PHP substr_count() Function – Usage, Parameters, and Examples

substr_count() is a PHP built‑in function that returns the number of times a substring (needle) occurs in a string (haystack), with optional offset and length parameters.

Signature:

int substr_count(string $haystack, string $needle, int $offset = 0, int $length = null)

Parameters:

haystack – the string to search in.

needle – the substring to count.

offset – the position in $haystack where counting starts (default 0).

length – the maximum length to search after the offset; if offset+length exceeds the haystack length, a warning is issued.

Return value: The function returns an integer representing the count of non‑overlapping occurrences of $needle.

Examples:

<?php
$text = 'This is a test';
echo strlen($text); // 14
echo substr_count($text, 'is'); // 2

echo substr_count($text, 'is', 3); // 0

$text2 = 'gcdgcdgcd';
echo substr_count($text2, 'gcdgcd'); // 1
?>

Note that substr_count() is case‑sensitive and does not count overlapping substrings.