How to use the word counter
Type or paste text into the box. All counts update as you type:
- Words and characters, with and without spaces.
- Sentences and paragraphs. A paragraph is a block of text separated from the next by a blank line.
- Reading time, based on an average silent reading speed of 238 words per minute.
- Speaking time, based on about 140 words per minute, a comfortable pace for presentations and video scripts.
- Average words per sentence, a quick readability check.
- Most frequent words, which ignores common words like "the" and "and" so you can spot accidental repetition.
How words are counted
The counter uses your browser's language-aware text segmentation (Intl.Segmenter). For English and other languages that use spaces, the result matches what word processors report. Hyphenated words such as "well-known" count as two words in some tools and one in others, so expect small differences of a word or two compared with Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
For languages written without spaces, such as Chinese, Japanese, or Thai, segmentation splits text into dictionary words rather than counting the whole line as one word. In Chinese, many style guides measure length in characters instead, so use the Characters (no spaces) count.
Characters are counted as you see them. An emoji or an accented letter counts as one character, even when it is stored as several code units.
Common length limits
- Meta description: search engines usually show about 150–160 characters.
- Page title: about 50–60 characters before it is cut off in search results.
- X (Twitter) post: 280 characters for standard accounts.
- LinkedIn post: 3,000 characters.
- Typical blog post: 1,000–2,000 words, which is about 4–8 minutes of reading.
- College application essay: often 650 words maximum for the Common App.
Always check the current limit on the platform itself, because these numbers change.
Tips for tighter writing
- If your average sentence is over 25 words, split some sentences. Readers find 15–20 words easier to follow.
- Look at the most frequent words. If a word you did not mean to emphasize appears many times, replace a few with synonyms or remove them.
- For speeches and videos, write to the speaking time, not the word count. Two minutes is about 280 words.
Frequently asked questions
Is my text saved or uploaded?
No. Counting happens in your browser and the text is not stored. If you close the tab, the text is gone, so keep a copy of anything important.
Why is my sentence count different from another tool?
Sentences are counted by ., !, ? and their full-width equivalents. Abbreviations such as "e.g." or "Dr." can make the count slightly high, and text without end punctuation counts as one sentence.