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Tokens to characters converter
Multiply tokens by 4 for English. This is the inverse of the character estimate, and it is the number to use when a provider caps max_tokens and you need to know how much text that allows.
Tokens to characters table
| Tokens | Characters |
|---|---|
| 1,000 | 4,000 |
| 5,000 | 20,000 |
| 10,000 | 40,000 |
| 50,000 | 200,000 |
| 100,000 | 400,000 |
| 500,000 | 2,000,000 |
| 1,000,000 | 4,000,000 |
Why the cap matters
A max_tokens of 4,096 sounds generous until you convert it: 16,384 characters is roughly 9 pages. Long-form output — reports, translations, code files — routinely hits that ceiling and gets truncated mid-sentence.
FAQ
How many characters is 1,000 tokens?
About 4,000 characters, roughly 2 pages of plain text.
Is this useful for output limits?
Yes. When a provider caps max_tokens, that cap is in tokens, and this conversion tells you whether the answer will be cut off mid-sentence.
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