Know your word and character count as you type
Essay limits and character caps sneak up on you. Paste or type to see words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and reading time update live. Free to use and copy — no account needed.
What you can do with Word Counter
Everything this tool helps you accomplish — no learning curve, no setup.
- Count words and characters as you type
- Track sentences, paragraphs and lines
- Estimate reading time for your content
- Estimate speaking time for a speech or script
- Fit essays and posts within length limits
- Set your own reading and speaking speeds
Settings information
2 settings
Every control in Word Counter, explained — what it does and when to use it.
Settings
- Reading speed (wpm)Number inputRange: 50–1000wpm · Default: 225wpm
- Sets the words-per-minute pace used to estimate reading time; lower it for slower or non-native readers, raise it for fast skimmers.
- Speaking speed (wpm)Number inputRange: 50–1000wpm · Default: 130wpm
- Sets the words-per-minute pace used to estimate speaking time; lower it for presentations with pauses, raise it for brisk voiceover delivery.
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Try it nowFrequently Asked Questions
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.
technicalReading 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.
technicalYes. 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.
usageYes. 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.
compatibilityNo. 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.
privacyYes. 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.
featuresYes. As well as counting words, it doubles as a character counter and letter counter: it shows how many characters your text contains, both with and without spaces, and updates live as you type — so you can stay inside strict limits for tweets, SMS, meta titles and online forms.
featuresYes. Open Settings and edit the Reading speed (wpm) field — it defaults to 225, the typical silent-reading pace, but you can set it anywhere from 50 to 1000 to match a slower or faster reader. The Reading time stat recalculates instantly as you type.
featuresFor a slower or non-native reader, lower Reading speed to around 150-180 wpm so the estimate feels realistic rather than optimistic. For a presentation or voiceover script, lower Speaking speed to 110-120 wpm if you pause for emphasis, or raise it toward 150 wpm for a brisk delivery — adjusting both together gives you an accurate total runtime for your material.
tipsYes. Click Copy stats (or the primary action button) to copy every metric — words, characters, characters without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, lines, reading time and speaking time — as one formatted text block you can paste straight into an email, brief or report.
featuresPaste the essay into the box and the word count updates live, alongside characters, sentences and paragraphs — there is no button to press. Use the essay word counter to hit assignment ranges like 500 or 1,000 words, and glance at the paragraph count to spot over-long paragraphs before you submit.
usageYes — the live word, character, sentence and paragraph statistics are free to use, with no ads gating the results and no limit on text length. Counting runs entirely in your browser, so it stays instant even for book-length text and your text never leaves the device.
pricingThe counter accepts pasted text plus dropped .txt and .md files. For a PDF or Word document, select all, copy, and paste it here — the word count, character count and reading time appear instantly. Formatting is ignored, but headers and footers you paste along do get counted, so trim them first for an exact figure.
usageHow Word Counter helps you get it done
Real problems it solves every day — for businesses, creators, and everyday tasks. Find the use case that fits you and start in seconds.
Stay Under Twitter, LinkedIn & Threads Limits
Trim posts to fit Twitter's 280 characters, LinkedIn's 3,000 character intro and Threads' 500 character cap before publishing so nothing gets truncated mid-sentence
Hit Word Counts on Academic Essays
Track exact word counts for college essays, dissertations and IB extended essays where assignments specify "1,500–2,000 words" with strict over/under penalties
Meta Descriptions & SEO Snippets
Keep meta titles under 60 characters and meta descriptions under 160 characters so Google search results display them in full without truncating with an ellipsis
Estimate Audiobook Length from Manuscript
Use speaking-time estimates to predict the runtime of an audiobook, narrated course or podcast script before booking studio time or hiring a voice actor
Plan Podcast & YouTube Scripts
Estimate how long a script will take to deliver at a relaxed presentation pace so podcast episodes, YouTube videos and conference talks land on time
Track Daily Writing Goals for Authors
Confirm you hit your daily NaNoWriMo target of 1,667 words, your novelist's 500-word-a-day goal or your copywriter quota without leaving your draft
Perfectly-Sized Cover Letters
Keep cover letters and outreach emails in the 250-400 word range recruiters actually read by watching the live word count as you draft, instead of guessing and over-writing.
Legal Brief Word-Limit Compliance
Check a filing or court brief against strict word-count caps — like a 10,000-word appellate limit — before submission, using an exact count rather than an editor's rough estimate.
Quote Translation & Copywriting Jobs by Word Count
Paste a document to get an instant word count for per-word translation or copywriting quotes, so freelancers and agencies can price a job accurately before starting.
Fit SMS & Push Notification Limits
Check character count against 160-character SMS segments or push-notification truncation limits before sending a marketing blast, avoiding a message that gets cut off mid-sentence.
Size Freelance Proposals to Platform Caps
Draft an Upwork or Fiverr proposal against the platform's character cap so your pitch fits in full without last-second trimming after you thought it was done.
Academic Essay Word-Count Compliance
Students can paste an essay or assignment draft to check it against a professor's required word-count range (e.g. 1,500-2,000 words) before submitting, catching an under- or over-length draft with an exact count instead of a rough guess in their word processor.
