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By Marcel Czuryszkiewicz, Founder @ bundle.social Building & shipping social tools since 2024.

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TL;DR

  • Standard tweets: 280 characters max
  • X Premium tweets: Up to 25,000 characters
  • DMs: 10,000 characters
  • Bio: 160 characters
  • Display name: 50 characters
  • Username: 15 characters
  • Alt text: 1,000 characters

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Why Character Counts Matter on X

X (formerly Twitter) built its identity on brevity. The original 140-character limit forced users to be concise. When they doubled it to 280 in 2017, the platform kept its punchy, fast-scrolling feel. But here’s what trips people up: not all characters are equal. URLs, emojis, and mentions eat into your count differently than plain text. If you’ve ever written what seemed like a short tweet only to see “Your post is over the character limit” - you’ve hit this problem. Understanding the exact limits saves you from editing frustration and helps you craft posts that fit perfectly on the first try.

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The Complete X/Twitter Character Limits

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Tweets (Posts)

Account TypeCharacter Limit
Standard (free)280 characters
X Premium25,000 characters
X Premium+25,000 characters
Standard accounts get 280 characters. That’s it. No exceptions. X Premium subscribers can post up to 25,000 characters - essentially turning tweets into blog posts. But here’s the catch: only the first 280 characters show in the timeline. Readers have to tap “Show more” to see the rest.
Posts longer than 280 characters are truncated in the timeline. Only Premium subscribers can create them, but everyone can read them. - X Help Center

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Direct Messages

DMs allow up to 10,000 characters per message. This applies to both standard and Premium accounts.

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Profile Elements

ElementLimit
Display name50 characters
Username (@handle)15 characters
Bio160 characters
Location30 characters
Your bio is prime real estate. 160 characters to explain who you are and why someone should follow you. Use them wisely.

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Media Alt Text

Alt text for images is capped at 1,000 characters. This is accessibility text for screen readers - describe what’s in the image clearly.

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How Characters Are Counted

X counts characters using Unicode normalization. In practice, this means: 1 character each:
  • Letters (A-Z, a-z)
  • Numbers (0-9)
  • Spaces
  • Basic punctuation
2 characters each:
  • Most emojis (yes, that heart costs you double)
  • Some special characters
  • Characters from certain languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
Special cases:
  • URLs: All URLs are shortened to 23 characters, regardless of actual length. A 100-character URL still counts as 23.
  • Mentions: @username counts as its full length including the @ symbol
  • Hashtags: Full length including the # symbol
The 23-character URL rule is crucial for link-heavy tweets. A long tracking URL and a short bit.ly link cost the same character budget.

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Counting Characters Correctly

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Quick Mental Math

For a typical tweet with text, one emoji, and one link:
  • Your text: count normally
  • Each emoji: add 2
  • Your link: add 23
Example: “Check out our new guide” (23 chars) + link (23 chars) + 🚀 (2 chars) = 48 characters total.

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Using X’s Built-in Counter

When composing a tweet on X (web or app), a circular progress indicator appears. It fills as you type:
  • Blue arc: You’re under the limit
  • Yellow arc: Approaching the limit
  • Red arc: Over the limit
The number inside shows remaining characters once you’re close.

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Third-Party Character Counters

Several tools count characters before you paste into X:
  • charactercounter.com - Simple web tool, shows character and word count
  • lettercount.com - Includes X-specific counting mode
  • Your scheduling tool - Most social media schedulers show character counts per platform
When you schedule X posts through an API or scheduling platform, the character count typically happens server-side before submission. If you’re over the limit, the post fails with an error.

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Platform-Specific Quirks

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Threads (Multi-tweet Posts)

When creating a thread, each tweet in the thread has its own 280-character limit. The platform adds “1/5”, “2/5” etc. automatically - this counts against your limit. If you’re numbering manually, factor that in: “1/10 ” costs 5 characters.

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Quote Tweets

When you quote-tweet, you get the full 280 characters for your commentary. The quoted tweet appears as an embedded card and doesn’t count against your limit.

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Replies

Replies also get 280 characters. The @mention of who you’re replying to doesn’t count against this limit - X handles that separately.

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Premium Long-Form: When to Use It

X Premium’s 25,000-character posts are tempting for long-form content. But consider: Good use cases:
  • Detailed threads consolidated into one post
  • Technical explanations that need space
  • Essays or opinion pieces
Bad use cases:
  • Anything that could be a normal thread (engagement is often better)
  • Content that should be a blog post (SEO is better on your own site)
  • Padding short ideas to seem more substantial
The timeline preview shows 280 characters max. If your hook isn’t in those first 280, most people won’t tap to read more.

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Character Limits for API Integrations

If you’re posting to X via API (directly or through a scheduling platform), the character validation happens when you submit the post. The X API v2 returns specific error codes: 
{
  "errors": [
    {
      "message": "Tweet text is too long",
      "code": 186
    }
  ]
}
Error code 186 means you exceeded the character limit. Your integration should validate length client-side before attempting to post.
X’s API counts characters the same way the app does - including the 2-character emoji rule and 23-character URL shortening. Don’t assume ASCII-only counting.

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Comparing X to Other Platforms

PlatformPost LimitNotes
X (standard)280Iconic short-form
X (Premium)25,000Long-form option
Instagram caption2,200But only ~125 show before “more”
LinkedIn post3,000Professional context
Facebook post63,206Rarely used fully
Threads500Meta’s X competitor
Bluesky300Decentralized alternative
X’s 280-character limit is among the shortest. This constraint is a feature, not a bug - it forces clarity and makes the timeline scannable.

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Tips for Writing Within the Limit

1. Cut filler words
  • “In order to” → “To”
  • “The fact that” → (delete)
  • “I think that” → (just state the thought)
2. Use numerals
  • “twenty-three” (12 chars) → “23” (2 chars)
3. Strategic abbreviations
  • “with” → “w/” in casual contexts
  • “versus” → “vs”
4. Let the link work harder
  • Don’t describe what’s in the link. Just tease it.
  • Bad: “Here’s an article about character limits on Twitter” (53 chars)
  • Good: “X character limits, explained” (29 chars) + link
5. Split into threads
  • If you’re fighting the limit, you probably have two thoughts. Make them two tweets.
Posting to X programmatically? If you’re building an app that posts to X, character validation should happen before you hit the API. Our X/Twitter integration handles limit validation automatically - posts over 280 fail gracefully with clear error messages telling you exactly how many characters to cut.

X/Twitter API Documentation

Full X posting options including threads and media