Count words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, and estimate reading time — live as you type.
Word counts are the standard measure for written content. Blog posts typically range from 800-2,000 words. Twitter/X posts are limited to 280 characters. Meta descriptions should be 150-160 characters. LinkedIn posts perform best under 1,300 characters. Knowing your counts helps you hit these targets.
Reading time estimates are based on average reading speed — approximately 200-250 words per minute for general content. This metric has become standard on blogs and news sites because it helps readers decide whether to commit to an article. Speaking time is slower, around 130 words per minute.
This tool counts words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, and paragraphs in real time as you type or paste. It also calculates estimated reading and speaking time — useful for writers, content creators, students working within assignment limits, and speakers preparing timed presentations.
This tool in other languages:
Français:
Compteur de mots et caractères
Español:
Contador de palabras y caracteres
Deutsch:
Wort- und Zeichenzähler
Português:
Contador de palavras e caracteres
日本語:
文字数カウンター
中文:
字数统计工具
한국어:
단어 및 글자 수 세기
العربية:
عداد الكلمات والأحرف
Paste or type your text in the box. The counters update live as you type: words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, and estimated reading time. No button to click, no signup.
Words are separated by whitespace. Hyphenated terms like "mother-in-law" count as one word. Numbers count as words. Punctuation doesn't. This matches what Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and most writing platforms use.
With spaces counts every character including blanks — used for SMS, Twitter/X limits, and ad copy. Without spaces is often the count editors want for word rate calculations. Both are shown.
Based on 200-250 words per minute, which is the average adult reading speed for general prose. Technical content reads slower (~150 WPM), light fiction faster (~300 WPM). The estimate is a useful ballpark for blog posts and articles, not a precise measurement.
Tweet/X post: 280 characters. Meta description: 150-160 characters. Blog post: 1,500-2,500 words for SEO. Essay: varies by assignment. Novel chapter: 3,000-5,000 words. These are guidelines, not rules — the right length is whatever serves the content.
Not directly — this tool works on pasted text only. For a PDF, open it, copy all the text, and paste here. For a Word doc, Word's own Word Count (Review tab) is usually easier. For programmatic counting of many files, use a script with a tokenizer.