once it's encoded, which matters when a field, database column or API has a byte limit rather than a character limit.
What's the difference between this and Word Counter?
Word Counter is built for writing — words, sentences, paragraphs, estimated reading time. This tool is built for technical validation: exact character counts under different definitions (with spaces, without spaces, without line breaks) plus the real byte size, for checking a value against a form field, database column or API constraint before you submit it.
When would I need the count without line breaks?
Some form fields and database columns reject or strip newline characters, or treat them as a separate character worth counting on their own. If you're preparing text for a single-line input, a CSV cell, or a field that doesn't expect line breaks, this number shows you what the count looks like once those are excluded.
How does the character limit check work?
Turn it on, enter the exact limit your field or database column allows, and the tool compares your current character count (with spaces) against it, turning red the moment you go over — so you know before you submit rather than after a rejection or a silently truncated value.
Is my text sent anywhere or stored?
No. Everything is counted locally in your browser as you type or paste. Nothing is sent to a server, logged, or saved anywhere once you leave the page.
Is this character counter free to use?
Yes, completely free, with no account or sign-up, and it runs entirely in your browser.