Why the Pinterest Description Character Limit Is 800, Not 500

What is the Pinterest description character limit?

Pinterest sets the Pinterest description character limit at 800 characters, and both the Pinterest API and the Pinterest product specs give that number. The API v5 schema for creating a Pin declares the description field as a string with maxLength: 800, and the same cap appears on the schemas for updating and reading a Pin. The product specs article in the Pinterest Business Help Center says, for standard image Pins: "Enter up to 800 characters. Descriptions do not appear when viewing the Pin in the home feed or search feed."

The description is one of four text fields a Pin carries, and each has its own ceiling. All four limits below come from the PinCreate schema in Pinterest's published OpenAPI description, version 5.28.0.

Pin field	API property	Maximum length
Title	title	100 characters
Description	description	800 characters
Alt text	alt_text	500 characters
Destination	link	2048 characters

Sources: the Pinterest API v5 OpenAPI description and the Pinterest product specs, read on 28 September 2026.

Why do some sources say the limit is 500 characters?

Some sources say 500 because a Pinterest page says 500. Pinterest's creative best practices page for ads lists, under the standard image ad specs, "Pin description: Up to 500 characters," directly under a title rule of "Up to 100 characters." The product specs article and the API schema both say 800 for the same field.

Treat 800 as the hard limit. The API schema describes what the validator accepts, and the product specs article is the page Pinterest's Help Center maintains for every format. The 500 figure is also the API's cap on alt_text, a separate field, so a limit quoted as "500" belongs to alt text in the API and to nothing else in the Pin schema. If you want one number that satisfies every Pinterest page at once, write descriptions of 500 characters or fewer, and know that the platform accepts up to 800.

Which number wins

Ads best practices: 500

Product specs: 800

API schema: 800

Treat 800 as the limit

Where does a Pin description appear?

A Pin description does not appear in the home feed or the search feed, so a person scrolling the grid never reads it. The product specs say so for standard image, video and carousel Pins, and add for paid formats that "descriptions do not appear for ads when viewed up close." For collections Pins, "Descriptions will only appear for organic collections Pins when viewed up close."

The description has a second reader. Pinterest states that "Descriptions are used by our algorithm to determine relevance for delivery. We recommend entering a description to help get your Pin or ad in front of the right audience." That makes the description a relevance signal first and reading copy second. Write it so the keywords a searcher uses sit in plain sentences, not in a stuffed list, and treat the title as the field people read in the feed.

How is the Pin title limit different from the description limit?

The Pin title limit is 100 characters and, unlike the description, the title shows in the feed. The product specs state: "Enter up to 100 characters. Depending on the device, the first 40 characters may show in people's feeds. When entered, titles will appear in the home feed or search feed." For Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic "and other double byte languages, only the first 30 characters will show in people's feeds."

The two fields do opposite jobs. The title is short and visible, so the first 40 characters carry the click. The description is long and mostly hidden, so its 800 characters carry context for Pinterest's ranking. If a Pin has no title and no Rich Pin title exists, "nothing will show in its place in the home feed," which leaves the image to do all the work.

Does the 800 character limit change by Pin format?

The 800 character description limit applies to standard image, standard video, max width video, carousel, collections and max width collections formats, and to the results screens of quiz ads. Two formats drop the description field and use different text limits instead.

Format	Title limit	Description or body limit
Standard image Pin	100 characters	800 characters
Standard width video Pin	100 characters	800 characters
Carousel	100 characters	800 characters
Collections	100 characters	800 characters
Idea ad	100 characters	250 characters on page
Quiz ad results	100 characters	800 characters
Showcase ad features	Not stated	50 characters with spaces

Idea ads replace the description with per-page text capped at "250 characters max," and showcase ad features are "Limited to 50 characters including spaces." The multi-page format behind Idea ads is covered in our guide to Pinterest Idea Pins.

Do emoji or non-Latin scripts count differently in a description?

Pinterest documents no separate counting rule for emoji or non-Latin scripts in a Pin description. The API schema states the limit as a maxLength of 800 on a string, and neither the schema nor the product specs say whether a multi-code-point emoji costs one character or several. The only script-specific rule Pinterest publishes is the 30 character feed display for double byte languages, and it applies to the title, not the description.

Other platforms spell this out. Meta documents that Threads counts each emoji as its UTF-8 byte length. Pinterest does not, so leave a margin under 800 when a description carries many composed emoji, and test a borderline case before you queue a batch.

What happens when a description goes over 800 characters?

A description over 800 characters breaks the maxLength rule in the Create Pin schema, and the Create Pin endpoint lists a 400 response described as "The request could not be understood by the server due to unexpected data." Pinterest documents no separate error code for an overlong description, so the 400 names the request, not the field. Trim the description first when a Pin fails with a 400, then check the title, alt text and link against their own limits.

A description inside the limit can still fail for other reasons, from board access to media processing. Our guide to Pinterest Pins not publishing walks through the rest.

How do you write a description that fits the limit?

A description that fits the limit puts the search terms in its first sentences and stays at or under 800 characters, or 500 to satisfy every Pinterest page. Follow these steps for each Pin:

1. Write the title first, with the subject in the first 40 characters, since the title is the text people see in the feed.
2. Open the description with a plain sentence that names what the Pin shows, using the words a searcher types.
3. Add the details that set this Pin apart: the material, the recipe, the size, the use.
4. Count the full description, spaces included, and keep it at 800 characters or fewer.
5. Put descriptive text for screen readers in the alt text field, which has its own 500 character cap, instead of in the description.
6. Check the destination link fits in 2048 characters and points to the page the Pin promises.

Where AdaptlyPost fits

A Pin scheduled through AdaptlyPost is still a Pinterest Pin, so the 800 character description limit and the 100 character title limit apply to it exactly as they apply to one created in the Pinterest app. The Pinterest post scheduler queues standard Pins as "Vertical image Pins with titles, descriptions, and destination links," along with video Pins, Idea Pins and product Pins, to the boards you choose and at the times you set. A board is required on every Pinterest post sent through the AdaptlyPost API. After publishing, AdaptlyPost's Pinterest analytics keep impressions as lifetime counters and count Pin clicks and outbound clicks apart, so you can compare a Pin's reach before and after a description rewrite. Our guide on how to schedule Pinterest posts covers the planning side.

Frequently asked questions

How many characters can a Pinterest description have?

A Pinterest description holds up to 800 characters. The API v5 schema sets maxLength: 800 on the field, and the Pinterest product specs say "Enter up to 800 characters." Pinterest's creative best practices page lists 500, so 500 is the number that satisfies every Pinterest page.

Is the Pinterest description limit 500 or 800 characters?

The limit is 800 characters. The API schema and the product specs article both give 800, and they describe what Pinterest accepts. The 500 figure comes from Pinterest's creative best practices page for ads and matches the API's cap on alt text, a different field.

Do Pin descriptions show in the Pinterest feed?

No. Pinterest's product specs state that "Descriptions do not appear when viewing the Pin in the home feed or search feed." Pinterest uses the description to decide relevance for delivery, while the title is the text people read in the feed.

What is the Pinterest title character limit?

A Pin title holds up to 100 characters. The product specs say that, depending on the device, "the first 40 characters may show in people's feeds," and only the first 30 show for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic and other double byte languages. Put the subject of the Pin at the start of the title.

Does alt text count toward the Pinterest description limit?

No. Alt text is a separate field with its own 500 character cap in the API schema, and it does not take any of the description's 800 characters. Use alt text to describe the image for screen readers and the description to describe the Pin for search.

Do Idea Pins have an 800 character description?

Idea ads use a different text rule. The product specs give Idea ads a 100 character title and "250 characters max" of text on each page, and list no 800 character description for the format. The 800 limit covers standard image, video, carousel and collections Pins.

Does the Pinterest description limit apply to ads too?

The product specs, which cover ads as well as organic formats, list the description limit as 800 characters and note that for ads the description does not appear when viewed up close. Pinterest's creative best practices page for ads gives a different number, 500 characters, under the same "Pin description" label. The API schema enforces 800 as the maxLength on the field, so that number covers paid Pins too.

Do spaces count toward the Pinterest description character limit?

Pinterest does not publish a counting rule for spaces in a description. The API schema sets maxLength: 800 on the whole description string, and a space is a character in that string, so count spaces along with letters. A description that reaches 800 characters with its spaces included has hit the cap.

Can a Pinterest description use exactly 800 characters?

The API schema sets maxLength at 800, and maxLength admits values up to and including that count. A description landing at exactly 800 characters meets the cap rather than breaking it. Anything past 800 breaks the schema's maxLength rule, and the Create Pin endpoint lists a 400 response for requests with unexpected data.

Is the description limit the same for carousel and collections Pins?

Carousel and collections Pins share the same 800 character description limit as standard image and video Pins, per Pinterest's product specs. Idea ads are the exception, since they swap the description field for per-page text capped at 250 characters.