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Swizztool

Byte Counter & Character Counter

Count UTF-8 bytes, characters, non-space characters, letters, and digits. Check text length against limits for Twitter, LinkedIn, and SMS.

220 chars · 220 bytes · 220 Bytes

Platform Character Limit Benchmarks

SEO Title220/60
Twitter / X Post220/280
SEO Meta Description220/160
SMS Text Message220/160
Instagram Bio220/150
Instagram Caption220/2200
YouTube Title220/100
TikTok Caption220/2200
LinkedIn Post220/3000

How to use Byte & Character Counter

  1. Type or paste text into the input area.
  2. Review characters, letters, digits, and the raw UTF-8 byte total.
  3. Compare the draft to X, Instagram, SEO, SMS, YouTube, and LinkedIn limits.

About Byte Counter & Character Counter

This character counter and byte counter measures total characters, characters without spaces, letters, digits, whitespace, and UTF-8 bytes. It also checks common social, SEO, and SMS limits while you type.

Related tools: Word Counter, Case Converter — Title Case & More, Remove Extra Spaces, Remove Duplicate Lines

Characters, letters, and bytes

Character count follows Unicode, so one emoji is one character even when it uses several bytes. Letter count includes accented letters. Digit count includes 0-9. The byte total is the UTF-8 size of the string, which is what many APIs, databases, and SMS encoders actually store.

People search for byte counter, byte count, how many bytes is this text, 144 bytes, and 256 characters because those limits show up in forms, bios, and protocol fields. This tool shows the raw byte integer and a readable size so you can match either kind of limit.

Platform bars cover X/Twitter (280), SEO titles (60), meta descriptions (160), SMS (160), Instagram bio (150), Instagram caption (2200), LinkedIn posts (3000), YouTube titles (100), and TikTok captions (2200).

When character count and word count differ

Word count is the right metric for essays and articles. Character count is the right metric for titles, tweets, bios, SMS, and meta tags. Byte count is the right metric when a system stores UTF-8 and emoji inflate the size.

If you also need reading time, use the word counter. If you need keyword occurrence, use the keyword frequency counter.

Common uses

Tweet and bio limits
Stay inside 280 characters for X or 150 characters for an Instagram bio.
SEO titles and descriptions
Keep titles near 60 characters and descriptions near 155-160 characters.
SMS and API fields
Check 160-character SMS segments and UTF-8 byte budgets.
Byte-limited forms
Confirm whether a string fits a 144-byte or 256-character field.

Questions about Byte & Character Counter

What is the difference between characters and bytes?
A character is one visible Unicode item. A byte is storage size in UTF-8. English letters are 1 byte. Many emoji are 4 bytes.
What is the Twitter/X character limit?
Standard posts allow 280 characters. The limit bar updates as you type.
Can I check 144 bytes or 256 characters?
Yes. The byte total is a raw integer, so you can match API, form, and protocol limits.
Does this count Instagram captions?
Yes. Instagram captions are checked at 2,200 characters and bios at 150.
Why is the byte count higher than the character count?
Letters outside basic English, such as é, ü, Chinese characters, and emoji, take 2 to 4 bytes each in UTF-8, so byte count grows faster than character count.

Comments

Questions, ideas, or a bug in Byte & Character Counter? Let us know.