Mastodon character counter

Mastodon limits at a glance

• Text: up to 500 characters.
• Media: up to 4 files per post.
• Follow-ups: yes. Postozo posts follow-up comments or thread items after the main post.
• Settings in Postozo: Visibility, Content warning.

How Mastodon counts characters

Most Mastodon servers allow 500 characters, but each server can set its own limit. When you connect, Postozo reads your server's limit and uses it.

Among the 23 networks with a counter here, Mastodon has the 4th shortest of 14 different limits. Threads, Pinterest, Twitch and Kick have the same limit of 500. Shorter is not worse: it only changes how you write. Short limits reward 1 clear idea per post.

This counter counts each character (Unicode code point), the same way Postozo checks it before saving.

Rules Postozo checks for Mastodon

Usually max 500 characters (depends on the server). Up to 4 images or 1 video. Follow-up comments become replies.

Mastodon settings in Postozo

• Visibility: Public, Unlisted, Followers only.
• Content warning: Optional. Hides the post behind this text until people click it.

How to use this Mastodon counter

1. Write or paste your Mastodon post (toot) in the box above.
2. Watch the "left" number. It turns amber when less than 10% is left and red when the text is too long.
3. Count links and hashtags as part of the text: Mastodon counts them too.
4. Too long? Move the rest to a follow-up. Postozo posts follow-ups as a thread.

Connecting Mastodon to Postozo

You connect Mastodon by pasting your details, which Postozo stores encrypted:

• Server
• Access token: On your server: Preferences, Development, New application. Allow write:statuses, write:media and read:accounts, then copy "Your access token".

After posting, Postozo shows statistics for each post as Mastodon shares them, next to the live link.

Tips for Mastodon posts

• Use a content warning to hide sensitive text until people click.
• Choose visibility: Public, Unlisted or Followers only.
• Up to 4 images or 1 video. Add alt text to your images.
• Follow-up comments become replies, so you can post a thread.

Before you post on Mastodon

• Read the post on a phone screen. Most people will see it there, and long lines look longer on a small screen.
• Open every link once to check it works and goes to the right page.
• Keep the full, longer version of your text. You may want it for a network with more room than Mastodon.

Write once, fit every network

If you post the same message to several networks, Postozo lets you write it once and change the text for Mastodon only. The AI assistant can shorten a post to fit Mastodon, and the post editor warns you before a post breaks a rule. See every network's limit on the all-networks character counter.