Word Counter
Paste your text and get instant counts — words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, plus reading and speaking time.
Counts update as you type. Tap any card to copy its value.
Counting words, characters, and time — and why the method matters
A word count sounds trivial until you paste in Chinese text, face a "160-word minimum" on an assignment, or need a meta description under a character cap. Different limits measure different things: essays and articles cap words, tweets and SMS cap characters, and a presentation is really capped by time. This counter reports words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, and estimated reading and speaking time together, updating live as you type, so you can check against whichever limit applies.
How each number is counted
For space-separated languages — English, Spanish, Korean and most others — text is split on whitespace, and a token counts as a word only if it contains at least one letter or number (so numbers count, but a lone dash or emoji does not). Chinese and Japanese are written without spaces, so each Han character and kana is counted individually rather than lumped into one giant "word." A sentence ends at a period, question mark, or exclamation mark, or their full-width CJK equivalents 。！？, with the final sentence counted even without closing punctuation. Any non-empty line is a paragraph.
How reading and speaking time are estimated
Reading time = word count ÷ reading speed, where you choose Slow (150), Normal (200), or Fast (250) words per minute; 200 wpm is a typical adult silent-reading pace. Speaking time uses about 130 wpm, a comfortable out-loud delivery rate for presentations and voice-overs. Both display as minutes:seconds.
Worked examples
Common limits to check against
| Field | Typical limit | Measured in |
|---|---|---|
| SEO title tag | ~60 characters | Characters |
| Meta description | ~155 characters | Characters |
| Tweet / X post | 280 characters | Characters |
| SMS segment | 160 characters | Characters |
| College application essay | 500–650 words | Words |
| Journal abstract | 150–250 words | Words |
Word count or character count?
- Use words when the brief is in words — essays, articles, blog posts, SEO body copy.
- Use characters when the field has a hard character cap — titles, meta descriptions, tweets, SMS, form fields. This tool shows both, plus a "no spaces" character total for limits that exclude whitespace.
- Watch CJK. A "300-word" essay in Chinese is counted by characters here, which is the correct behaviour, but confirm whether your instructor means characters (글자 / 字) or Western-style words.
Practical notes and limits
The counter measures the plain text exactly as pasted: it does not strip Markdown or HTML, so a **bold** marker counts its asterisks, and it counts characters, not bytes, so a single emoji built from several code points can occupy more bytes than the character total suggests. Everything runs in your browser; your most recent text can optionally be saved to local storage and is never uploaded.
Sources & further reading
Frequently asked questions
How does the word counter count words?
For languages that separate words with spaces — English, Spanish, Korean and most others — the word counter splits your text on whitespace. For Chinese and Japanese, which are written without spaces, each Han character and kana is counted individually, so pasted CJK text is not undercounted. A whitespace-separated token counts as a word only if it contains at least one letter or number, so numbers count while lone emoji and standalone punctuation do not.
How are reading time and speaking time estimated?
Reading time assumes an average silent reading speed, which you can set to Slow (150), Normal (200) or Fast (250) words per minute; the default is 200 wpm. Speaking time uses about 130 words per minute, a comfortable pace for presentations and voice-overs. Both are shown as minutes:seconds and update instantly as you type, so it doubles as a words-to-time and reading-time calculator.
Word counter or character counter — which do I need?
Use this word counter when your limit is in words — essays, blog posts, article briefs, SEO copy and social captions. Use a character counter when your limit is in characters or bytes — tweets, meta descriptions, SMS or cover-letter fields with a strict character cap. This tool shows both word and character totals, so you are covered either way.
How are sentences and paragraphs counted?
A sentence ends at a period, question mark or exclamation mark (or their full-width CJK equivalents 。！？), and the final sentence is still counted even without closing punctuation. A paragraph is any non-empty line, so pressing Enter starts a new paragraph. Very long single-line text with no line breaks counts as one paragraph.
Is my text uploaded to a server?
No. Every count runs entirely inside your browser — nothing you type is ever sent to a server or shared. Your most recent text is optionally saved to this browser's local storage so it is still here when you return; untick the save option to keep it in memory for this session only, and clearing it removes the stored copy immediately.