WordBench

WordBench reference

Character limits by platform

Every figure on these pages was read off the platform’s own documentation, not copied from another character counter, and last checked on 23 July 2026. Each page says which unit the platform counts in, because they do not all count the same thing.

By the WordBench teamLimits last checked 23 July 2026How we calculate this

X (Twitter) character limitPost, free account: 280 weighted unitsInstagram character limitProfile bio: 150 charactersThreads character limitPost: 500 charactersBluesky character limitPost: 300 graphemesLinkedIn character limitPost: 3,000 charactersYouTube character limitVideo title: 100 charactersSMS character limitSingle message, GSM-7: 160 charactersGoogle Ads character limitResponsive search ad headline: 30 characters

Every limit in one table

The unit column is the part other character counters leave out. X counts weighted units, Bluesky counts graphemes with a second ceiling in UTF-8 bytes, and SMS counts septets or 16-bit code units depending on a single character in your message. A counter that reports plain characters for all three is wrong for all three.

Published character limits per platform and field, with the unit each platform counts in. Checked 23 July 2026.
PlatformFieldLimitCounted inSource
X (Twitter)Post, free account280weighted unitsCounting characters, X developer platform
X (Twitter)Longer post, Premium25,000charactersAbout different types of Posts, X Help Center
InstagramProfile bio150charactersAdd a bio to your Instagram profile, Instagram Help Center
InstagramCaption2,200charactersAd Creative and Posts, Meta Marketing API
ThreadsPost500charactersIntroducing Threads, Meta newsroom
BlueskyPost300graphemesapp.bsky.feed.post lexicon, bluesky-social/atproto
LinkedInPost3,000charactersPost and share updates, LinkedIn Help
YouTubeVideo title100charactersEdit video settings, YouTube Help
YouTubeVideo description5,000charactersEdit video settings, YouTube Help
SMSSingle message, GSM-7160charactersHow long can a message be, Twilio docs
SMSSingle message, UCS-270charactersHow long can a message be, Twilio docs
SMSPer segment, GSM-7153charactersHow long can a message be, Twilio docs
SMSPer segment, UCS-267charactersHow long can a message be, Twilio docs
Google AdsResponsive search ad headline30charactersAbout responsive search ads, Google Ads Help
Google AdsResponsive search ad description90charactersAbout responsive search ads, Google Ads Help

Two limits that are not limits

These two appear in every SEO checklist as hard numbers. They are not. Publishing them as limits is the most common inaccuracy in character-counter content, so they are kept separate here.

SurfaceWhat people sayWhat is actually true
Meta descriptionAround 155 to 160 charactersGoogle publishes no limit at all. Its documentation says there is no limit on how long a meta description can be, and that the snippet is truncated in search results as needed, typically to fit the device width. The 155 figure is a rule of thumb derived from how much fits on a desktop result, not a rule. Control your snippets in search results, Google Search Central
Title tagAround 50 to 60 charactersGoogle also publishes no character limit for the title link, and it may rewrite your title entirely. Truncation happens on available width, so a title of wide capitals clips sooner than the same character count in narrow lowercase. Control your title links in search results, Google Search Central

How these figures are kept current

Platform limits change, and a stale number is worse than no number. Every limit in this table is rechecked against its source document each quarter, and the date at the top of the page moves with it. The schedule and the checklist are in the repository, and the counting rules behind each unit are on the methodology page.

Sources