Social Media Character Counter
Free Social Media Character Counter, count the way each platform actually counts
Write your post once and see the character count each platform will really apply, not a single generic number. It handles the rules that trip people up: X counts every link as 23 characters and doubles CJK characters, Instagram and LinkedIn cut your text off behind a 'more' link long before the hard limit, and each network caps hashtags differently. You get the live count, the remaining space, the exact point where the feed truncates, and counts of words, hashtags, mentions and emoji. Nothing is uploaded.
- 100% free
- No sign-up
- Nothing uploaded
- Runs in your browser
A character counter sounds like the simplest tool imaginable, and it would be if every platform counted the same way. They do not, and the differences are exactly the ones that make a post land wrong. On X a link is always 23 characters no matter how long the URL is, and a Japanese or Chinese character counts as two, so a generic counter tells you that you are safely under 280 when the platform says you are over. On Instagram the caption limit is 2,200 characters, but only about the first 125 show before the reader has to tap 'more', so the sentence that has to hook them is being cut off while your counter cheerfully reports plenty of room. LinkedIn folds the post at around 210 characters, Facebook at 477, YouTube truncates titles around 70. And each network has its own hashtag cap, thirty on Instagram, fewer in practice on TikTok, past which the extra tags are simply ignored. The result is copy that gets truncated at the worst possible spot, links that push a post over the limit unexpectedly, and hashtag lists that quietly do nothing. This tool counts the way the target platform counts and shows you where the text will actually be cut, so what you write is what gets read. It runs entirely in your browser, and the page is free and public; you sign in only to copy the text out.
What it does, and why it's built this way
Every platform counts differently
The reason a single character count is misleading is that the platforms disagree about what a character is worth. X uses a weighted count: any link, however long, is folded to a flat 23 characters because it will be wrapped in a short t.co redirect, and characters in scripts like Chinese, Japanese and Korean count as two because they carry more information per glyph. So a tweet a generic counter calls 250 characters might be 280 or more by X's own maths, or comfortably shorter if it is mostly links. Emoji, meanwhile, are usually a single character to a platform even though they are several bytes underneath. This tool applies each platform's own counting rule, so the number it shows is the number that platform will enforce. When the weighted count differs from the plain one, it shows both, so you can see exactly why a post that looks short is being treated as long, rather than being surprised by a rejection at the last moment.
The limit that matters is where it gets cut off
For most social platforms the hard character limit is almost irrelevant, because the real constraint is the truncation point: the spot where the feed collapses your text behind a 'more' link that most people never tap. Instagram shows roughly 125 characters, LinkedIn around 210, Facebook about 477, and a YouTube title starts disappearing around 70. Everything after that point exists but is effectively invisible to a scrolling reader, which means the job your opening line has to do is hook them before the fold, not somewhere in the middle of a 2,000-character caption. This tool draws that line for you. As you type it shows a preview of exactly what shows before the cut, with the rest marked as hidden behind 'more', so you can front-load the hook and the call to action into the visible window. That preview is the verify-and-explain heart of the tool: it turns an abstract limit into the concrete thing the reader will see.
Instant, private, and free
Everything happens in your browser as you type. The text you write is never sent to a server, never logged and never stored against your account, which matters for anyone drafting posts under embargo or for a client before launch. There is nothing to wait for and nothing to submit: the count, the remaining space, the truncation preview and the hashtag, mention and emoji tallies all update live on every keystroke. The whole page and its guidance are free and public, because a counter is the kind of small, constant utility the platform wants to be the obvious place to reach for. The only action that asks for a free account is copying the finished text out, the same soft sign-in used across the site, which keeps a public tool from being scripted against at scale. Draft as many posts as you like across as many platforms as you like without ever creating an account; sign in once when you want to copy the polished version into your scheduler.
How to use it
- 1
Pick your platform
Choose where the post is going from the row at the top: X, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Bluesky or Google Ads. The limit, the counting rule and the truncation point all change to match that platform.
- 2
Write or paste your text
Type your post, caption or title into the box, or paste a draft in. The character count and the space remaining update on every keystroke, using the selected platform's own way of counting links and characters.
- 3
Watch the fold, not just the limit
Read the feed preview: it shows exactly what will be visible before the 'more' cut-off and marks the rest as hidden. Rework your opening so the hook and any call to action sit inside the visible window rather than after it.
- 4
Check hashtags and copy
Glance at the hashtag, mention and emoji counts, and heed any warning that you are over a platform's hashtag cap. When the post fits and reads well before the fold, sign in once and copy it into your scheduling tool.
Common mistakes
Trusting a generic character count on X
A plain counter ignores that X folds every link to 23 characters and doubles CJK characters, so it can tell you a tweet fits when it does not. Select X here so the count uses X's own weighting, and watch for the note that appears when the weighted count differs from the raw one, which is your signal that links or wide characters are in play.
Burying the hook after the fold
Writing a long caption with the key line in the middle wastes it, because most readers never expand past the 'more' cut. Use the feed preview to see the visible window and move your strongest sentence and your call to action into it, so the part that does the work is the part people actually see.
Adding more hashtags than the platform allows
Past a platform's cap, extra hashtags are ignored or can get the post filtered, so a wall of thirty-plus tags does nothing but look like spam. Watch the hashtag counter and the warning that appears at the limit, and prefer a focused set of relevant tags over the maximum the field will physically hold.
Assuming one draft fits every network
The same text that fits comfortably on Facebook is far too long for X and gets truncated early on LinkedIn. Rather than posting one version everywhere, switch platforms here and adjust the length and the front-loading for each, so every network gets copy shaped to how it counts and where it cuts.
Frequently asked questions
- Why does X show a different count from other tools?
- Because X does not count the way a plain character counter does. It folds any link to a flat 23 characters regardless of the URL's real length, and it counts characters in scripts such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean as two rather than one. This tool applies those exact rules when you select X, and shows both the weighted count and the raw count when they differ, so you can see precisely why a post that looks short is being treated as longer.
- What is the truncation or 'more' point?
- It is the number of characters a platform shows in the feed before it hides the rest behind a 'more' or 'see more' link. It is usually far below the hard character limit: about 125 characters on Instagram, 210 on LinkedIn, 477 on Facebook. Since most readers never tap to expand, the truncation point is the real constraint on your opening. This tool shows a live preview of what falls before that cut so you can front-load the important part.
- Does it count emoji and links correctly?
- Yes. Emoji are counted the way platforms treat them, as a single character each even though they occupy several bytes underneath, and links are handled per platform: counted normally on most, but folded to 23 characters on X. The tool also tallies how many links, hashtags, mentions and emoji your text contains, so you can check those against a platform's rules at a glance rather than counting them by hand.
- Which platforms are supported?
- X, Instagram (caption and bio), Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, TikTok, YouTube (title and description), Pinterest, and Google Ads headlines and descriptions. Each carries its own character limit, counting rule, truncation point and, where relevant, hashtag cap, so switching platforms reconfigures the whole readout to match how that network actually treats your text.
- Is my text kept private?
- Yes. The counter runs entirely in your browser and does everything on your own device as you type. Nothing you write is sent to a server, logged, or stored against your account, which matters if you are drafting posts under embargo or for a client before a launch. You can close the tab and no trace of your draft remains anywhere.
- Is the tool free?
- Yes. The counter, the page and all of its guidance are free, with no limit on how many posts you draft. A free account is needed only to copy the finished text out, which keeps the public tool from being scripted against at scale. Using the counter and reading the preview on screen needs no account at all.
Need this done properly, at scale?
The tool handles the one-off. When it's a system you're building, that's the paid version of the job, and we do that too.
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