The X character limit, explained: why 280 isn't 280
X counts weighted characters: every link is 23, most emoji are 2, CJK is 2. How the count really works, plus current LinkedIn, Threads, and Instagram limits.
You trimmed the post to 279 characters and X still says it is too long. That is not a bug: X does not count keystrokes, it counts weighted characters. Every link costs exactly 23 no matter its length, almost every emoji costs 2, and so does every Chinese, Japanese, or Korean character. Here is how the counting actually works, straight from X's own developer rules, plus the current limits on LinkedIn, Threads, and Instagram, and a free counter that applies the same weighting X does.
Full disclosure: we make Eden, and the free X character counter linked throughout is ours. The counting rules below come from X's own developer documentation.
How X actually counts to 280
The standard limit is 280 weighted characters, and the weights are the whole story:
- Weight 1: Latin letters, digits, punctuation, and common symbols. A plain English sentence counts the way you'd expect.
- Weight 2: emoji, and characters from most other writing systems, including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. A post written entirely in Japanese maxes out at 140 characters, not 280.
- Links: always 23. X wraps every URL in its t.co shortener and charges the fixed t.co length. A 10-character link costs 23. A 300-character link costs 23. Pre-shortening links with bit.ly saves you nothing.
- Emoji: always 2, even the complicated ones. A family emoji or a flag is built from several Unicode code points under the hood, but X charges 2, not 8 or 14.
A few things are free. Media (up to four images or a video), polls, and quoted posts cost 0 characters. And when you reply, the auto-populated @mentions at the top don't count against you; mentions you type into the body do.
This is why a post that "looks like" 260 characters gets rejected: two links (46), a handful of emoji (10+), and you're over before the words are counted.
Why most character counters get this wrong
Most free counters just measure string length, which fails all three rules above. Even counters that handle emoji often miss the link rule: one of the biggest character-counter sites states in its own FAQ that URLs count at their full length on X, which is simply wrong and will make you trim posts that already fit.
Our X character counter applies the same weighting X uses: links at 23, emoji at 2, CJK at 2. The number it shows is the number X sees. (Credit where due: Typefully's counter also weights correctly.)
What X Premium changes
Paid X accounts can publish long posts up to 25,000 characters, on any Premium tier. You'll still see stale pages claiming 4,000, which was the 2023 launch number. Two things to know before you lean on long posts: timelines truncate them at roughly the standard length behind a "Show more" link, so your first 280 characters still do all the work of earning the click, and engagement on long posts lives or dies on that opening.
If you're on a standard account, the way to publish something longer is a thread. Our counter shows how many posts your draft splits into once it crosses 280, and if you want the splitting, numbering, and publishing handled for you, that's what scheduling threads in Eden does.
Current limits on the other platforms
Cross-posting is where character limits bite hardest, because every platform draws the line differently:
| Platform | Limit | Counting style |
|---|---|---|
| X | 280 (25,000 Premium) | Weighted: links 23, emoji 2, CJK 2 |
| 3,000 | Plain count, links at full length | |
| Threads | 500 | Plain count |
| 2,200 caption | Plain count |
Two folds matter as much as the caps. LinkedIn truncates posts at roughly 210 characters on desktop (less on mobile) behind "…see more", so your hook has to land before the fold; the LinkedIn character limits guide covers every LinkedIn cap and the fold math. Instagram shows only about the first 125 caption characters before "…more". Threads added text attachments in late 2025 that can carry up to 10,000 characters attached to a 500-character post, its own version of the long-post escape hatch.
The counter tracks LinkedIn and Threads limits alongside X, so one draft can be checked against all three before you post. If you regularly adapt one draft for several platforms, one idea, six platforms covers the rewriting side, and Eden's composer enforces each platform's real limit as you type.
Frequently asked questions
Why does X say my post is too long at 279 characters?
Because your 279 is a keystroke count and X's count is weighted. Check for links (23 each), emoji (2 each), and non-Latin characters (2 each). A counter that applies X's weighting will show you the real number.
How many characters is a link on X?
Exactly 23, always. X routes every URL through t.co and charges the t.co length regardless of the link's real length. This also means long UTM-tagged links cost nothing extra.
Do hashtags and mentions count on X?
Yes, at their full visible length: weight 1 per Latin character, including the # or @. The only mentions that don't count are the auto-populated ones at the top of a reply.
What is the longest post on each platform in 2026?
X: 280 standard, 25,000 with Premium. LinkedIn: 3,000. Threads: 500, plus text attachments up to 10,000. Instagram captions: 2,200. TikTok captions: 4,000.
Draft it once, then check it the way the platform will: the free X character counter counts weighted characters, links at 23, and emoji at 2, with LinkedIn and Threads limits built in.