Count words, characters and reading time online — free, fast, private.
What is a word counter?
A word counter measures the length and structure of a piece of text: how many words,
characters, sentences, paragraphs and lines it contains. This tool updates every count
live as you type or paste, and also estimates how long the text takes to read or speak.
Because it runs entirely in your browser, your text is never uploaded anywhere.
How to use this tool
- Paste your text into the box above, or start typing directly.
- Watch the statistics panel update in real time: words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, lines and unique words.
- Check the estimated reading time (200 words per minute) and speaking time (130 words per minute).
- See the five most frequent words in your text, and click Clear to start over.
Why word counts matter
- Essays and assignments: most academic tasks come with a strict minimum or maximum word count.
- SEO and blogging: search content performs best within certain length ranges, and editors track word counts closely.
- Social media limits: posts on X, LinkedIn and other platforms have hard character caps — counting characters (including spaces) avoids last-minute trimming.
- Speaking slots: the speaking-time estimate helps you fit a script into a presentation or podcast segment.
Worked example: what each counter reports
Paste the classic pangram The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The dog was lazy. into the box. The statistics panel shows exactly this:
| Statistic | Result | Why |
|---|
| Words | 13 | tokens split on spaces and periods |
| Characters | 62 | every letter, space and period |
| Characters (no spaces) | 50 | the 12 spaces removed |
| Sentences | 2 | two segments end with a period |
| Unique words | 9 | "the", "dog" and "lazy" repeat |
The frequency panel opens with the × 3, dog × 2 and lazy × 2. Counting there is case-insensitive, so the capitalized "The" at the start merges with the lowercase "the" later on.
Pro tips
- Measure vocabulary variety: divide unique words by total words. Here that is 9/13, about 0.69. A much lower ratio in your own draft usually signals repetition worth trimming.
- Paragraphs need a blank line: a single line break raises only the Lines count. Press Enter twice to start a new paragraph.
- Strict character caps: the Characters figure counts line breaks too, so use it for hard limits and Characters (no spaces) when a form ignores whitespace.
Frequently asked questions
How are words counted?
A word is any run of letters and digits separated by spaces or punctuation. Contractions and hyphenated terms (like don't or well-known) count as a single word, and tokens that are pure punctuation are ignored.
What is the reading time based on?
Reading time assumes an average silent-reading speed of 200 words per minute, a common estimate for adults. Speaking time uses 130 words per minute, a typical steady presentation pace.
Does this tool store or send my text anywhere?
No. All counting happens locally in your browser with JavaScript. Your text is never transmitted to a server, saved, or tracked — closing the tab removes it completely.
What counts as a sentence?
A sentence is a segment of text ending with a period, question mark or exclamation mark. Text with no terminal punctuation counts as one sentence, and abbreviations with periods may slightly inflate the count.