Word Counter — Count Words, Characters & Sentences
Paste or type your text and see the word, character, sentence and paragraph counts update instantly, along with estimated reading and speaking time. Nothing you write is saved or sent anywhere — it stays in your browser.
How to use the Word Counter
- Type or paste your text into the box.
- Read the live counts for words, characters, sentences and paragraphs.
- Check the estimated reading and speaking time and the most used words.
- Use Copy to copy your text or Clear to start again.
How the counts work
Words are groups of characters separated by spaces or line breaks. Sentences are counted by the full stops, question marks and exclamation marks that end them, and paragraphs by blocks of text separated by blank lines. Characters are shown both with and without spaces because different platforms count them differently.
Reading time assumes an average adult reads about 238 words a minute; speaking time assumes about 150 words a minute, which is a comfortable pace for a speech or video script.
Common length targets
Google typically displays about 155 characters of a meta description, while a post on X is limited to 280. An essay intro is often 100–150 words, a good blog post is 1,000–2,000 words, and a one-minute speech is around 150 words.
Ideas & examples
- Essay or assignment: Check you are inside the 1,500-word limit before you submit, without waiting for a word processor to open.
- Social media captions: Keep the character count (with spaces) under the limit of the platform you are posting to.
- Speech or video script: Paste your script to see how long it will take to say out loud.
Frequently asked questions
Is my text saved or shared?
No. The counter works entirely in your browser. Your text is never stored, uploaded or shared.
Does it count characters with and without spaces?
Yes. Both numbers are displayed at once.
How is reading time calculated?
By dividing the word count by an average adult reading speed of 238 words per minute.
Is there a text length limit?
There is no fixed limit. Very long documents of hundreds of thousands of words may feel slower on older devices.
Does it work in other languages?
Yes. Word and character counts work for any language that separates words with spaces. Counts for languages written without spaces are less meaningful.
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