CountCharactersSMS Character Counter
Count SMS characters and track segment splits. Standard GSM-7 messages cap at 160 characters per segment. Adding emoji switches to Unicode and cuts the limit to 70. Limit: 160 characters.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many characters can an SMS message have?
A single GSM-7 SMS segment allows 160 characters. If you exceed that, carriers split it into multiple segments of 153 characters each, which can cost more to send.
Do emoji break the 160-character SMS limit?
Yes. Emoji require Unicode (UCS-2) encoding, which drops the single-segment limit from 160 to 70 characters. Multi-segment UCS-2 messages allow 67 characters per segment.
What characters are included in the GSM-7 character set?
GSM-7 includes standard Latin letters, digits, common punctuation, and a small set of symbols. Characters outside that set — including most emoji and accented letters — trigger Unicode encoding and lower your per-segment limit.
Platform Character Limit Reference
Character limits for major social networks, SEO fields, and messaging platforms as of 2026.
Social Platforms
| Platform | Field | Limit (chars) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| X (Twitter) | Tweet | 280 | Most non-Latin characters and emoji count as 2. Premium accounts can post up to 4 000. |
| Most non-Latin characters and emoji count as 2. Premium accounts can post up to 4 000. | |||
| X Premium | Long tweet | 4,000 | Premium / X Pro long-form post limit. |
| Premium / X Pro long-form post limit. | |||
| Bluesky | Post | 300 | — |
| Threads | Post | 500 | — |
| Caption | 2,200 | Only the first ~125 characters show before the “more” cutoff. | |
| Only the first ~125 characters show before the “more” cutoff. | |||
| Bio | 150 | — | |
| Post | 3,000 | Posts truncate after ~140 characters in the feed before “see more”. | |
| Posts truncate after ~140 characters in the feed before “see more”. | |||
| Headline | 220 | — | |
| Post | 63,206 | — | |
| TikTok | Caption | 2,200 | — |
| YouTube | Title | 100 | — |
| YouTube | Description | 5,000 | — |
| Pin description | 500 | — | |
SEO & Search
| Platform | Field | Limit (chars) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta title | 60 | Pixel-width matters too; 50–60 chars usually fits the desktop SERP. | |
| Pixel-width matters too; 50–60 chars usually fits the desktop SERP. | |||
| Meta description | 160 | Mobile snippets cap around 120; desktop around 160. | |
| Mobile snippets cap around 120; desktop around 160. | |||
| Google Ads | Headline | 30 | — |
| Google Ads | Description | 90 | — |
| URL | Slug | 75 | Soft cap. Shorter URLs tend to earn higher click-through rates. |
| Soft cap. Shorter URLs tend to earn higher click-through rates. | |||
Messaging
| Platform | Field | Limit (chars) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMS | Single message | 160 | GSM-7 single-segment SMS. Includes any emoji as multi-byte; the segment count grows past 160. |
| GSM-7 single-segment SMS. Includes any emoji as multi-byte; the segment count grows past 160. | |||
| Discord | Message | 2,000 | — |
| Discord Nitro | Message | 4,000 | — |