Threads character counter
500 characters, counted Meta's way — including the rule almost every other counter misses, where an emoji is charged its UTF-8 bytes.
500 characters · an emoji costs its UTF-8 bytes
500 left
- Words
- 0
- Sentences
- 0
- Graphemes
- 0
- UTF-8 bytes
- 0
The Threads character limit
A Threads post is limited to 500 characters, and an emoji costs its number of UTF-8 bytes rather than one character.
- Meta's developer documentation states it twice over: “Text posts are limited to 500 characters” and “Emojis are counted as the number of UTF-8 bytes”.
- That makes emoji expensive: a plain 😀 is 4 bytes, so it spends 4 of the 500, and a family emoji built from several code points spends far more.
- Links count in full — there is no shortening and no discount. Attaching a link preview does not change the count.
- Longer thoughts are published as a chain of replies, each reply with its own 500-character budget.
Tiers and upgrades
Every account
500 characters
Threads has no paid tier and sells no extra characters. A Meta Verified subscription changes nothing about post length.
Source ↗What happens if you go over the limit on Threads
In the app
The composer refuses the extra text — the counter goes red and the Post button greys out. Nothing is truncated.
Through the API
The Threads API returns an error and no container is created. MicroPoster splits the text into a native chain of replies instead.
Character limits on every platform
The same post is a different length on every network. This is the full comparison, with the document each number comes from.
| Platform | Limit | Paid tier | How it counts | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| X (Twitter) | 280 | 25,000Premium | Links cost 23 · emoji and CJK cost 2 | X developer docs — Counting characters ↗ |
| Bluesky | 3003,000 bytes | — | Counts graphemes — an emoji is 1 | AT Protocol lexicon — app.bsky.feed.post ↗ |
| Threads — this page | 500 | — | 500 characters · an emoji costs its UTF-8 bytes | Meta developer docs — Threads posts ↗ |
| Mastodon | 500default, per server | — | Links cost 23 · mentions drop the domain | Mastodon docs — Posting ↗ |
| 3,000 | — | Plain characters · the feed folds at ~210 | LinkedIn Help — Post and share updates ↗ | |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 | — | 2,200 characters · 30 hashtags · 20 @ tags | Meta developer docs — IG User Media (caption) ↗ |
| Facebook post | 63,206 | — | 63,206 characters · folds at ~477 | Meta developer docs — Pages API Posts (no limit published) ↗ |
| TikTok caption | 2,200 | — | 2,200 UTF-16 units — an emoji costs 2 | TikTok for Developers — Content Posting API ↗ |
Last verified: September 8, 2026 · Meta developer docs — Threads posts ↗
Writing this for more than one platform? MicroPoster cross-posts from X to Threads and handles each platform's limit automatically — anything too long is split into a native thread rather than rejected.
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Threads questions
What is the character limit on Threads?
500 characters per post. Meta's developer documentation states it directly: “Text posts are limited to 500 characters.” Replies get their own 500, so a chain is the supported way to write something longer.
How does Threads count emoji?
By bytes. Meta's documentation says “Emojis are counted as the number of UTF-8 bytes”, so a plain 😀 spends 4 of your 500 and a multi-part emoji such as 👨👩👧👦 spends far more. This counter applies that rule; most generic counters charge you 1 and let you go over.
Do links count towards the 500 characters on Threads?
Yes, in full. Threads does not shorten links for counting and gives no discount for attaching a preview card — a long URL costs every character it contains.
How do I post more than 500 characters on Threads?
Split it into a chain: publish the first 500 characters, then reply to your own post with the next. There is no paid tier that raises the limit, so a chain is the only route.
Counters for the platforms next to this one
Or start from the character counter hub, which counts your draft against all eight platforms at once.