Word Counter - Count Words, Characters & Reading Time Free

Words are split on whitespace, sentences on terminal punctuation (. ? !) and paragraphs on blank-line separation. Character counts are offered with and without spaces, and the line count reflects the raw number of newlines in your text.

Reading time assumes 225 words per minute (typical silent reading pace) and speaking time assumes 130 words per minute (a relaxed presentation pace). Use them as planning guides for blog posts, scripts and conference talks.

Yes. Paste straight from any editor or drop a .txt or .md file onto the input box. Formatting like bold or headings is ignored — the counter operates on the raw text content.

Yes. Whitespace and punctuation splitting work for any Latin-script language and most punctuation-based scripts. For Chinese, Japanese and other scriptio-continua writing systems, character count is more meaningful than word count and is shown alongside.

No. Counting runs entirely in your browser, so confidential drafts, client copy and unreleased manuscripts stay on your device. Close the tab and nothing is retained.

Yes. Both totals are displayed side by side, which is what most academic, journalism and social media platforms use to enforce limits — Twitter counts everything, while many style guides count characters without spaces.