Word Counter
Free online word counter — paste your text and instantly see word count, character count, sentence count, paragraph count, and estimated reading time. No sign-up. Runs entirely in your browser.
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Words
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Characters
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No Spaces
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Sentences
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Paragraphs
< 1 min
Reading Time
What This Word Counter Measures
Word Count
Words split on whitespace — spaces, tabs, and newlines. Leading and trailing whitespace is ignored.
Character Count
Total characters including spaces. The “no spaces” count strips all whitespace before counting — useful for Twitter/X limits and SMS character budgets.
Sentences
Counted by detecting period, exclamation mark, and question mark sequences. Works for English prose; poetry or code may produce different results.
Reading Time
Based on the average adult silent reading speed of 200 words per minute. A 500-word blog post takes about 2–3 minutes to read.
Common Uses
- Essays and assignments — check you meet minimum word counts before submitting.
- Blog and SEO content — most SEO guides recommend 1,500–2,500 words for long-form articles.
- Social media posts — Twitter/X is 280 characters; LinkedIn posts perform best at 150–300 words.
- Email newsletters — typical newsletters run 200–500 words; reading time helps set expectations.
- Books and manuscripts — standard novel length is 70,000–100,000 words.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the word counter work?▾
Paste or type your text in the box. The counter updates live as you type — no button to click. Words are counted by splitting on whitespace; characters include spaces; "no spaces" strips all whitespace before counting.
How is reading time calculated?▾
Reading time uses an average adult reading speed of 200 words per minute, rounded up to the nearest minute. A 1,000-word article takes approximately 5 minutes to read.
Does this tool store my text?▾
No. Everything runs entirely in your browser. Your text is never sent to any server, stored, logged, or processed outside your device.
What counts as a sentence?▾
The tool counts sentence-ending punctuation sequences (periods, exclamation marks, question marks). If your text has no punctuation, the entire text is counted as one sentence.
What counts as a paragraph?▾
Paragraphs are separated by one or more blank lines (double newline). Single line breaks within a block are treated as part of the same paragraph.
Is there a character limit?▾
No hard limit — the tool runs entirely in your browser and handles large texts well. Performance stays smooth up to several hundred thousand characters.
Does the word counter work on mobile?▾
Yes. The tool is fully responsive and works on iPhone, Android, and tablets. You can paste text directly from the clipboard on any device.