Frequently Asked Questions
Is Open Character Counter really free? Yes — completely free, with no sign-up, no account, and no hidden paywall. Every feature on the site is available to everyone, every time.
Is my text saved or sent to a server? No. All counting happens locally in your browser using JavaScript. Nothing you type is uploaded, logged, or stored anywhere. Close the tab and your text is gone for good.
What’s the difference between characters with spaces and without spaces? “With spaces” counts every keystroke, including the blank spaces between words. “Without spaces” strips those out, leaving only letters, numbers, and punctuation. Most platforms — X, Google search results, SMS — count with spaces. Some academic or publishing rules only care about characters without spaces, so check the specific requirement you’re working with.
How is word count calculated? We split your text on spaces and line breaks, ignoring extra whitespace, so you get an accurate word total even if you’ve got double spaces or stray line breaks in your draft.
How is reading time calculated? Reading time is based on an average adult silent reading speed of about 225 words per minute. Speaking time uses a slower average pace of about 140 words per minute, since spoken delivery is naturally slower than silent reading.
What is the Reading Level score, and how does it work? We use the Automated Readability Index (ARI), a formula that estimates the U.S. grade level needed to understand a piece of text based on average word length and average sentence length. Longer words and longer sentences push the grade level up; short, simple sentences bring it down.
Why does my sentence count seem off? Sentences are counted by detecting periods, question marks, and exclamation points followed by a space or line break. Abbreviations (like “e.g.” or “Dr.”) or unusual punctuation can occasionally throw the count off by one or two — if you notice a pattern, let us know and we’ll look into refining the detection.
How are paragraphs counted? Paragraphs are counted based on line breaks in your text. A blank line between blocks of text marks a new paragraph.
Does the spelling check send my text anywhere? No — the spelling and repetition check runs entirely locally against a built-in list of commonly misspelled words. Nothing leaves your browser.
What platforms’ character limits does the tool check against? Currently: SEO titles (60 characters), meta descriptions (160), Google Ads headlines (30), X posts (280), Instagram and TikTok captions (2,200), LinkedIn posts (3,000), SMS messages (160), YouTube titles (100), and YouTube descriptions (5,000). If there’s a platform or limit you’d like added, let us know.
Can I use this tool on my phone? Yes — the counter is fully responsive and works in any modern mobile browser, no app required.
Does it work offline? Once the page is loaded, most of the counting functions run locally and will continue to work even with an unstable connection, though we’d recommend a stable connection for the initial page load.
Is there a limit to how much text I can paste in? No hard limit — you can paste in anything from a single sentence to a full article. Very long documents (tens of thousands of words) may process slightly slower depending on your device, but there’s no cap we enforce.
Why do you show “average word length” and “longest word/sentence”? These numbers are useful for writers editing for clarity — a high average word length or an unusually long sentence is often a sign a passage could be tightened for readability.
Who built this, and why? Open Character Counter was built by Kent Williams, who wanted a fast, ad-light, privacy-respecting alternative to the character counters already out there. Read more on our About page.