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Count words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, and reading time live as you type.
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A word counter is the simplest writing tool there is, but a useful one: it tells you whether your draft fits inside a hard limit. Tweets cap at 280 characters. An SEO <title> Google reliably shows is roughly 60. A meta description Google rarely truncates is about 160. Even an essay assignment usually comes with a number attached.
Coddy's counter goes beyond the basics. It uses the browser's Intl.Segmenter API to count *graphemes* - user-perceived characters - so an emoji like π¨βπ©βπ§ counts as one character, not seven. The word counter handles Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean correctly, where a simple space-split would either undercount or overcount.
Everything runs in your browser. The text never leaves your machine, which matters when you are counting characters in a draft email, a private document, or a snippet of code with secrets in it.
The counter updates live with every keystroke. Replace the sample text or click *Clear* to start fresh.
Word and character counts are highlighted at the top of the panel. Use them for assignment word limits, SEO checks, or social posts.
The colored bars under *Length limits* show progress against common caps - tweet, SEO title, meta description, OG description, SMS. They turn red when you go over.
Longest-word and sentence count are useful when you suspect a paragraph is too dense. Reading and speaking times help with talk scripts and video voiceovers.
Approximate caps that platforms enforce or that authors target. Use them as rules of thumb, not strict laws.
| Where | Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| X / Twitter post | 280 chars | Counts links as 23 chars regardless of length |
SEO <title> | ~60 chars | Google may truncate longer titles on results |
| Meta description | ~160 chars | Pixel-based truncation; 155 is a safer aim |
| Open Graph description | ~200 chars | Best on Facebook and LinkedIn; Twitter caps lower |
| SMS (single) | 160 chars | Going over splits the message into multiple billed segments |
| Slack message preview | ~150 chars | Anything more is hidden behind *Show more* |
Paste a draft and watch the *X / Twitter post* bar. If it turns red, edit until it goes back to neutral.
Links count as 23 characters in real Twitter regardless of length, so a tweet that looks long here may actually fit. The 280 number is a safe upper bound.
Paste the page title first, watch the *SEO title* bar (target ~60 chars). Then paste the description, watch the *Meta description* bar (target ~155 chars).
The bars give you a quick visual without having to count by hand. Google sometimes rewrites your tags, but staying inside the soft cap keeps the original visible.
Paste your video or podcast script. The *Speaking time* line is roughly how long it will take to deliver at an unrushed pace (~150 wpm).
Useful for trimming a script to fit a target runtime. Anchors and presenters typically run a little faster than the estimate.
Intl.Segmenter to count graphemes - user-perceived characters. So π¨βπ©βπ§ (a four-person family emoji built from 7 code points) counts as 1 character, matching what Twitter and iMessage show.state-of-the-art - one or four?), contractions, URLs, and decimals. A 1β3% disagreement between counters is normal and rarely matters.Intl.Segmenter is locale-aware and handles Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Thai, and other scripts correctly. Older browsers fall back to a whitespace split, which undercounts CJK languages.