Hashtag counter: check a caption against every network’s limit
Count the hashtags in a caption, find duplicates and trim to Instagram’s 5, Threads’ 1 or YouTube’s 60. Free, in your browser: nothing is sent.
By Mellow · UpdatedCount your hashtags
8 hashtags, 6 different, 2 duplicates. Over the limit on Instagram (5) and Threads (1). X recommends no more than 2.
Against each network’s limit
- Instagram8 / 5Per post or reel, hashtags in comments included. With more than 5 on one photo or video, Instagram says it won’t post. Source
- Threads8 / 1One topic per post. When a post with tags in its text is sent through Threads’ API, the first tag becomes the topic. Source
- YouTube8 / 60More than 60 and YouTube ignores every hashtag on the video, and says over-tagging may get a video removed from your uploads or from search. Up to three can show by the title. Source
- X8 · no limitX says you may use as many hashtags as you like, and recommends no more than 2 as best practice. Source
- TikTok8 · no published limitTikTok’s Help Center and its posting API describe hashtags but give no number. Source
- LinkedIn8 · no published limitLinkedIn’s Help Center has no page on hashtags in posts, and its page on posting gives no number. Source
- Facebook8 · no published limitFacebook’s Help Center explains how to write a hashtag but gives no number. Source
- Pinterest8 · no published limitPinterest’s Help Center has no page on hashtags that we could find, and its Pin specs don’t mention them. Source
- Bluesky8 · no published limitBluesky’s documentation explains how hashtags are marked in a post but gives no number. Source
Counted the way Mellow Hub’s composer reads a hashtag: a # followed by letters, digits or underscores, in any alphabet, with capitals ignored when looking for duplicates. A # inside a word or a link is not counted, and neither is a tag made only of emoji, which Instagram accepts.
Tidy and copy
Keeps the first 5 different hashtags in the order they appear and removes the rest, duplicates included. Mentions and the rest of the caption stay as they are.
Opens Mellow Hub. Signing up and connecting your accounts are free; publishing starts with a 7-day free trial. What you made here waits in this browser and goes into your first post, which you can change before anything is sent.
How many hashtags can you use on Instagram?
Up to 5 on a post or reel. Instagram’s Help Center says that with more than 5 on a single photo or video it won’t post, and the limit covers hashtags in comments too. The other networks differ: Threads takes 1 topic per post, YouTube ignores every hashtag on a video that has more than 60, X sets no limit but recommends no more than 2, and TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest and Bluesky publish no limit. Paste a caption above to count its hashtags against all of them at once.
Hashtag limits by network
| Network | Hashtags in one post | What the network says, and where |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Per post or reel, hashtags in comments included. With more than 5 on one photo or video, Instagram says it won’t post. Instagram Help Center: Use hashtags on Instagram | |
| Threads | 1 | One topic per post. When a post with tags in its text is sent through Threads’ API, the first tag becomes the topic. Instagram Help Center: Tag a topic in your post on Threads; Meta for Developers: Threads posts, topic tags |
| YouTube | 60 | More than 60 and YouTube ignores every hashtag on the video, and says over-tagging may get a video removed from your uploads or from search. Up to three can show by the title. YouTube Help: Find playlists & videos using hashtags |
| X | No limit; no more than 2 recommended | X says you may use as many hashtags as you like, and recommends no more than 2 as best practice. X Help Center: How to use hashtags |
| TikTok | No published limit | TikTok’s Help Center and its posting API describe hashtags but give no number. TikTok Help Center: Making a post; TikTok Help Center: Report a hashtag; TikTok for Developers: Content Posting API, Direct Post |
| No published limit | LinkedIn’s Help Center has no page on hashtags in posts, and its page on posting gives no number. LinkedIn Help: Post and share updates | |
| No published limit | Facebook’s Help Center explains how to write a hashtag but gives no number. Facebook Help Center: How do I use hashtags on Facebook? | |
| No published limit | Pinterest’s Help Center has no page on hashtags that we could find, and its Pin specs don’t mention them. Pinterest Help: Review Pin specs | |
| Bluesky | No published limit | Bluesky’s documentation explains how hashtags are marked in a post but gives no number. Bluesky documentation: Links, mentions, and rich text |
Each figure is the network’s own, from its help or developer pages, linked under it and read on 7 October 2026. Where those pages give no number, the table says so rather than repeating a figure from a blog or a study. Instagram’s API reference, which scheduling tools use, still allows 30 hashtags and 20 @mentions in a caption (Meta for Developers: Instagram Graph API, IG User media (updated 28 September 2026)); the counter keeps to the Help Center’s 5, the stricter of the two.
What the counter counts
- Hashtags. A # at the start of a word followed by letters, digits or underscores, in any alphabet: #café, #Привет and #2026 all count. An emoji, a space or punctuation ends the tag. This is how Mellow Hub’s composer reads a hashtag.
- Duplicates. The same tag written twice, with capitals ignored. None of the networks’ pages says whether a repeated tag counts twice, so to be safe every hashtag in the caption, duplicates included, is compared with each limit.
- Not hashtags. The # in C#, in the middle of a word or inside a link. A tag made only of emoji is not counted, although Instagram accepts one. A # followed only by digits, such as #1, is counted, though Threads’ API doesn’t make it a topic.
- Mentions and characters. @mentions are counted so you can see them, and characters are counted as you see them, an emoji as one. For each network’s character limit, use the character counter.
Choosing which hashtags to keep
- Keep the ones that describe the post. On Instagram a hashtag puts a public post on that tag’s page, so the subject, the place or the technique tells people more than a broad tag.
- Write the most specific first. Keep the first 5 trims from the end, so the order you write them in is the order they are kept.
- Give each network its own set. 5 for Instagram, 1 topic for Threads, no more than 2 for X if you follow its advice. In Mellow Hub you can give a network its own version of the caption.
Sources
Every page in the table was read on 7 October 2026. Instagram’s limit is the constant Mellow Hub checks before it sends an Instagram post, from Instagram Help Center: Use hashtags on Instagram; the API’s figures are from Meta for Developers: Instagram Graph API, IG User media (updated 28 September 2026), read the same day.
Questions
Is the Instagram hashtag limit 5 or 30?
5. Instagram’s Help Center says you can use up to 5 on a post, and that with more than 5 on a single photo or video it won’t post. Thirty was the limit until December 2025, and older guides still give it. Instagram’s API reference, which scheduling apps use, also still says 30, and Instagram hasn’t said which number applies to a post an app sends, so keep to 5.
Do hashtags in the first comment count toward Instagram’s limit?
Yes. Instagram’s Help Center says hashtags can go in the caption or in the comments, and words its limit of 5 for a comment as well, so moving extra tags into a comment doesn’t get around it.
How many hashtags can I use on TikTok, LinkedIn or X?
None of the three sets a limit. X says you may use as many as you like and recommends no more than 2. TikTok’s Help Center and posting API, and LinkedIn’s Help Center, give no number. Threads takes 1 topic per post, and YouTube ignores every hashtag on a video that has more than 60.
Does the counter treat #Travel and #travel as the same hashtag?
Yes. Duplicates are found with capitals ignored, and an accented letter counts the same however it was typed, so #Café and #café are one tag. Remove duplicates keeps the first spelling where it was and takes out the others.
Why isn’t every # counted?
A # counts only when it starts a word and is followed by letters, digits or underscores, which is how Mellow Hub’s composer reads a hashtag. The # in C# or in a link such as example.com/menu#breakfast is not a hashtag. A tag made only of emoji is not counted either, although Instagram accepts one.
Is my caption saved or sent anywhere?
No. The counter runs in this page. Your caption is not sent to Mellow or anyone else, and refreshing the page brings back the example.
Schedule the caption in Mellow Hub
Mellow Hub publishes one post to Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, Pinterest and Facebook, and checks each network’s rules before anything is sent: it says when an Instagram caption has more than 5 hashtags, and refuses a caption longer than a network takes, such as Instagram’s 2,200 characters. The character counter checks the length against every network at once.
Schedule on Instagram and TikTokRead more about Instagram’s hashtag limit
This tool is free and needs no account. Mellow Hub is paid, after a 7-day free trial, and publishes only what you, or an assistant you have authorised, send or schedule.
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