What is Twitter Character Counter?

Twitter Character Counter shows how many characters you’ve used and how many remain out of the 280-character limit. It warns you when you’re close to or over the cap, so you can trim your tweet before posting.

The counter treats every URL as 23 characters regardless of length (Twitter shortens links through t.co), and uses Twitter's weighted scale: emoji and CJK characters cost 2 each, while most Latin, Cyrillic, and Arabic letters count as 1. Thread mode breaks long drafts into 280-character chunks and adds a 1/N prefix so the order is obvious.

How to use

  1. Step 1 — Type or paste your tweet text into the input area.
  2. Step 2 — Watch the live counter update showing characters used, remaining, and a visual progress bar.
  3. Step 3 — Edit your text until it fits within 280 characters, then copy the final version.

When to use

  • Trimming a draft tweet so it fits before hitting the 280-character cap.
  • Splitting a longer post into a clean numbered thread with no mid-word breaks.
  • Checking that an emoji-heavy or multilingual reply still counts within the limit.

Result

You draft a product announcement: 'Excited to launch our new dashboard with real-time analytics, custom reports, and team collaboration features! Try it free today.' — the counter shows 148/280, so you have room to add a link and hashtag.

FAQ

Why is my tweet flagged as too long when I'm under 280 visible characters?
Some emoji and combined accents count as more than one character internally. Flag emoji are usually 2, and a single emoji with skin-tone modifier is 4. The counter follows Twitter's weighted rules so the result matches what the post box shows.
Do URLs really count as 23 characters even if the link is 80 characters long?
Yes. Twitter wraps every link through its t.co shortener after posting, and a t.co link takes 23 characters. A 200-character Wikipedia URL and a 30-character blog link cost exactly the same in your budget.
How does thread mode decide where to break my text?
It splits at the nearest whitespace before the 274-character mark, reserving 6 characters for the 1/N prefix. Words longer than 274 characters get hard-split, but normal prose stays mid-sentence at most.
Is the 280-character limit the same for everyone?
X Premium subscribers can post up to 25,000 characters in a single post, but those longer posts still show 280 in the timeline before a 'Show more' link. The counter shows the 280 budget because that's what most accounts have to plan around.
Does mentioning someone with @username eat into my character count?
Yes for inline mentions. They count letter by letter. Reply mentions at the very start of a thread reply used to be exempt; that exception was removed in 2017, so plan for them as part of your 280.

Related Tools