# X Character Counter – Free 280 Limit & Tweet Length Checker

> Free X character counter that weights links, emoji and CJK text the way X does. Check posts against 280, Premium long posts, bio and name limits.

Canonical: https://scheduleforyou.com/tools/x-character-counter

Paste a draft to see how X will count it, with links scored as 23 and most emoji as 2, plus a Premium toggle for long posts.

This page has a character counter that runs in the browser; use the HTML page to run it. The text below is the guide that goes with it.

## X character limits at a glance
A standard post on X (formerly Twitter) can be 280 characters, but X does not count every character as one, so a plain letter count can tell you a post fits when it doesn't. The counter above applies X's own weighting and shows how many characters you have left.

| Field | Limit |
|---|---|
| Standard post | 280 weighted characters |
| Long post (X Premium) | Up to 25,000 characters, at the time of writing |
| Bio | 160 characters |
| Display name | 50 characters |
| @handle | 4–15 characters: letters, numbers, underscores |
| Direct message | 10,000 characters |

### Standard posts vs. long posts
Free accounts are capped at 280 weighted characters per post. Subscribers to X Premium can publish much longer posts, up to 25,000 characters at the time of writing. Subscription tiers and their perks change often, so check [X's help center](https://help.x.com) if a long post gets rejected.

### Profile fields have their own caps
Your bio, display name and handle are counted separately from posts. The display name is the bold name above your handle and can include spaces and emoji. The handle is stricter: only letters, numbers and underscores, between 4 and 15 characters.

## How X counts characters
X uses a weighted count rather than a simple tally of letters. Most of the surprises come from three things.

### Links always count as 23
Every URL in a post is wrapped by X's link shortener, so it counts as 23 characters whether the original link is 15 characters or 150. A long tracking link costs you nothing extra, and a very short domain doesn't save you anything either.

### Most emoji and CJK characters count as 2
Latin letters, digits and common punctuation count as 1. Most emoji, plus Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters, count as 2. An emoji built from several pieces, like a family or a flag, is generally still treated as a single emoji for counting purposes. A post written entirely in Japanese therefore fits roughly half as many characters as one written in English.

### Spaces and line breaks count too
Each space and each line break uses one character. If you lay a post out with blank lines between short sentences, those breaks add up quickly near the limit.

### Why other counters give different numbers
A word processor or a generic counter will count a 90-character URL as 90 and an emoji as 1 or 2 depending on how it handles Unicode. Neither matches X. That's why a post can look fine in a notes app and still show a negative number in X's composer.

## How to use the counter
The tool runs in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded or stored.

### Type or paste your draft
Paste the post into the box. The remaining count updates as you type, along with word and line totals, so you can see the effect of each edit straight away.

### Switch the Premium toggle on or off
Leave Premium off to check against the 280 limit. Turn it on if you're writing a long post and want to see where you stand against the long-post limit instead.

### Check profile text the same way
Drafting a new bio or display name? Paste it in and compare the count with the table above. If you need ideas first, try the [X bio generator](https://scheduleforyou.com/tools/x-bio-generator) or the [X name generator](https://scheduleforyou.com/tools/x-name-generator).

## Best practices for posts that fit
### Put the point in the first line
Even with Premium, the timeline typically shows only the opening of a long post with a "Show more" link. Treat the first 280 characters as the part most people will actually read.

### Count the link as part of the budget
Add your URL before you finish editing, not after. Knowing it costs exactly 23 characters lets you trim the text once. When trimming, cut filler words such as "just" or "really" before reaching for abbreviations, which make posts harder to read and search.

### Use a thread when the idea needs room
If you don't have Premium, or the content splits naturally into steps, a short thread of linked posts often reads better than one dense post.

## Frequently asked questions
### What is the tweet character limit?
X, formerly Twitter, limits a standard post (still widely called a tweet) to 280 weighted characters, the same as before the rename. X Premium subscribers can publish long posts of up to 25,000 characters at the time of writing. This Twitter character counter checks both.

### Do links count toward the X character limit?
Yes. Every link counts as 23 characters regardless of its real length, because X shortens all links with its own service.

### Why does an emoji use two characters on X?
X gives most emoji and CJK characters a weight of 2 in its counting rules. The counter applies the same weighting so you see the number X will use.

### Do spaces count as characters on X?
Yes. Spaces, line breaks and punctuation each count as one character.

### How long can my X bio and display name be?
Your bio can be up to 160 characters and your display name up to 50. Your @handle must be 4–15 characters using letters, numbers and underscores.

### Does this counter save what I type?
No. The count is calculated in your browser and nothing is sent to a server.

## Check every platform's limit as you write in Schedule For You
Schedule For You publishes to X and nine other networks from one queue, with live character-limit checks for each platform in the composer, so a caption that fits Instagram but not X gets flagged before it's scheduled. You can tailor the X version, pick a time slot and move on. [Start your 7-day free trial](https://scheduleforyou.com/signup). A card is required, and you aren't charged until day 8.

## Related

- [All free tools](https://scheduleforyou.com/tools)
- [Schedule posts with Schedule For You](https://scheduleforyou.com/)