Free Online Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and estimated reading time as you type.
About this word counter
This tool counts the words, characters, sentences and paragraphs in any text and updates the numbers instantly. It is useful for essays with a word limit, social media posts, product descriptions, meta descriptions and anything else where length matters.
How to use it
- Type or paste your text into the box.
- Read the live totals shown under the box.
- Edit your text until you reach the length you need.
- Use Copy text to take your final version with you.
What gets counted
- Words: groups of characters separated by spaces, tabs or line breaks.
- Characters: every letter, number, symbol and space, with a second total that leaves spaces out.
- Sentences: text ending in a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
- Paragraphs: blocks of text separated by a blank line.
- Reading time: an estimate based on about 200 words per minute, which is a typical silent reading speed for adults.
Common uses
- Keeping school and university assignments within a word limit.
- Checking blog posts and articles before publishing.
- Fitting captions and posts inside platform character limits.
- Estimating how long a speech or script will take to read.
Limits and privacy
Counting happens in your browser. The text you type is not sent to our servers or stored. Sentence counting is a simple rule-based estimate, so abbreviations such as “e.g.” can make it slightly high. Very long documents may feel slow on older phones.
Frequently asked questions
How does the word counter decide what a word is?
It splits your text wherever it finds whitespace and counts the non-empty pieces. A hyphenated term such as “well-known” counts as one word.
Does it count spaces as characters?
Yes. The Characters figure includes spaces and punctuation, and the No spaces figure shows the total without them.
Is my text saved anywhere?
No. Everything is processed locally in your browser tab and disappears when you close or refresh the page.
Can I use it for languages other than English?
Yes for languages that separate words with spaces. Languages such as Chinese or Japanese do not use spaces between words, so the word total will not be meaningful, but the character total will still be accurate.