Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs as you type.
This tool is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional financial, medical, legal, or engineering advice. See Terms of Service.
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Request a ToolHow to Use the Word Counter
This tool counts your text live as you type or paste it. No button needed. Here is how to get the most out of it:
- Paste your text. Copy any document, article, essay, or message and paste it into the text box. Stats update instantly.
- Read the breakdown. The main result shows word count. Below that you will see characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, and estimated reading time at 238 words per minute (average adult reading speed).
- Copy or share. Use Copy to copy the stats to your clipboard, or Share to send a link to your results.
Sentences are counted by periods, exclamation marks, and question marks. Paragraphs are separated by blank lines. Results update within 150ms of each keystroke.
About the Word Counter
This word counter runs entirely in your browser. Your text is never sent to a server. It is useful for academic writing (checking essay word limits), social media posts, blog articles, product descriptions, and any task where knowing word count matters. The reading time estimate uses 238 wpm, which is the median adult reading speed based on research published in Reading and Writing (Brysbaert et al., 2019).
Frequently Asked Questions
How are words counted?
Words are counted by splitting your text on whitespace and counting non-empty segments. "Hello, world!" counts as 2 words. Hyphenated words like "well-known" count as 1 word. Numbers count as words. This matches the behavior of most word processors including Microsoft Word and Google Docs.
What is the difference between characters with and without spaces?
Characters with spaces includes every character in your text including spaces, tabs, and newlines. Characters without spaces strips all whitespace before counting. Some platforms (like Twitter) count characters with spaces. Publishers and academics often prefer characters without spaces when measuring content density.
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time is calculated by dividing the word count by 238, which is the average adult reading speed in words per minute. A 1,000-word article takes about 4 minutes and 12 seconds to read. A 500-word blog post takes about 2 minutes. These are averages. Readers familiar with the subject tend to read faster, while dense technical content is usually read more slowly.
Does this tool store my text?
No. All processing happens in your browser using JavaScript. Your text is never sent to any server. When you close the tab, your text is gone. This tool is safe to use with confidential documents, proprietary content, and private notes.