diff --git a/progress/indicator.go b/progress/indicator.go
index 7bc4179..7046d89 100644
--- a/progress/indicator.go
+++ b/progress/indicator.go
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ func indeterminateIndicatorMovingBackAndForth(indicator string) IndeterminateInd
 
 		if currentPosition == 0 {
 			direction = 1
-		} else if currentPosition+text.RuneCount(indicator) == maxLen {
+		} else if currentPosition+text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(indicator) == maxLen {
 			direction = -1
 		}
 		nextPosition += direction
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ func indeterminateIndicatorMovingLeftToRight(indicator string) IndeterminateIndi
 		currentPosition := nextPosition
 
 		nextPosition++
-		if nextPosition+text.RuneCount(indicator) > maxLen {
+		if nextPosition+text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(indicator) > maxLen {
 			nextPosition = 0
 		}
 
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ func indeterminateIndicatorMovingRightToLeft(indicator string) IndeterminateIndi
 
 	return func(maxLen int) IndeterminateIndicator {
 		if nextPosition == -1 {
-			nextPosition = maxLen - text.RuneCount(indicator)
+			nextPosition = maxLen - text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(indicator)
 		}
 		currentPosition := nextPosition
 		nextPosition--
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ func indeterminateIndicatorPacMan() IndeterminateIndicatorGenerator {
 		if currentPosition == 0 {
 			direction = 1
 			indicator = pacManMovingRight
-		} else if currentPosition+text.RuneCount(indicator) == maxLen {
+		} else if currentPosition+text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(indicator) == maxLen {
 			direction = -1
 			indicator = pacManMovingLeft
 		}
diff --git a/progress/progress.go b/progress/progress.go
index f3a9260..0e5c0a4 100644
--- a/progress/progress.go
+++ b/progress/progress.go
@@ -282,10 +282,10 @@ func (p *Progress) initForRender() {
 		utf8.RuneCountInString(p.style.Chars.BoxLeft) -
 		utf8.RuneCountInString(p.style.Chars.BoxRight)
 	p.lengthProgressOverall = p.messageWidth +
-		text.RuneCount(p.style.Options.Separator) +
+		text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(p.style.Options.Separator) +
 		p.lengthProgress + 1
 	if p.style.Visibility.Percentage {
-		p.lengthProgressOverall += text.RuneCount(fmt.Sprintf(p.style.Options.PercentFormat, 0.0))
+		p.lengthProgressOverall += text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(fmt.Sprintf(p.style.Options.PercentFormat, 0.0))
 	}
 
 	// if not output write has been set, output to STDOUT
diff --git a/progress/render.go b/progress/render.go
index bc1e135..6b22ea2 100644
--- a/progress/render.go
+++ b/progress/render.go
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ func (p *Progress) generateTrackerStrDeterminate(value int64, total int64, maxLe
 	} else if pFinishedDotsFraction == 0 {
 		pInProgress = ""
 	}
-	pFinishedStrLen := text.RuneCount(pFinished + pInProgress)
+	pFinishedStrLen := text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(pFinished + pInProgress)
 	if pFinishedStrLen < maxLen {
 		pUnfinished = strings.Repeat(p.style.Chars.Unfinished, maxLen-pFinishedStrLen)
 	}
@@ -144,8 +144,8 @@ func (p *Progress) generateTrackerStrIndeterminate(maxLen int) string {
 		pUnfinished += strings.Repeat(p.style.Chars.Unfinished, indicator.Position)
 	}
 	pUnfinished += indicator.Text
-	if text.RuneCount(pUnfinished) < maxLen {
-		pUnfinished += strings.Repeat(p.style.Chars.Unfinished, maxLen-text.RuneCount(pUnfinished))
+	if text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(pUnfinished) < maxLen {
+		pUnfinished += strings.Repeat(p.style.Chars.Unfinished, maxLen-text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(pUnfinished))
 	}
 
 	return p.style.Colors.Tracker.Sprintf("%s%s%s",
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ func (p *Progress) renderTracker(out *strings.Builder, t *Tracker, hint renderHi
 		message = strings.Replace(message, "\r", "", -1)
 	}
 	if p.messageWidth > 0 {
-		messageLen := text.RuneCount(message)
+		messageLen := text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(message)
 		if messageLen < p.messageWidth {
 			message = text.Pad(message, p.messageWidth, ' ')
 		} else {
diff --git a/table/render.go b/table/render.go
index 379969e..796b657 100644
--- a/table/render.go
+++ b/table/render.go
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ func (t *Table) renderLine(out *strings.Builder, row rowStr, hint renderHint) {
 
 func (t *Table) renderLineMergeOutputs(out *strings.Builder, outLine *strings.Builder) {
 	outLineStr := outLine.String()
-	if text.RuneCount(outLineStr) > t.allowedRowLength {
+	if text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(outLineStr) > t.allowedRowLength {
 		trimLength := t.allowedRowLength - utf8.RuneCountInString(t.style.Box.UnfinishedRow)
 		if trimLength > 0 {
 			out.WriteString(text.Trim(outLineStr, trimLength))
@@ -358,15 +358,15 @@ func (t *Table) renderTitle(out *strings.Builder) {
 			rowLength = t.allowedRowLength
 		}
 		if t.style.Options.DrawBorder {
-			lenBorder := rowLength - text.RuneCount(t.style.Box.TopLeft+t.style.Box.TopRight)
+			lenBorder := rowLength - text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(t.style.Box.TopLeft+t.style.Box.TopRight)
 			out.WriteString(t.style.Box.TopLeft)
 			out.WriteString(text.RepeatAndTrim(t.style.Box.MiddleHorizontal, lenBorder))
 			out.WriteString(t.style.Box.TopRight)
 		}
 
-		lenText := rowLength - text.RuneCount(t.style.Box.PaddingLeft+t.style.Box.PaddingRight)
+		lenText := rowLength - text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(t.style.Box.PaddingLeft+t.style.Box.PaddingRight)
 		if t.style.Options.DrawBorder {
-			lenText -= text.RuneCount(t.style.Box.Left + t.style.Box.Right)
+			lenText -= text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(t.style.Box.Left + t.style.Box.Right)
 		}
 		titleText := text.WrapText(t.title, lenText)
 		for _, titleLine := range strings.Split(titleText, "\n") {
diff --git a/table/style.go b/table/style.go
index d6e2ed3..f440672 100644
--- a/table/style.go
+++ b/table/style.go
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ var (
 		BottomLeft:       "+",
 		BottomRight:      "+",
 		BottomSeparator:  "+",
-		EmptySeparator:   text.RepeatAndTrim(" ", text.RuneCount("+")),
+		EmptySeparator:   text.RepeatAndTrim(" ", text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("+")),
 		Left:             "|",
 		LeftSeparator:    "+",
 		MiddleHorizontal: "-",
@@ -389,7 +389,7 @@ var (
 		BottomLeft:       "┗",
 		BottomRight:      "┛",
 		BottomSeparator:  "┻",
-		EmptySeparator:   text.RepeatAndTrim(" ", text.RuneCount("╋")),
+		EmptySeparator:   text.RepeatAndTrim(" ", text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("╋")),
 		Left:             "┃",
 		LeftSeparator:    "┣",
 		MiddleHorizontal: "━",
@@ -420,7 +420,7 @@ var (
 		BottomLeft:       "╚",
 		BottomRight:      "╝",
 		BottomSeparator:  "╩",
-		EmptySeparator:   text.RepeatAndTrim(" ", text.RuneCount("╬")),
+		EmptySeparator:   text.RepeatAndTrim(" ", text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("╬")),
 		Left:             "║",
 		LeftSeparator:    "╠",
 		MiddleHorizontal: "═",
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ var (
 		BottomLeft:       "└",
 		BottomRight:      "┘",
 		BottomSeparator:  "┴",
-		EmptySeparator:   text.RepeatAndTrim(" ", text.RuneCount("┼")),
+		EmptySeparator:   text.RepeatAndTrim(" ", text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("┼")),
 		Left:             "│",
 		LeftSeparator:    "├",
 		MiddleHorizontal: "─",
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ var (
 		BottomLeft:       "╰",
 		BottomRight:      "╯",
 		BottomSeparator:  "┴",
-		EmptySeparator:   text.RepeatAndTrim(" ", text.RuneCount("┼")),
+		EmptySeparator:   text.RepeatAndTrim(" ", text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("┼")),
 		Left:             "│",
 		LeftSeparator:    "├",
 		MiddleHorizontal: "─",
@@ -513,7 +513,7 @@ var (
 		BottomLeft:       "\\",
 		BottomRight:      "/",
 		BottomSeparator:  "v",
-		EmptySeparator:   text.RepeatAndTrim(" ", text.RuneCount("+")),
+		EmptySeparator:   text.RepeatAndTrim(" ", text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("+")),
 		Left:             "[",
 		LeftSeparator:    "{",
 		MiddleHorizontal: "--",
diff --git a/table/table.go b/table/table.go
index eadf9b7..03967d4 100644
--- a/table/table.go
+++ b/table/table.go
@@ -550,9 +550,9 @@ func (t *Table) getFormat(hint renderHint) text.Format {
 
 func (t *Table) getMaxColumnLengthForMerging(colIdx int) int {
 	maxColumnLength := t.maxColumnLengths[colIdx]
-	maxColumnLength += text.RuneCount(t.style.Box.PaddingRight + t.style.Box.PaddingLeft)
+	maxColumnLength += text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(t.style.Box.PaddingRight + t.style.Box.PaddingLeft)
 	if t.style.Options.SeparateColumns {
-		maxColumnLength += text.RuneCount(t.style.Box.EmptySeparator)
+		maxColumnLength += text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(t.style.Box.EmptySeparator)
 	}
 	return maxColumnLength
 }
@@ -781,24 +781,24 @@ func (t *Table) initForRenderRowsStringify(rows []Row, hint renderHint) []rowStr
 func (t *Table) initForRenderRowSeparator() {
 	t.maxRowLength = 0
 	if t.autoIndex {
-		t.maxRowLength += text.RuneCount(t.style.Box.PaddingLeft)
+		t.maxRowLength += text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(t.style.Box.PaddingLeft)
 		t.maxRowLength += len(fmt.Sprint(len(t.rows)))
-		t.maxRowLength += text.RuneCount(t.style.Box.PaddingRight)
+		t.maxRowLength += text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(t.style.Box.PaddingRight)
 		if t.style.Options.SeparateColumns {
-			t.maxRowLength += text.RuneCount(t.style.Box.MiddleSeparator)
+			t.maxRowLength += text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(t.style.Box.MiddleSeparator)
 		}
 	}
 	if t.style.Options.SeparateColumns {
-		t.maxRowLength += text.RuneCount(t.style.Box.MiddleSeparator) * (t.numColumns - 1)
+		t.maxRowLength += text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(t.style.Box.MiddleSeparator) * (t.numColumns - 1)
 	}
 	t.rowSeparator = make(rowStr, t.numColumns)
 	for colIdx, maxColumnLength := range t.maxColumnLengths {
-		maxColumnLength += text.RuneCount(t.style.Box.PaddingLeft + t.style.Box.PaddingRight)
+		maxColumnLength += text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(t.style.Box.PaddingLeft + t.style.Box.PaddingRight)
 		t.maxRowLength += maxColumnLength
 		t.rowSeparator[colIdx] = text.RepeatAndTrim(t.style.Box.MiddleHorizontal, maxColumnLength)
 	}
 	if t.style.Options.DrawBorder {
-		t.maxRowLength += text.RuneCount(t.style.Box.Left + t.style.Box.Right)
+		t.maxRowLength += text.RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(t.style.Box.Left + t.style.Box.Right)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/text/align.go b/text/align.go
index dd4134d..ade9ded 100644
--- a/text/align.go
+++ b/text/align.go
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ const (
 func (a Align) Apply(text string, maxLength int) string {
 	text = a.trimString(text)
 	sLen := utf8.RuneCountInString(text)
-	sLenWoE := RuneCount(text)
+	sLenWoE := RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(text)
 	numEscChars := sLen - sLenWoE
 
 	// now, align the text
diff --git a/text/ansi.go b/text/ansi.go
index 1ea5cdf..aaf5b30 100644
--- a/text/ansi.go
+++ b/text/ansi.go
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func Escape(str string, escapeSeq string) string {
 //	StripEscape("\x1b[91mNymeria \x1b[94mGhost\x1b[0m\x1b[91m Lady\x1b[0m") == "Nymeria Ghost Lady"
 func StripEscape(str string) string {
 	var out strings.Builder
-	out.Grow(RuneCount(str))
+	out.Grow(RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(str))
 
 	isEscSeq := false
 	for _, sChr := range str {
diff --git a/text/string.go b/text/string.go
index 877f04a..2de9e40 100644
--- a/text/string.go
+++ b/text/string.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ func InsertEveryN(str string, runeToInsert rune, n int) string {
 		return str
 	}
 
-	sLen := RuneCount(str)
+	sLen := RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(str)
 	var out strings.Builder
 	out.Grow(sLen + (sLen / n))
 	outLen, isEscSeq := 0, false
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ func LongestLineLen(str string) int {
 //  Pad("Ghost", 7, ' ') == "Ghost  "
 //  Pad("Ghost", 10, '.') == "Ghost....."
 func Pad(str string, maxLen int, paddingChar rune) string {
-	strLen := RuneCount(str)
+	strLen := RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(str)
 	if strLen < maxLen {
 		str += strings.Repeat(string(paddingChar), maxLen-strLen)
 	}
@@ -118,7 +118,30 @@ func RepeatAndTrim(str string, maxRunes int) string {
 //  RuneCount("Ghost") == 5
 //  RuneCount("\x1b[33mGhost\x1b[0m") == 5
 //  RuneCount("\x1b[33mGhost\x1b[0") == 5
+// Deprecated: in favor of RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences
 func RuneCount(str string) int {
+	return RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(str)
+}
+
+// RuneWidth returns the mostly accurate character-width of the rune. This is
+// not 100% accurate as the character width is usually dependent on the
+// typeface (font) used in the console/terminal. For ex.:
+//  RuneWidth('A') == 1
+//  RuneWidth('ツ') == 2
+//  RuneWidth('⊙') == 1
+//  RuneWidth('︿') == 2
+//  RuneWidth(0x27) == 0
+func RuneWidth(r rune) int {
+	return runewidth.RuneWidth(r)
+}
+
+// RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences is similar to RuneWidth, except for the fact
+// that it ignores escape sequences while counting. For ex.:
+//  RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("") == 0
+//  RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("Ghost") == 5
+//  RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("\x1b[33mGhost\x1b[0m") == 5
+//  RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("\x1b[33mGhost\x1b[0") == 5
+func RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(str string) int {
 	count, isEscSeq := 0, false
 	for _, c := range str {
 		if c == EscapeStartRune {
@@ -134,18 +157,6 @@ func RuneCount(str string) int {
 	return count
 }
 
-// RuneWidth returns the mostly accurate character-width of the rune. This is
-// not 100% accurate as the character width is usually dependant on the
-// typeface (font) used in the console/terminal. For ex.:
-//  RuneWidth('A') == 1
-//  RuneWidth('ツ') == 2
-//  RuneWidth('⊙') == 1
-//  RuneWidth('︿') == 2
-//  RuneWidth(0x27) == 0
-func RuneWidth(r rune) int {
-	return runewidth.RuneWidth(r)
-}
-
 // Snip returns the given string with a fixed length. For ex.:
 //  Snip("Ghost", 0, "~") == "Ghost"
 //  Snip("Ghost", 1, "~") == "~"
@@ -155,9 +166,9 @@ func RuneWidth(r rune) int {
 //  Snip("\x1b[33mGhost\x1b[0m", 7, "~") == "\x1b[33mGhost\x1b[0m  "
 func Snip(str string, length int, snipIndicator string) string {
 	if length > 0 {
-		lenStr := RuneCount(str)
+		lenStr := RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(str)
 		if lenStr > length {
-			lenStrFinal := length - RuneCount(snipIndicator)
+			lenStrFinal := length - RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(snipIndicator)
 			return Trim(str, lenStrFinal) + snipIndicator
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/text/string_test.go b/text/string_test.go
index dad5452..b412f90 100644
--- a/text/string_test.go
+++ b/text/string_test.go
@@ -174,6 +174,28 @@ func TestRuneWidth(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, 0, RuneWidth(rune(27))) // ANSI escape sequence
 }
 
+func ExampleRuneWidthWithoutEscSequences() {
+	fmt.Printf("RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(\"\"): %d\n", RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(""))
+	fmt.Printf("RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(\"Ghost\"): %d\n", RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("Ghost"))
+	fmt.Printf("RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(\"Ghostツ\"): %d\n", RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("Ghostツ"))
+	fmt.Printf("RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(\"\\x1b[33mGhost\\x1b[0m\"): %d\n", RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("\x1b[33mGhost\x1b[0m"))
+	fmt.Printf("RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(\"\\x1b[33mGhost\\x1b[0\"): %d\n", RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("\x1b[33mGhost\x1b[0"))
+
+	// Output: RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(""): 0
+	// RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("Ghost"): 5
+	// RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("Ghostツ"): 7
+	// RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("\x1b[33mGhost\x1b[0m"): 5
+	// RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("\x1b[33mGhost\x1b[0"): 5
+}
+
+func TestRuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(t *testing.T) {
+	assert.Equal(t, 0, RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(""))
+	assert.Equal(t, 5, RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("Ghost"))
+	assert.Equal(t, 7, RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("Ghostツ"))
+	assert.Equal(t, 5, RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("\x1b[33mGhost\x1b[0m"))
+	assert.Equal(t, 5, RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences("\x1b[33mGhost\x1b[0"))
+}
+
 func ExampleSnip() {
 	fmt.Printf("Snip(\"Ghost\", 0, \"~\"): %#v\n", Snip("Ghost", 0, "~"))
 	fmt.Printf("Snip(\"Ghost\", 1, \"~\"): %#v\n", Snip("Ghost", 1, "~"))
diff --git a/text/wrap.go b/text/wrap.go
index ca15276..a55cb51 100644
--- a/text/wrap.go
+++ b/text/wrap.go
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ func wrapHard(paragraph string, wrapLen int, out *strings.Builder) {
 			lineLen++
 		}
 
-		wordLen := RuneCount(word)
+		wordLen := RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(word)
 		if lineLen+wordLen <= wrapLen { // word fits within the line
 			out.WriteString(word)
 			lineLen += wordLen
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ func wrapSoft(paragraph string, wrapLen int, out *strings.Builder) {
 		}
 
 		spacing, spacingLen := wrapSoftSpacing(lineLen)
-		wordLen := RuneCount(word)
+		wordLen := RuneWidthWithoutEscSequences(word)
 		if lineLen+spacingLen+wordLen <= wrapLen { // word fits within the line
 			out.WriteString(spacing)
 			out.WriteString(word)