Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs as you type, with an estimated reading time. Free and instant.
About Word Counter
A word counter answers one of the most frequent questions anyone writing anything runs into: how long is this, really? Assignments, blog posts, captions, and job applications all come with word limits, and guessing wrong means reworking the whole piece at the last minute. Instead of pasting text into a desktop app or relying on a rough mental estimate, you get an accurate count the moment your text is in the box.
The counter treats words as groups of characters separated by whitespace, which matches how most editors and content systems count. Punctuation attached to a word counts as part of that word, and line breaks do not create extra words. Counts update live as you type, so there is never a stale number sitting on screen while you edit.
Students meeting essay requirements, bloggers pacing their posts, and copywriters staying under character limits all reach for this daily. Editors use it to quickly compare draft lengths, and anyone posting to a platform with a strict cap can check before hitting publish.
How to Use
- Paste or type your text into the text area.
- Watch the live stats update as you type.
- Use the reading-time estimate to plan your content.
Example
"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." 9 words · 45 characters · 1 sentence
The classic pangram contains nine words, forty-five characters including spaces, and a single sentence.
FAQ
How does the tool count words?
Words are groups of characters separated by whitespace. Punctuation attached to a word counts as part of that word.
Is reading time accurate?
It uses the standard 200 words-per-minute average, a widely accepted baseline for adult reading speed.
Does it count emoji as words?
No. Emoji count as characters but not words, matching how most style and content systems treat them.
Are hyphenated words counted as one word?
Yes. A hyphenated term like 'well-known' is treated as a single word because it contains no whitespace, mirroring how most word processors and CMS platforms count it.
Can I use it to check a Twitter or meta description limit?
Yes. The live character count alongside the word count makes it easy to check Twitter's 280-character limit and meta description guidelines around 155-160 characters.