10 Best Multi-line Text Truncation Plugins In JavaScript (2026 Update)
CSS natively provides a great property 'text-overflow' that allows you to truncate single-line text by hiding the overflowing strings and add an ellipsis to the end of the truncated text.
However, to this day, CSS does not have a straightforward property to deal with multi-line text truncation.
Good truncation is an art form. The modern web has made truncation increasingly necessary. Mobile users can’t read a string of text that goes off into infinity and beyond. There are many plugins out there to help you truncate your text on the front-end, but which one is best?
For those who'd like to have a simple solution to truncate multi-line text for long text blocks (e.g. blog excerpts, product description, etc), check out this list of 10 best jQuery and Vanilla JavaScript plugin to truncate multi-line text with custom ellipsis and Read More/Read Less links. Have fun.
The Best Multi-line Text Truncation Plugins
Originally Published Oc 31 2019, updated Feb 28 2026
Table of contents:
jQuery Multi-line Text Truncation Plugins:
Expand & Collapse Text Using Read More/Less links - Expander
A simple, customizable jQuery text truncation plugin that allows you to quickly and easily add expand & collapse functionality to any content.
Truncate Text Based On Width - jQuery ellipsisWidth
A tiny, fast, and smart ellipsis truncation jQuery plugin designed to truncate a string when it overflows a rigidly-specified width.
Custom Read More/Read Less Buttons For Long Text - readmore.js
The jQuery readmore.js plugin automatically creates read more and read less buttons to show/hide long block of text content with fadeIn/fadeOut animations.
Truncate Text From The Middle Or End - jQuery Truncate.js
A lightweight jQuery text truncation plugin that truncates long text from the beginning, middle, or end to the specified width or to fit the width of its parent element. Supports both single line or multi line text.
Clip Overflowing Text With A Read More Button - ReadAll
A jQuery plugin that collapses part of your long text block and adds a Read More button at the bottom if the content exceeds a certain height or a specific number of rows.
Vanilla JS Multi-line Text Truncation Plugins:
Easily Truncate and Show More Text with Elimore JavaScript
A lightweight text truncation JavaScript library that truncates long text after a specified number of characters and injects a custom “Show More” button.
Create Read More Links For Large Text Blocks – Read.js
A tiny and easy JavaScript library to create Read More and Read Less links in your large text blocks.
Collapse Long Text Block With Read More/Less Buttons
A lightweight, unobtrusive JavaScript library for collapsing and expanding a long block of text with Read More & Read Less buttons.
Truncate Text If Exceed Max Character Limit – charCount
A tiny and straightforward text truncation library that automatically trims text based on a specified character limit and displays a Read More button to reveal the hidden content when desired.
Multiline Text Truncator In Vanilla JavaScript – Cuttr.js
A vanilla JavaScript text truncation library to truncate text to any number of characters, words, or even sentences.
Conclusion:
If you have any experiences of your own with these best multi-line text truncation plugins in JavaScript, we would love to hear from you. We will review and add any that we see fit, and update our rankings as well. Please comment below to discuss.
Looking for Want more jQuery plugins or JavaScript libraries for truncating text on the web & mobile? See jQuery Text Truncation and JavaScript Text Truncation sections for more details.
