Word & Character Counter

Words, characters, sentences — live.

Count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs as you type, with an estimated reading time.

How it works

Words are counted as sequences separated by whitespace, sentences by ending punctuation, and paragraphs by blank lines. Reading time assumes an average reading speed of roughly 200–250 words per minute.

When it helps

Great for essays with word limits, social posts with character limits, meta descriptions and speeches.

Common length limits

Many places you write have a hard or soft limit. Search engines usually show about 50–60 characters of a page title and around 150–160 characters of a meta description. Posts on X (Twitter) allow 280 characters for most accounts, SMS messages split after 160 characters, and university essays and job applications often set word counts like 500 or 1,000 words.

Counting as you type lets you trim before you hit the limit instead of guessing afterwards. Paste your draft, check the number, and cut until it fits.

How reading time is estimated

Adults typically read between 200 and 250 words per minute on screen. The tool divides your word count by that speed and rounds to whole minutes, so a 1,000-word article shows as about 4–5 minutes.

For speeches, plan on a slower pace of roughly 130 words per minute. A five-minute talk is therefore around 650 words, which is a useful target when you're writing a toast or presentation.

Frequently asked questions

Are spaces counted as characters?

The tool shows character counts so you can check your text against limits that include spaces.

Is my text uploaded?

No. Counting happens entirely in your browser.

Why does my word processor show a slightly different count?

Tools treat hyphenated words, numbers and symbols differently. Small differences are normal; use the count that your target platform uses if it matters.

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