Bluesky character counter
Bluesky allows 300 characters and counts them the way a reader would: 1 for each letter, and 1 for each emoji however it is built. It also shortens a link before counting it. This counter does both, the way Bluesky's own post box does.
0 / 300
300 left
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How Bluesky counts
- One for each character you can see
- Bluesky counts graphemes, which are characters as a reader sees them. An accented letter is 1. So is an emoji, whether it is a single face or a family joined together from several.
- Links typed with https:// are shortened first
- The post box drops the https:// and keeps the site name. A path of up to 15 characters is kept whole. A longer one is cut to its first 13 characters and three dots, so a 90-character link counts as the site name plus 16.
- A link without https:// counts in full
- example.com/a/long/path still becomes a link when you post, but it is counted exactly as typed. Only a full address is shortened, so adding https:// can save you characters.
- Everything else counts as typed
- Spaces, line breaks, hashtags and @names are counted like any other text. Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters are 1 each, the same as Latin letters.
Worked examples
| What you type | You count | Bluesky counts |
|---|---|---|
| Launch day is here.Plain text is 1 a character. | 19 | 19 |
| Launch day πππEach emoji is 1. | 14 | 14 |
| π¨βπ©βπ§βπ¦A family is four emoji joined together, and still 1. | 1 | 1 |
| ζ°γγγ‘γγ₯γΌγε§γΎγγΎγJapanese is 1 a character. | 13 | 13 |
| Read more: https://example.com/blog/2026/10/our-autumn-menu-is-here?utm_source=bskyA long link is cut to its site name and 16 more. | 83 | 38 |
| Read more: https://example.com/menuA short one only loses its https://. | 35 | 27 |
| Read more: example.com/blog/2026/10/our-autumn-menu-is-hereWithout https:// it is counted in full. | 59 | 59 |
Every number in this table is worked out by the counter at the top of the page, so the two always agree.
Questions
- What is the character limit on Bluesky?
- 300. Bluesky counts graphemes, which are characters as a reader sees them, so an emoji or an accented letter is one.
- Do emoji count as one character on Bluesky?
- Yes. Every emoji counts as 1, including flags, skin tones and family emoji built from several parts.
- Do links count in full on Bluesky?
- A link typed with https:// is shortened before it is counted: the site name, then the path if it is 15 characters or fewer, or its first 13 characters and three dots if it is longer. A link typed without https:// is counted as typed.
- Is Bluesky's limit the same as X's?
- No. X allows 280 and charges 23 for a link and 2 for an emoji. Bluesky allows 300, counts an emoji as 1 and shortens links. The same post can fit one and not the other, which is why each has its own counter.
- How do I know this matches Bluesky?
- The counter is a port of the code in Bluesky's own open-source app, and it is checked against Bluesky's link detection on 5,000 generated posts. In one rare case, a link with an accented letter and no https:// followed by a second link, Bluesky's own counter comes out a character or two different, and this one shows the count of the text you meant.
- Is anything I type stored?
- No. The counting happens in your browser and the text is not sent anywhere. It is kept in this tab so a refresh does not lose it, and it is gone when you close the tab.
Also here: X character counter, and the limits for every platform.
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