Free online word counter
Type or paste your text to count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs instantly — with reading time, grade level and suggested lengths for social posts.
Word counter
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- Words
- 0
- Characters
- 0
- Sentences
- 0
- Paragraphs
- Characters without spaces
- 0
- Reading time
- 0 m 0 s
- Grade level
- -
Suggested character count
Counted in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
Free online word counter tool
Our word counter is a free, no-sign-up tool for keeping track of how long your writing is. It counts words, characters, sentences and paragraphs as you type, lets you choose whether spaces count as characters, and shows how your text measures up against the suggested lengths for social media posts.
- 40
- Words
- 214
- Characters
- 3
- Sentences
- 1
- Paragraph
- Characters without spaces
- 175
- Reading time
- 0 m 10 s
- Grade level
- Elementary school
What is a word counter?
A word counter does the tedious part for you. Paste in your text and it is counted instantly, so you can see exactly where you stand against the word limit for whatever you are working on.
No more guessing whether a compound word is one word or two. The counter follows the same rules as Microsoft Word and Google Docs: hyphenated words count once, accented letters never split a word in two, and spaces count as characters unless you switch them off.
Counting by hand is slow and easy to get wrong. Your time is better spent on the writing itself.
Big plans start with a single step. Pick up the hobby, learn the skill, or simply give more time to what you love. Small changes add up faster than you think!
Suggested character count
When to use a word counter?
Any time length matters — which is more often than you might think. A word counter helps you hit a daily writing goal, stay inside the limits of an assignment or application, and shape social media posts that show in full instead of trailing off behind a "see more" link.
Hover over a platform icon to see its suggested length. Your character count moves along the bar as you write.
How to use the word counter?
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Type or paste your text
Start typing in the box, paste with the Paste Text button, or drop in a .txt file. The counts update instantly.
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Read your counts
Words, characters, sentences and paragraphs sit side by side, with characters without spaces, reading time and grade level underneath.
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Edit to fit, then take it with you
Trim or expand until you hit your target, then copy the text or download it as a .txt file. The trash icon clears the box for a fresh start.
- 31
- Words
- 159
- Characters
- 2
- Sentences
- 1
- Paragraph
- Characters without spaces
- 128
- Reading time
- 0 m 8 s
- Grade level
- Elementary school
Suggested character count
Who needs a word counter?
Most of the time the goal is to reach a minimum, stay under a maximum, or land somewhere near a target. Here is who reaches for a word counter, and why.
Students
Schools and universities set lengths for everything, from a 250-word short answer to a dissertation running into the tens of thousands. A word counter shows when you have said enough — and when you have said too much.
Writers
A daily word goal is one of the most reliable ways to build a writing habit. Whether it is 300 words or 3,000, seeing the number climb keeps you going on the days the words come slowly.
Job seekers
Cover letters, personal statements and application questions often come with a strict word or character limit. Going over can mean your answer is cut off — or never read at all.
Marketers and bloggers
Briefs specify a length, and search-led articles need enough depth to answer the question in full. Count as you draft so the piece you deliver is the piece that was commissioned.
Social media managers
Every platform truncates at a different point. Check a caption against Instagram, Facebook, X and LinkedIn at once, before it goes live with its best line hidden.
Speakers and presenters
A five-minute talk is roughly 750 words. Paste in your script to see how long it runs, then trim or expand until it fits your slot.
Length is rarely the only goal. Once your copy fits, our meta title and description checker shows how it will look in Google, and the llms.txt generator helps AI assistants find the page it lives on.
How is our word counter different?
There are plenty of word counters online. Here is why this one is worth bookmarking.
- 18
- Words
- 86
- Characters
- 2
- Sentences
- 1
- Paragraph
- Characters without spaces
- 69
- Reading time
- 0 m 5 s
- Grade level
- Elementary school
Suggested character count
See everything you need at once
Words and characters sit side by side, so whether you need one count or both, there is no clicking, hovering or switching tabs to find it.
The suggested lengths for Instagram, Facebook, X and LinkedIn are right there under the counts, with your character count moving along the bar as you type.
- 33
- Words
- 171
- Characters
- 3
- Sentences
- 1
- Paragraph
- Characters without spaces
- 139
- Reading time
- 0 m 8 s
- Grade level
- Elementary school
There's no clutter
A clean, simple interface with no pop-ups, no sign-up wall and no ads fighting for your attention. It is free, and it stays free.
0 bytes uploaded
Counted on your device. Nothing stored, nothing logged.
Your text stays private
Every count happens in your browser. Your text is never uploaded, stored or logged, so you can safely paste in drafts, client work and anything that is not public yet.
Writing for search? Hitting the word count gets a page published; structure, intent and links get it found. We plan, write and optimise content that does both — across entire sites.
Word counter FAQs
It is a free tool that counts the words, characters, sentences and paragraphs in any text you type or paste. The numbers update with every keystroke, alongside the characters without spaces, an estimated reading time and the grade level your writing reads at. Everything is worked out by your browser, so nothing is sent anywhere.
Most writing has a length to hit. Essays and applications set a minimum or a maximum, editors commission a set number of words, and social platforms cut posts off at a fixed number of characters. Counting by hand is slow and easy to get wrong; a word counter tells you exactly where you stand while you are still writing.
Yes. Any language that separates words with spaces is counted the same way as English, accented letters included. Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters count as one word each, the convention Microsoft Word and Google Docs use. The grade level is calculated for English only. For proper Chinese word segmentation, use our Chinese word counter.
Yes. "Well-known", "don't" and "e-mail" each count as one word, matching Microsoft Word and Google Docs. Words joined by an em dash with no spaces, like "now—then", count as two, and a stray symbol such as "&" does not count at all.
Usually, yes — social platforms, meta descriptions and most forms count every space. That is why the main character count includes them. Some briefs and translation quotes count characters without spaces, so that number is shown right underneath.
Your word count is divided by 238 words per minute, the average silent reading speed for non-fiction found across 190 studies. A fast reader will finish sooner, and reading aloud takes longer — around 150 words per minute.
It is the Flesch-Kincaid grade level: an estimate of the US school grade needed to follow your text, based on sentence length and syllables per word. Longer sentences and longer words push it up. Most writing for the general public reads best at middle or high school level.
No. Every count runs in your browser. Your text never leaves your device and nothing is stored or logged, so it is safe for drafts, client work and anything unpublished.
Alongside the word counter there is a meta title and description checker, a Chinese word counter and an llms.txt generator, with more on the way. See them all on the tools page.