Social Media Character Counter
One box, every platform's limit — counted the way each platform actually counts.
Against each platform
| Platform | Limit | Used | Remaining |
|---|
Notes
What the social Media Character Counter does
Every platform has a different character limit, and several of them count characters in ways that are not obvious. This counter measures one piece of text against fourteen limits at once, so you can write a post and immediately see where it fits and where it needs cutting.
The counting is where the detail lives. X replaces every link with a fixed 23-character cost
regardless of its actual length, so a 90-character URL costs the same as a 20-character one —
this counter applies that substitution rather than counting the raw string. Most other platforms
count the full URL. Emoji are counted by Unicode code point using
Array.from, which is closer to how platforms count than a naive
string.length, though emoji built from several joined code points (skin tones, flags,
family sequences) can still be counted differently by different platforms.
The more useful number is often not the hard limit but the truncation point. Instagram cuts a caption after roughly 125 characters in the feed, LinkedIn after about 210, Facebook after about 480 — and past those points your text is behind a “more” link that most people never click. The notes panel flags this once a post gets long enough for it to matter. Writing to the truncation point rather than the limit is the single change that most improves how posts perform.
Hashtag counting is included because the optimal number is far lower than the maximum. Instagram allows thirty and its own guidance suggests three to five; on LinkedIn and X, more than a couple reads as spam.
How to use it
- Paste or write your post in the box.
- Find your platform in the table and check the remaining count.
- Read the notes — the truncation point usually matters more than the hard limit.
- Move the key message into the first 125 characters so it survives being collapsed.
A worked example
A 232-character post containing one 62-character link:
| Platform | Used | Remaining |
|---|---|---|
| X | 193 | 87 |
| Bluesky | 232 | 68 |
| Threads | 232 | 268 |
| LinkedIn (post) | 232 | 2,768 |
The X figure is 39 characters lower than the raw count, because the 62-character link is charged at 23. That difference is often what turns an over-limit post into one that fits, and it is why shortening a URL before posting to X saves you nothing at all.
On LinkedIn the post fits ten times over — but it will still be cut at about 210 characters in the feed, so the closing line is hidden behind “see more”. The limit and the useful length are different questions.
Frequently asked questions
Why does X count my post as shorter than it is?
Because links are charged at a flat 23 characters no matter how long they are. A 90-character URL costs 23. That also means using a URL shortener before posting to X gains you nothing.
How are emoji counted?
This tool counts by Unicode code point, which matches most platforms for ordinary emoji. Emoji built from joined sequences — skin-tone variants, flags, family groups — are made of several code points and different platforms count them differently, so treat those as approximate.
Should I write to the limit?
No. Write to the truncation point, which is much shorter: roughly 125 characters on Instagram, 210 on LinkedIn, 480 on Facebook. Anything past it is hidden behind a “more” link that most people never open.
How many hashtags should I use?
Three to five on Instagram, which is its own guidance despite a limit of thirty. One or two on LinkedIn and X, where more reads as spam. On every platform, relevance beats volume.