Count Twitter / X characters with t.co link weighting (URLs = 23 chars), CJK + emoji weighting, thread auto-split, and Premium 25,000-char support. Free and no signup.
A free Twitter / X character counter that implements every nuance of Twitter's real character-counting rules. Links count as 23 characters regardless of actual URL length (Twitter's t.co shortener), CJK characters count as 2, most emoji count as 2 (one weighted character pair). Toggle between free (280) and X Premium (25,000) account limits. Thread mode auto-splits long text at word boundaries with optional (1/n) numbering. Detects URLs, hashtags, and mentions; suggests trending hashtags; quick-action buttons trim whitespace, strip links, or remove emoji to fit the limit.
Every character in a tweet has a "weight". For most Latin letters, digits, and punctuation, the weight is 1 (one character = one count). For URLs, the weight is fixed at 23 regardless of original length — Twitter's shortener replaces every link with a t.co/xxx alias that counts as 23. For CJK and certain other "wide" Unicode characters, the weight is 2. For most emoji, the weight is 2 because emoji are typically encoded in UTF-16 as two code units. The 280 / 25,000 limits apply to the sum of weighted characters, not raw codepoints. This tool implements the exact algorithm so its count matches Twitter's.
For the average user, 280 characters is enough. For long-form essays, technical explainers, or detailed product launches, X Premium's 25,000-character limit can replace a thread with a single scrollable post. The downside: long-form posts get less algorithmic boost than well-crafted threads, because threads keep readers engaged across multiple "engagements" while a single long post is one. Use Premium long-form for content where structure and references matter (specs, FAQs, after-action reports) and use threads for narrative content (stories, tutorials, lessons-learned).
Twitter's t.co URL shortener replaces every link in your tweet — even short ones — with a t.co/abcdefg shortened version that counts as exactly 23 characters in the post. So a 6-character link or a 200-character link both count as 23. The counter here applies the same weighting Twitter does, so the displayed count matches what Twitter will actually charge against your 280-char limit.
Twitter's "weighted character" system gives each Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and certain other "wide" Unicode characters a weight of 2 instead of 1. This compensates for the fact that CJK characters carry roughly twice the information density of Latin letters — one Chinese character often represents an entire word or concept. So a 280-char tweet limit lets you write ~140 CJK characters, similar to ~280 English words' worth of meaning.
Yes — X Premium (formerly Twitter Blue, $8/month) raised the per-post character limit to 25,000 in 2023 for paid subscribers. The tool toggles between free (280) and Premium (25,000) modes. Free-account users can still use thread mode to chain multiple 280-char posts together; Premium users can write a single long-form post without splitting.
When your tweet exceeds 280 weighted characters, the tool finds the last word boundary before the limit and splits there, then continues with the next 280-char block from that point. Each split tweet shows its own counter and copy button. With "(n/m) numbering" enabled, the tool reserves 12 characters per tweet for the thread marker so the markers don't push the actual text over the limit.
Most other counters do not apply Twitter's URL weighting (23 chars per link) or CJK / emoji weighting. They count raw characters. This tool replicates Twitter's actual logic, so the count you see here is what Twitter's posting flow will count when you submit. If a draft was "fine" elsewhere but this tool flags it, the discrepancy is usually URLs.
Related: twitter character counter, x character counter, twitter char limit, 280 character counter, tweet character count, x premium character limit, twitter thread splitter, tweet length checker, twitter url length, t.co link counter, twitter post counter, free twitter counter, tweet builder, thread mode twitter, cjk emoji twitter count