Word Counter
Paste any text to get word, character, sentence, and paragraph counts instantly. Includes reading time estimate and reading level indicator.
Word Counter
Paste your text β get six counts instantly
Your blog post needs to stay under 1,500 words but you're not sure how close you are. Your tweet is longer than 280 characters and you need to trim it. Your client brief says "300 words max" and you've written four paragraphs without counting. Paste your text into the box and all six numbers update as you type β words, characters, characters without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, and reading time. No submit button, no page reload, just instant feedback.
Below the stats grid, four colour-coded progress bars show how your text length compares against common platform limits: Twitter/X (280 characters), LinkedIn (3,000), SMS (160), and meta title (60). Green means you're within budget, amber means you're approaching the limit (85%+), red means you've gone over. Use the Copy text button to grab the content, or Clear to start fresh.
Who uses this word counter
Google tends to favour content between 1,000 and 2,500 words for competitive keywords, but writing too much wastes time and too little risks thin content. Paste your draft and the word count tells you instantly whether you're in the target range. The reading time estimate β based on 200 words per minute β helps you gauge whether a reader will finish your piece in a single sitting.
A tweet over 280 characters gets truncated. An SMS over 160 characters splits into two segments, doubling your cost. A LinkedIn post over 3,000 characters gets cut off in the feed. The progress bars show exactly how much room you have left before you need to start trimming.
Essay instructions say "500β750 words" and you're at 920. The no-spaces character count helps when a submission form counts characters instead of words. The sentence and paragraph counts give you structural insight β if your essay has too few paragraphs for its length, it probably needs better organisation.
Button labels, error messages, and tooltip text all have tight space constraints. The no-spaces character count reflects how most design tools display remaining length, making it easy to check whether your copy fits before you hand it to a developer.
Related tools
How the word counter works β six metrics from one text box
What happens when you type
Every time you type, paste, or delete text, the counter runs six separate calculations on your input. No data leaves your device β the entire process happens locally in your browser. The results update in real time with no lag, even on older phones or laptops. All text stays in memory only and is permanently gone when you close the tab or click Clear.
Word count
Your text is split wherever whitespace appears β spaces, tabs, newlines, or combinations of them. Empty entries are discarded, so multiple spaces between words don't inflate the count. A hyphenated word like "well-known" counts as one word, because the split only happens on whitespace, not hyphens. A 1,200-word blog post might show 1,198 if it has two blank lines at the end β but the count excludes those blank lines because they contain no actual words.
Character counts (total and no-spaces)
The total character count includes every character you type β letters, numbers, punctuation, spaces, tabs, and line breaks. The no-spaces count strips all whitespace before measuring. These two numbers matter for different platforms: Twitter/X counts all characters including spaces in its 280-character limit, while some design tools and SMS systems count only visible characters. Having both numbers side by side removes the guesswork.
Sentence and paragraph counts
Sentences are counted by splitting on periods, exclamation marks, and question marks. Consecutive punctuation (like "?!") counts as a single separator, so "Really?!" is one sentence, not two. Paragraphs are detected by looking for two or more consecutive blank lines β a single line break within a paragraph doesn't create a new one. An abbreviation like "Dr." can cause the counter to split prematurely, which is a known limitation of regex-based detection without full natural language processing.
Reading time and platform limits
Reading time is your word count divided by 200 β a conservative baseline for silent reading of general English text. A 600-word article shows 3 minutes, a 1,500-word post shows 8 minutes. The platform limits section compares your total character count (no spaces) against four common thresholds: Twitter/X (280), LinkedIn (3,000), SMS (160), and meta title (60). Each bar fills proportionally and changes colour at 85% capacity (amber) and when exceeded (red). A 55-character meta title shows the bar at 92% in amber β you're close to the limit and may want to trim.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this word counter count hyphenated words as one or two?
Hyphenated words like "well-known" or "state-of-the-art" count as one word, because the counter splits on whitespace only β hyphens are treated as part of the word. This matches how Microsoft Word and Google Docs count words. If you need each component counted separately, replace hyphens with spaces before pasting your text.
How is reading time calculated?
The estimate uses 200 words per minute β a conservative average for silent reading of general English text. A 1,200-word article shows 6 minutes, a 500-word blog post shows 3 minutes. Academic or technical content is typically read slower (100β150 wpm), while skimming can reach 300+ wpm. The result always rounds up so you never underestimate the time commitment.
Does the character count include spaces?
Yes β the main "Characters" count includes every character: letters, numbers, punctuation, spaces, tabs, and line breaks. The "Chars (no spaces)" count strips all whitespace before measuring. Twitter/X and most SMS systems count all characters including spaces, while some design tools count only visible characters. Having both numbers eliminates the guesswork.
How do I check my text against SEO title length limits?
Use the "Meta title" progress bar. Google typically displays the first 50β60 characters of a page title in search results and truncates beyond that. The bar turns amber at 51 characters (85% of 60) and red when you exceed 60. For the best click-through rate, keep your title under 60 characters with the primary keyword near the start.
Why does the sentence count sometimes seem wrong?
The counter splits on periods, exclamation marks, and question marks. Abbreviations like "Dr." or "U.S.A." can cause over-splitting, reporting more sentences than a human would count. Multiple punctuation like "Wow!!!" counts as one sentence because consecutive separators are treated as one delimiter. For precise sentence-level analysis, manual review is still necessary.
Is my text stored or sent anywhere?
No. All counting happens locally in your browser. Your text never leaves your device β there are no server requests, no analytics tracking your input, and no cookies or local storage used to persist it. When you close the tab or click Clear, the text is permanently gone. This makes the tool suitable for confidential documents, legal contracts, or sensitive material.
What happens if I paste a massive document?
The counter handles inputs up to roughly 500,000 characters without noticeable delay. For reference, a typical novel is about 500,000β600,000 characters. If you paste something extremely large β multiple full-length books β you might notice a brief pause as the calculations run, but the results will still be accurate. Very large pastes beyond a million characters may cause the browser to slow down.
Why are there two different character counts?
Different platforms count characters differently. Twitter/X counts every character including spaces in its 280 limit. SMS systems sometimes count only visible characters. Most design tools and HTML attribute counters count characters without spaces. Showing both numbers means you can check against any platform's rules without having to manually strip spaces yourself.