Twitter (X) Character Counter
Type or paste your post and see exactly how X counts it — links, emoji and non-Latin scripts are weighted the way X weighs them, so 280 here means 280 there.
X allows 280 weighted characters per post. Links always count as 23, most emoji count as 2, and characters outside basic Latin ranges (like CJK) count as 2.
Why the weighted count differs
What gets cut
Everything highlighted is past the 280 limit — X will reject the post until you trim it.
Worked example: why 52 raw characters can weigh 48
«New blog post is live 🎉 https://wordcount.com/blog» is 52 raw characters, but weighs 48 on X: the plain-Latin words count 1 each, the emoji counts 2, and the whole URL — however long — is flattened to a fixed 23. A short link can cost MORE than its raw length; a long one costs less. Paste your own draft above to see the live weighted count next to the raw one.
Choosing what to post: thread opener vs. single post vs. reply
A single post has the most room to make one point cleanly; a thread opener works best as a hook under ~100 weighted characters so the rest teases without crowding; a reply can run closer to the full 280 since it's read in context. This counter doesn't judge which is “better” — it only shows you the honest weighted count so you can decide with the real number, not a raw-character guess.
Where the limit numbers come from
280 weighted characters (standard) and X's t.co link weighting (a flat 23 per URL, most emoji at 2, CJK/most non-Latin scripts at 2) are X's own published counting rules, applied identically here — not re-derived or guessed. If X changes these numbers, this page's limit and weighting logic need updating to match; there's no live API call per visitor, since the rules themselves change rarely.
Why does my count differ from a normal character counter?
X does not count raw characters. Every link counts as 23 regardless of its length, most emoji count as 2, and characters from scripts like Chinese, Japanese and Korean count as 2 each. This counter applies the same weighting, so what fits here fits on X.
How many characters does a link use on X?
Exactly 23. X wraps every URL with its t.co shortener, so a 100-character link and a 15-character link both cost 23 characters of the 280 limit.
Do emoji count as one character?
Usually no — most emoji count as 2 weighted characters. A combined emoji (like a family or a flag) still counts as 2 in total, even though it is built from several code points.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No. Counting runs entirely in your browser with JavaScript — your draft post is never sent to a server, stored, or logged.
What is the character limit on X?
280 weighted characters for standard accounts. X Premium subscribers can write up to 25,000 characters, but posts truncate in the timeline — the first 280 still matter most.