Why character limits matter on every platform
Every major social media platform enforces a character limit, and each one is different. Twitter/X caps posts at 280 characters. Threads allows 500. Bluesky allows 300. Instagram captions allow 2,200 but only show the first 125 before "more" is tapped. LinkedIn posts support up to 3,000 characters. Writing the same content for all platforms simultaneously means constantly switching between tools or doing mental arithmetic — the character counter eliminates this by showing all limits at once as you type.
The practical consequence of exceeding a limit is that you either cannot post (Twitter/X, Bluesky, Threads) or your post is truncated and shows a "read more" link (Instagram, LinkedIn). For the platforms that truncate, what appears above the fold — in the first 125 characters on Instagram, the first ~200 on LinkedIn — determines whether most users engage with the full post or scroll past.
How to use the counter
Type or paste your post in the text area. All eight platform counters update simultaneously below, showing the character count, the limit, a progress bar, and a status badge. Green means well within the limit. Yellow means approaching the limit (above 90%). Red means over the limit. The badge shows exactly how many characters over you are when the limit is exceeded.
Twitter/X URL handling
Twitter/X wraps all URLs through its t.co shortener regardless of the original URL length, and counts every URL as exactly 23 characters — whether the URL is 10 characters or 300. Enable "Count URLs as 23 chars" to apply this rule: the counter identifies URLs in your text and counts each as 23 characters regardless of its actual length. This prevents the common mistake of writing a tweet that appears under 280 characters but actually exceeds it because you forgot Twitter's URL counting rule.
The stats panel
Below the platform counters, the stats row shows total characters, word count, number of hashtags, number of @mentions, and number of URLs separately. These metrics are useful for understanding the composition of your post — for example, Twitter/X's algorithm has historically deprioritised posts with excessive hashtags (more than 2–3), so the hashtag count gives you an instant check.
Platform character limits reference
Twitter/X: 280 characters (URLs count as 23 each). Threads: 500 characters. Bluesky: 300 characters. Instagram caption: 2,200 characters (first 125 shown without tap). TikTok caption: 2,200 characters. LinkedIn post: 3,000 characters (first ~200 shown without expansion). Facebook post: 63,206 characters (effectively unlimited for practical purposes). YouTube description: 5,000 characters.