# Ad character counter for Facebook, Instagram and TikTok > Pick Facebook, Instagram or TikTok and a field, paste your text, and see the count against its limit as you type. Free, no sign-up. - Page title: Ad character counter: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok | Spytrend - Page description: Free character counter for Facebook, Instagram and TikTok ads, captions and bios: see each count against its limit and what is left, emoji included. - Tool: https://spytrend.com/ad-character-counter - Open on one field: https://spytrend.com/ad-character-counter?platform=instagram&field=caption (platform: facebook, instagram, tiktok; field: primary-text, headline, description, caption, bio, username, ad-text, ad-display-name) - Embeddable version: https://spytrend.com/ad-character-counter/embed - All free tools: https://spytrend.com/tools - The product behind it: https://spytrend.com/?utm_source=tools&utm_medium=free_tool&utm_campaign=ad-character-counter To fit your ad copy, keep Facebook and Instagram primary text to about 125 characters, a headline to 40 and a Facebook description to 30; longer text can be cut on screen. TikTok caps ad text at 100 character spaces and an ad display name at 20. Instagram captions stop at 2,200 characters, TikTok captions at 4,000. Pick the field you are writing and read it against the platform’s number, with emoji counted the way each platform counts them. ## A count for every field, its limit and what is left What comes out: - **Facebook: primary text, headline and description.** Each ad field against Meta’s recommended length, and by how much the text runs past it. - **Instagram: ads, caption, bio and username.** Ad primary text and headline against Meta’s recommendation; caption, bio and username against the most Instagram accepts. - **TikTok: ad text, ad display name, caption and bio.** The ad fields in TikTok’s character spaces and against its hard caps; caption and bio against the most the app accepts. - **Emoji and CJK, counted honestly.** An emoji is one character in a Facebook ad or a caption and two spaces in a TikTok ad, where a Chinese, Japanese or Korean character also takes two. Meta’s ad numbers are recommendations, and they change by placement: a Facebook Feed headline shows about 27 characters, a carousel card less. Check your placement in the Ads Manager preview before launch. ## Ad character counter: three steps 1. **Pick the platform** Choose Facebook, Instagram or TikTok. The fields under it change to the ones that platform has, each with its limit. 2. **Pick a field and paste** Tap a field, such as primary text, caption or bio, and paste or type. The count and the bar update as you type, emoji and line breaks included. 3. **Trim what runs over** Past the limit, the count is marked and the figure beside it says how many characters to cut. Move the offer earlier, or trim. Each field keeps its text when you switch, so you can write the ad, the caption and the bio in one sitting. Write the first line to work on its own: on a phone it is often all a scrolling reader sees. ## Meta recommends ad lengths; captions, bios and TikTok ads have hard caps Meta’s ads guide gives recommended text lengths for Facebook and Instagram ads, per placement, rather than fixed limits. Past the recommendation, the text folds behind “See more” or is cut, depending on the device and the placement. TikTok caps ad text at 100 character spaces and an ad display name at 20, and Ads Manager won’t take more. Captions, bios and usernames are hard caps too: the app stops at the number. Posting a TikTok video through a scheduler? TikTok’s posting API stops video captions at 2,200 characters, not the 4,000 the app takes. ### The numbers this counter uses | Field | Limit | What happens past it | | ------------------------- | ------------------------ | ----------------------- | | Facebook ad primary text | 125 | Folds behind “See more” | | Facebook ad headline | 40 (27 on Facebook Feed) | Cut with “…” | | Facebook ad description | 30 | Cut, or not shown | | Instagram ad primary text | 125 | Folds behind “See more” | | Instagram ad headline | 40 | Cut with “…” | | Instagram caption | 2,200 | Not accepted | | Instagram bio | 150 | Not accepted | | Instagram username | 30 | Not accepted | | TikTok ad text | 100 | Not accepted | | TikTok ad display name | 20 | Not accepted | | TikTok caption | 4,000 | Not accepted | | TikTok bio | 80 | Not accepted | ## An emoji is one character in a post and two in a TikTok ad A plain character count gets emoji wrong: 👍🏽 is stored as two symbols, but a reader sees one thumbs-up. That is how this counter counts it on Facebook and Instagram and in TikTok captions and bios. TikTok Ads Manager counts in character spaces: a Latin letter, digit, space or punctuation mark takes one, and an emoji or a Chinese, Japanese or Korean character takes two. Spaces at the start and end don’t count. A 100-space ad text in Japanese is 50 characters. TikTok ad display names take no emoji at all, and neither the ad text nor the ad display name takes curly braces. ## Free version limits The count runs in your browser; there is no limit and no account. We don’t store your text. It checks length only. Whether an ad or a post is approved depends on Meta’s and TikTok’s policies, which this counter doesn’t review. ## Copy that fits the fold — and a launch that isn’t rejected Many readers never tap “See more”. If the offer sits in the last third of a 200-character primary text, someone scrolling past may never see it. Keeping to the recommended length keeps the offer in what they do see. On TikTok the limit is hard: ad text over 100 spaces is refused in Ads Manager, and emoji-heavy ad text hits it sooner than the letter count suggests, because each emoji takes two spaces. Counting first saves a round trip when you upload ten variations. Headlines carry the click on Facebook, and the Facebook Feed shows fewer characters than the field takes. Writing to the shorter number keeps the same headline readable across placements. A bio has 80 to 150 characters to say who you are; counting as you write beats finding out when the app stops you. What a counter can’t show is the copy that already works in your market. In Spytrend you can read the ads that have run for months, first lines included. ## Write your first line against the ads that kept running A counter tells you whether your copy fits; Spytrend shows the copy that already works. Spytrend is an ad intelligence platform for Facebook and TikTok advertising: a full five-year archive of ads, AI-classified into 33 business categories, with every advertiser assembled into a single card — all ads, pages, domains and countries in one place. ### Two jobs a counter can’t do - **Finding the opening lines that last.** Search a competitor’s brand or domain and read the first lines of the ads they keep running. An ad still live after months is copy its advertiser can afford. - **Seeing how long the copy is.** Read whether the long runners in your market write two lines or ten, and whether the offer sits before the fold or after it. ### From one count to the market, in three steps - **Search your market.** Type a competitor’s brand or domain, or the product you sell. - **Keep the ads that lasted.** Set days running to 30 or more, so the tests switched off early drop out. - **Read the first line.** Open the longest runner and set its opening against your own. ### How to start [Create a free account](https://spytrend.com/register?source=tools&returnTo=%2Fads%3Fdays_active_from%3D30%26from%3Dtools&utm_source=tools&utm_medium=free_tool&utm_campaign=ad-character-counter) and search a brand or a domain you compete with before you write the next variation. A free account opens the ad library; paid plans add fresh ads and every filter. ## FAQ - **How many characters can a Facebook ad have?** Meta recommends 125 characters of primary text, a 40-character headline and a 30-character description for most placements. A Facebook Feed headline shows about 27. Longer text isn’t refused; it folds behind “See more” or is cut. - **What is the Instagram caption character limit?** An Instagram caption takes up to 2,200 characters. In an Instagram ad, Meta recommends keeping the primary text to 125 characters and the headline to 40. - **How long can an Instagram bio and username be?** An Instagram bio takes up to 150 characters, and a username up to 30. - **What is the TikTok ad text character limit?** TikTok accepts up to 100 character spaces of ad text and up to 20 for the ad display name. An emoji or a Chinese, Japanese or Korean character takes two spaces. - **What are the TikTok caption and bio character limits?** The TikTok app takes captions of up to 4,000 characters; video captions posted through TikTok’s API, as schedulers do, stop at 2,200. A TikTok bio takes up to 80 characters. - **Do emoji count as characters?** Yes. This counter counts each emoji as one character on Facebook and Instagram and in TikTok captions and bios, the way a reader sees it. TikTok Ads Manager counts each emoji as two spaces and allows none in an ad display name. - **Where does Facebook cut the primary text?** Meta doesn’t publish an exact point; it depends on the device and placement. Its recommended length is 125 characters; this counter shows how far your text runs past it. - **Do you store the text I paste?** No. The count runs in your browser; we don’t store your text. ## See the copy your market keeps paying for Your count tells you what fits. Spytrend shows the ads your market keeps paying for, each with its launch date and days running, so you can read their copy before you write yours. [Open Spytrend](https://spytrend.com/register?source=tools&returnTo=%2Fads%3Fdays_active_from%3D30%26from%3Dtools&utm_source=tools&utm_medium=free_tool&utm_campaign=ad-character-counter) ## Related tools - [Hook generator](https://spytrend.com/hook-generator): Describe your product, pick a niche if you like, and get 10 opening lines for your next video ad. - [Meta Ad Library search](https://spytrend.com/meta-ad-library-search): Paste a domain and see which Facebook pages advertise it, with the ad count for each and a link to its Ad Library page. - [Facebook ad run time](https://spytrend.com/facebook-ad-run-time): Paste an Ad Library link or an ad ID and see when the ad started, how many days it has run and whether it is still running. - [Creative reuse](https://spytrend.com/creative-reuse): Paste an ad link and see how many ads and Facebook pages use the same image. - [Video to text converter](https://spytrend.com/video-to-text-converter): Read what a video ad says. Upload an MP4 or paste a YouTube link and get the transcript as text or SRT. - [YouTube transcript](https://spytrend.com/youtube-transcript): Paste a YouTube link and get the video’s transcript with timestamps. Copy it or download TXT and SRT. [All free tools](https://spytrend.com/tools) ## Embed this tool on your site Add this counter to your own page. Paste the code below into your HTML; it works on any site, needs no account, and the count runs in your visitor’s browser exactly as it does here. ```html ``` The count runs in your browser; we don’t store your text. Facebook and Instagram ad numbers are Meta’s recommended lengths, which vary by placement; the other limits are the most each platform accepts.