Social media platforms enforce different character limits — an X post caps at 280 while a LinkedIn post allows 3,000. Paste your draft here to see the character count alongside a live comparison against 19 platforms. The breakdown splits Chinese characters and English words separately, so bilingual content gets accurate word counts and reading time estimates.
Platform character limits compared
- X (formerly Twitter): 280 characters per post, 25,000 for Premium subscribers.
- Instagram: 2,200 for captions, 150 for bios.
- TikTok: 4,000 characters for video descriptions.
- LinkedIn: 3,000 per post, up from 1,300 in mid-2024.
- Weibo: 2,000 characters per post.
- Xiaohongshu (RED): 20-character title, 1,000-character body.
- Douyin: 55 characters for short-video captions.
- Bilibili: 80-character title, 250-character description.
- Zhihu: 60-character question title.
How character counting works for Chinese text
Chinese characters and English words are counted differently. Each Chinese character (汉字) counts as one character in platform limits, but as one "word" in word count since Chinese has no spaces between words. When platforms say "280 characters," a Chinese character and a Latin letter both count as one character. This tool separates the two so you can see exactly how many of each your text contains — useful for bilingual drafts where you need to balance both languages within a single limit.
Tips for staying within limits
Start by writing freely, then use the platform comparison to see where you stand. For X, trimming one compound sentence usually saves 30–50 characters. For Xiaohongshu titles (20 chars), use the character-without-spaces count to exclude formatting whitespace. If you are cross-posting the same text to multiple platforms, write to the shortest limit first (Douyin at 55), then expand for platforms with more room. The progress bars turn amber at 80% and red when you exceed the limit, so you can spot trouble before publishing.
FAQ
Q: Do all platforms count characters the same way?
A: Most platforms count Unicode characters uniformly — one Chinese character equals one Latin letter equals one emoji. X is a notable exception: it uses a weighted system where CJK characters count as two and URLs always count as 23 regardless of length. This tool uses standard Unicode length, which matches most platforms and gives a close approximation for X.
Q: How are words counted for Chinese text?
A: Each Chinese character is counted as one word, since Chinese does not use spaces to separate words. English words are counted by whitespace boundaries. The total word count is the sum of both, which matches the convention used by translation agencies and content platforms.
Q: How accurate are the reading time estimates?
A: They assume 200 characters per minute for Chinese and 250 words per minute for English — standard speeds for web content. Technical or academic text will take longer; casual scrolling may be faster. Use the estimate as a planning baseline, not a guarantee.