This free character counter shows live counts against actual platform limits: 280 for X, 300 for Bluesky, 160 for SMS and meta descriptions, 60 for Google meta titles.
Character limits, by platform
Most writing problems are word problems. Some are character problems. The ceiling on a tweet, an SMS, a meta description, or a page title cannot be argued with.
| Platform | Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| X (Twitter) | 280 characters | Free accounts. URLs are normalized to 23 characters. |
| Bluesky | 300 characters | URLs count their full length. |
| Threads | 500 characters | Per post. |
| Mastodon | 500 characters | Default. Some instances raise this. |
| SMS | 160 characters | GSM-7 encoding. Drops to 70 with non-GSM characters. |
| Meta description | ~160 characters | Google truncates beyond this in search results. |
| Meta title (Google) | ~60 characters | Pixel-based. Brand suffix counts toward limit. |
| OpenGraph title | ~70 characters | For social shares (Facebook, LinkedIn). |
| LinkedIn headline | 220 characters | Profile headline below your name. |
| YouTube title | 100 characters | Search results truncate around 70. |
Common use cases
- Drafting a tweet thread. Each tweet has 280 characters. Pick X / Twitter, paste, and watch the meter. Over-limit goes red so you can edit before posting.
- Writing a meta description. Aim for 150 to 160 characters of natural prose that contains the primary keyword and a value claim. The 160-char preset shows when you are close to truncation.
- Trimming a page title. 60 characters including any brand suffix. The 60-char preset is exactly this case.
- Writing an SMS campaign. 160 characters per part, or 70 if you include emoji. Pick the SMS preset to know if your message will be one or multi-part.
Word counter or character counter?
Use the character counter when there is a hard ceiling you cannot break (Twitter limit, SMS, meta tag). Use the word counter when you care about prose size: words, sentences, paragraphs, reading time, manuscript pages.