Word Counter

Count words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, and reading time in real-time as you type.

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Words

Chars

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Sentences

Paragraphs

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What Is the Word Counter?

The Word Counter is a free, real-time text analysis tool that counts words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs as you type or paste text, while also calculating estimated reading time and identifying your most frequently used keywords. Every metric updates instantly as you type — no button to press. It is the most comprehensive free word counting tool available online, and it runs entirely within your browser with no data ever sent to a server.

While most word processors show a basic word count in their status bar, this tool provides a full analytical breakdown in one view. Writers, bloggers, SEO professionals, students, and marketers use it every day to hit length targets, optimize content for readability, and verify that focus keywords appear at the right frequency.

All Metrics Explained

Word Count

The total number of words in your text. A word is defined as any sequence of non-whitespace characters separated by spaces or punctuation. Hyphenated words like "state-of-the-art" or "mother-in-law" are counted as one word. Numbers like "2024" or "3.14" are counted as one word each. Contractions like "don't" or "it's" are counted as one word.

Character Count

The total number of characters including spaces, punctuation, and special characters. This is the relevant metric for platforms with character-based limits: Twitter/X (280 characters per post), SMS messages (160 characters per segment), meta descriptions (approximately 155–160 characters for optimal display in Google), and many advertising platforms that charge by character or enforce strict character limits on ad copy.

Characters Without Spaces

The character count with all whitespace removed. This metric is used in some publishing contracts and academic contexts that specify length by "characters excluding spaces," which is a common measure in European publishing and some academic submission guidelines.

Sentence Count

The number of sentences, detected by the presence of periods, exclamation marks, and question marks followed by whitespace or the end of the text. This metric, combined with word count, gives you the average sentence length — a key indicator of text readability. Academic research consistently shows that average sentence lengths above 25–30 words significantly reduce comprehension, especially for general audiences.

Paragraph Count

The number of paragraphs, separated by blank lines. Tracking paragraph count helps writers maintain structural balance — excessively long paragraphs strain attention, while too many very short paragraphs can feel choppy and disconnected. Most digital content guidelines recommend paragraphs of 3–5 sentences for online reading contexts.

Reading Time

An estimate of how long a typical adult would take to read your text at average reading speed. This tool uses the commonly cited research baseline of 225 words per minute for silent reading. Reading time is displayed rounded up to the nearest minute, with texts under one minute showing as "less than 1 minute." This metric is valuable for blog posts (reader expectations), email newsletters (subscriber retention), and video scripts (timing).

Top Keywords

A ranked list of the most frequently appearing words of four or more characters, with common stop words (the, and, is, in, to, etc.) filtered out. This gives writers and SEO professionals a quick scan of what topics the text actually emphasizes — useful for checking that a focus keyword appears naturally and at an appropriate frequency without keyword stuffing.

Who Uses a Word Counter?

Bloggers and content writers track word counts to hit SEO targets. Research consistently shows that longer, comprehensive content tends to outperform shorter content in Google search rankings for competitive queries, with the sweet spot for most topics falling between 1,500 and 2,500 words. Students and academics use it for essays, dissertations, and assignment submissions that have strict word minimum or maximum requirements. SEO professionals use the keyword frequency data to check that focus and secondary keywords appear naturally. Copywriters and marketers use the character counter for ad copy, email subject lines, and social media posts. Authors and novelists track chapter lengths and manuscript progress. Journalists write to specific column-inch or word targets set by their editors.

Word Count Targets for Common Content Types

Twitter/X post: Under 280 characters
Instagram caption: Under 2,200 characters (optimal engagement below 150 characters)
SMS message: Under 160 characters per segment
Email subject line: Under 60 characters for full display on most clients
Meta description: 150–160 characters
LinkedIn post: 150–300 words for professional engagement
Standard blog post: 800–1,500 words
Long-form SEO article: 1,500–3,000 words
Short story: 1,000–7,500 words
Novella: 20,000–50,000 words
Novel: 70,000–100,000 words

Why Not Just Use Microsoft Word?

Microsoft Word shows word count and character count in the status bar, but it requires software installation, does not show reading time, sentence count, or keyword frequency, and cannot be accessed from a phone without a subscription. This tool shows all metrics simultaneously, updates in real-time, works on any device with a browser, and requires no installation or account.

Privacy

All analysis happens locally within your browser. Your text is never transmitted to any server or stored anywhere. You can safely use this tool to analyze confidential documents, unpublished manuscripts, proprietary marketing copy, or any sensitive content.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the word counter define a "word"?

A word is any sequence of non-whitespace characters separated by spaces, tabs, or newlines. Hyphenated words ("state-of-the-art") count as one word. Contractions ("don't") count as one word. Numbers ("2024", "3.14") count as one word. Standalone punctuation marks that are not part of a word (like a lone em dash) may or may not be counted depending on context.

Are numbers counted as words?

Yes. Any sequence of digits separated from surrounding content by whitespace is counted as one word. "I have 3 cats and 12 fish" counts as 7 words. Mixed alphanumeric strings like "MP3" or "A1" also count as one word each.

How is reading time calculated?

Reading time is estimated using the commonly cited research average of 225 words per minute for adult silent reading. Results are rounded up to the nearest full minute. Texts under 225 words display as "less than 1 minute." Note that actual reading time varies significantly based on text complexity, reader familiarity with the subject, and individual reading speed.

What counts as a paragraph?

A paragraph is a block of text separated from other blocks by one or more completely blank lines. If your text has no blank lines between sections, the entire content is counted as one paragraph. If you paste text from a word processor that uses paragraph marks without blank lines, you may see a lower paragraph count than expected.

What does the keyword frequency section show?

The top keywords section shows the most frequently appearing words of four or more characters, filtered to exclude common English stop words (the, and, is, in, to, for, on, with, etc.). This gives a quick view of what your text is actually about and whether your target keywords appear at an appropriate frequency. It is not a substitute for a full keyword density analysis, but it is useful for quick content review.

Does it update as I type?

Yes, all metrics update in real time as you type or paste text, with no button press needed. The counts refresh with each keystroke.

Does this work for languages other than English?

Word and character counting works correctly for all languages. The keyword frequency filter for stop words only applies to English stop words, so if you are writing in another language, some common words in that language may appear in the keyword list that you would normally filter out.

Is there a character or word limit?

No. The tool handles text of any length, all processed locally in your browser. You can analyze a single sentence or an entire book manuscript.