Word counter
Count words, characters, sentences and reading time as you type.
- Runs in your browser — your text is never sent anywhere
- No sign-up, no quotas, free to use as often as you like
How it works
Word and character limits govern more writing than anyone admits: essay briefs, meta descriptions, application forms, product copy. This counts as you type, in the page, so the text being counted is never transmitted anywhere.
What counts as a word
Words are runs of non-whitespace, which is how word processors count and how most limits are written. Hyphenated compounds count as one word; numbers count as words.
Reading time
Estimated at 200 words per minute, the usual figure for adult silent reading of ordinary prose. Technical material reads more slowly, so treat the estimate as a floor.
How each figure is counted
Words are runs of characters separated by spaces or line breaks. Characters count everything, including spaces and line breaks; a second figure leaves out all whitespace. Emoji and a few rare characters count as two. Sentences are stretches of text ending in a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark, paragraphs are blocks separated by a blank line, and reading time is the word count at 200 words a minute, rounded, with a minimum of one minute.
Languages without spaces
Chinese, Japanese and Thai do not put spaces between words, so a word count of text in those languages counts phrases rather than words. Use the character count for those.
Word counter — questions
Does it count the same way as Word?
Very nearly. Both treat runs of non-whitespace as words, so figures normally match exactly on ordinary prose.
Is my text sent anywhere?
No. Counting happens in the page as you type. Nothing is transmitted or stored.
Is there a length limit?
Only your browser memory. Documents of many thousands of words count instantly.