Free tool

Social Media Character Counter for Every Network

Updated October 27, 2026 · Multi Post Social guide

What the counter measures

Characters are counted the way networks count them, as visible characters rather than bytes, so an emoji counts as one. Words are separated by spaces. Hashtags are any word starting with a hash sign, mentions any word starting with an at sign, and links anything starting with http or https. Reading time assumes about 230 words a minute, a common average for adults reading on a phone. These are the same measures the composer in Multi Post Social shows under each network tab.

One subtle point: X counts every link as 23 characters regardless of its real length, and some networks shorten links on their side. The counter uses the raw text, so a post with a long link may fit on X even when the counter shows it slightly over.

Character limits by network

Where captions get cut off

A limit tells you when a post is rejected; the fold tells you when it is ignored. Instagram shows roughly 125 characters in the feed before a “more” link, LinkedIn roughly 210, Facebook roughly 250, and TikTok about 100 over the video. Whatever sits after the fold is read only by people who tap. The counter shows the Instagram and LinkedIn previews so you can check that the first line carries the point and the hook. If the first words are a greeting or a date, move them.

Counting rules that surprise people

Most of the confusion around character limits comes from a few special cases. Line breaks count as characters on every network, so a caption with five paragraphs carries five hidden characters. Emoji count as one visible character here and on most networks, but a few older tools count the underlying code points, which is why two counters sometimes disagree by a handful. Mentions count in full on X even though the handle is shown in a different color. Hashtags count in full everywhere. On X, every link counts as 23 characters no matter how long it is, and X Premium accounts have a far higher limit than the standard 280. On Mastodon the default is 500, but each server chooses its own number, and some allow several thousand.

Spaces also matter in two ways. Double spaces are kept and counted, so a caption pasted from a document can carry extra characters you cannot see. Trailing spaces before a line break are counted too. Pasting into the counter and watching the number change as you tidy the text is the fastest way to find them.

Writing to fit

• Write the long version first for LinkedIn or Instagram, then cut to X and Bluesky; cutting is easier than stretching.
• Move hashtags to the first comment on Instagram to keep the caption short and readable.
• Replace “in order to” with “to”, “a number of” with “several”, and drop the first sentence if it only warms up.
• Use a thread on X, Threads or Bluesky when the idea needs more than one post; the scheduler posts chains in order.
• Count mentions: each one is a notification to a real person, so keep them to people who should see the post.

Live counts in the composer

Inside the product the counter lives under every network tab in the composer. Pick channels, write the base text, and each tab shows its own count in green, amber or red. When a post is over the limit for one network, you can edit that tab alone without touching the others, and the AI assistant can shorten it for you. Media rules, alt text reminders and link tagging run in the same place. The free tools hub lists the other helpers that moved out of the composer onto this site.