This online word counter measures words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences and paragraphs in real time. It is the quickest way to check whether an essay meets the required length, whether a meta description fits in Google, or whether a post is over a social network's limit.
Everything is calculated in your browser: your text is never sent to a server, so you can paste private documents safely.
How to use
- 1Type or paste your text into the box.
- 2Watch words, characters, sentences and paragraphs update instantly.
- 3Check the reading time and the words you repeat most.
- 4Copy the summary or save it to your history for later.
What you can do
- Real-time word, character, sentence and paragraph count
- Characters with and without spaces
- Estimated reading and speaking time
- Most frequent words
Why count words and characters
Many texts have a limit: a 1,500-word essay, a 250-word abstract, a 280-character post or a meta description of around 155 characters. Counting by hand is slow and unreliable; the counter gives you the exact figure as you type.
- Check the length of essays, assignments and dissertations.
- Fit titles and meta descriptions for SEO.
- Stay within character limits on social media and forms.
- Estimate how long a text takes to read or present aloud.
How words are counted
A word is any run of letters or digits in any alphabet, including accented letters. Hyphenated words (“well-known”) and contractions (“don't”) count as one. Characters are counted as you see them: an emoji with a skin tone is a single character even if it takes several code points.
Reading time uses an average silent reading speed of 230 words per minute, and speaking time uses 150, the usual pace of a presentation.
Tips to hit the target length
If you are over the limit, look at the most frequent words: they often reveal filler words and repetition that are easy to cut. If you are short, expand your examples instead of adding padding.
- Cut adverbs that add no nuance (“really”, “very”, “basically”).
- Replace wordy phrases (“in order to”) with short ones (“to”).
- Split paragraphs longer than five or six lines to improve readability.
Frequently asked questions
How many words are on a page?
It depends on the format, but a single-spaced page in 12-point font holds about 500 words, and a double-spaced page about 250–300.
Does it count spaces as characters?
It shows both: total characters including spaces and line breaks, and characters without spaces, which some applications and translation jobs ask for.
Is my text saved or sent anywhere?
No. Counting happens in your browser. Only if you have an account and press “Save to history” is it stored in your account, and you can delete it at any time.
Does it work for other languages?
Yes. It recognizes letters from any alphabet (Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic…), so it counts words correctly in English, Spanish, French or Russian.