How to use the Social Media Character Counter
- Write or paste your post. Your draft is kept in this browser so you don’t lose it.
- Check the bars: green fits, orange is close to the limit, red is over.
- Watch the notes for “see more” cut-offs — the first line before the fold is what most people read.
- For X, links always count as 23 characters and emoji count as 2, exactly like X’s own counter.
Character limits by platform
| Platform | Limit | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| X (Twitter) | 280 | Links count as 23, emoji and CJK as 2; Premium allows long posts |
| Threads | 500 | |
| Bluesky | 300 | Counted in graphemes — one emoji = 1 |
| Mastodon | 500 | Default; some servers allow more. Links count as 23 |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 | “…see more” after roughly 210 characters |
| LinkedIn headline | 220 | |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 | Feed shows ~125 characters; max 30 hashtags |
| Facebook post | 63,206 | Short posts get more engagement |
| TikTok caption | 4,000 | |
| YouTube | 100 title / 5,000 description | Titles cut around 70 characters in search |
| Pinterest description | 500 | |
| Google Business Profile post | 1,500 |
Limits change from time to time and “see more” positions depend on the device, so treat the fold values as guides.
Why X counts differently
X uses weighted counting: most Latin characters count as 1, but emoji, Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters count as 2, and every link is shortened to a t.co URL that always counts as 23 characters — however long or short the original is. A post with two links therefore has 234 characters left for text, not 280.
Write for the fold
On LinkedIn and Instagram only the first line or two are visible before the “…see more” link. Put the hook there: a clear statement, a number or a question. Formatting like bold isn’t supported natively — the Bold Text Generator creates Unicode bold and italic text that works in posts (use it sparingly for accessibility). For search snippets rather than social posts, the SERP Preview checks title and description length in pixels, and the Word Counter handles longer texts.
Tools that pair well with the Social Media Character Counter
- Social Share Link Generator — Build “share this” links for 12 networks without plugins or tracking scripts — copy single links, the HTML for share buttons, or a tiny script that shares the current page on any Webflow CMS template.
- Case Converter — Paste any text and convert it between 11 letter cases — from Title Case for headlines to camelCase and snake_case for code.
- WhatsApp Link Generator — Turn a phone number and a pre-filled message into a wa.me click-to-chat link — with a QR code for print and a ready-made button for your website.