Word counter — words, characters, sentences and reading time
Counts update as you type — words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and how long the text takes to read or say aloud. Nothing you paste is uploaded.
Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
Against common limits
How to use
- Paste or type your text. Everything below updates live; there is no button to press.
- Read the counts. Words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs and lines.
- Check against a limit. The progress bars show how your character count sits against meta description, title tag, SMS and social post limits.
Questions
How are words counted?
A word is any run of non-whitespace characters, which is how word processors and most style guides count. "Well-known" counts as one word; "well known" counts as two.
Do emoji count as one character?
Yes. Characters are counted as graphemes — what you actually see — so a flag or a family emoji counts as one, even though it is several Unicode code points internally. Many counters get this wrong and report 2 or more.
How is reading time worked out?
Words divided by 225 per minute, the usual average for silent reading of general prose. Speaking time uses 130 words per minute, which is a comfortable presentation pace.
Is my text sent anywhere?
No. The counting runs in this page on your own device. You can disconnect from the internet after the page loads and it keeps working.