LLM utility
AI Token Estimator
A transparent estimate for prompt budgeting. It is deliberately not presented as an “exact” tokenizer because different model families split text differently.
0
0 words · 0 characters
The estimate updates automatically as you type.
How to use it: paste or type your prompt above. The result updates instantly—no submit button is needed. Choose a heuristic when your text is code, fragmented, or otherwise less like ordinary English. Important: this is a planning estimate. Actual token counts depend on the tokenizer, language, punctuation, whitespace, and code. For production billing or exact context limits, use the target provider’s tokenizer or API usage response.
How the estimate works
The simple model is estimated tokens = characters ÷ characters-per-token. A 4-character heuristic is a useful first approximation for ordinary English prose, but it is not a universal constant.
tokens ≈ character_count / 4
When this tool is useful
- Checking whether a draft prompt is likely to fit within a context budget.
- Comparing rough prompt sizes before testing a model.
- Teaching the difference between characters, words, and tokens.
When not to trust the estimate
Code, URLs, emoji, non-English text, repeated punctuation, and highly fragmented strings can tokenize very differently. Treat this tool as a sizing heuristic—not an invoice calculator.