Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs - updates as you type.
Stays in your browser · Always freeThe counter updates in real time as you type or paste - words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, and an estimated reading time. Useful for hitting hard length limits (tweets, essay quotas, ad copy character caps), tracking draft progress, or estimating how long something will take to read aloud or on screen. Everything stays in your browser.
How counts and reading time are computed
Words. Counted by splitting on whitespace and removing empty results. Hyphenated terms ("self-aware," "well-being") count as one word. Numbers, abbreviations, and standalone punctuation also count if surrounded by whitespace. This matches how Word and Google Docs count.
Characters. Two figures are shown: with spaces (the literal length of the text) and without spaces (non-whitespace characters only). Different platforms measure differently - Twitter counts everything; many academic style guides exclude spaces; SMS counts everything including newline bytes.
Sentences. Counted by splitting on terminal punctuation (., !, ?) and discarding empty splits. This works well for normal prose; it can misfire on text with abbreviations like "Dr." or "U.S.A." and on lists.
Paragraphs. Counted by blank lines (one or more line breaks separating blocks).
Reading time is estimated at 200 words per minute, a common figure for adult silent reading on screen. Speaking aloud is closer to 130–150 wpm; technical or dense material reads slower. So a 1,000-word piece is about 5 minutes silent, 7 minutes spoken.
Common length references
Twitter/X: 280 characters · Instagram caption: 2,200 characters but only 125 visible · LinkedIn post: 3,000 characters · Facebook post: technically 63,206 but engagement drops sharply past 80–100 words.
Meta description: 150–160 characters · Title tag: 50–60 characters · Blog post (long-tail SEO): 1,500–2,500 words · Quick answer post: 300–600 words.
Standard double-spaced page: ~250 words · Single-spaced page: ~500 words · College essay (5 pages): 1,250 words · NaNoWriMo target novel: 50,000 words · A typical novel: 70,000–100,000.
5-minute talk: ~700 words · 10-minute talk: ~1,400 words · 20-minute keynote: ~2,800 words. Slow down for technical content; aim for the lower end of the range.