Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs in real time.
What is Word Counter?
The Word Counter gives instant, live statistics for any typed or pasted text — words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, estimated reading time and a most-frequent-words breakdown for basic SEO awareness.
How it works
Text is parsed entirely client-side: words split on whitespace/punctuation while keeping internal apostrophes and hyphens (so "don't" and "well-known" count as one word), sentences split on terminal punctuation, and paragraphs split on blank lines. Reading time assumes ~200 wpm; speaking time ~130 wpm.
- Type or paste your text. Counts update live as you type — no button needed. You can also drop a .txt file onto the input.
- Read the counts. Words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences and paragraphs are always visible. Reading and speaking time estimate how long the text takes to consume.
- Check keyword density. The most frequent words are listed with counts — handy for basic SEO or for spotting overused terms in a draft.
Examples
Essay word count
Paste a draft essay to check it against a word limit (e.g. 2,000 words) and get a reading-time estimate for the marker.
Platform character limits
Paste a tweet or meta description to see its character count (with and without spaces) instantly.
Common mistakes
Expecting exact agreement with other counters
Different tools count hyphenated words, contractions and em-dashes differently. Our methodology (whitespace/punctuation splitting, keeping internal apostrophes/hyphens) is documented on the page.
CJK text has no whitespace boundaries
Chinese/Japanese text without spaces counts as a single token per contiguous run — a known limitation shared by most simple counters.
Alternatives
Readability Score Checker
For reading-grade-level metrics on the same text (coming soon).
Line Counter
Count lines instead of words — useful for log files and code.
Frequently asked questions
How is the word count calculated?
Words are sequences of letters/digits, split on whitespace and punctuation. Internal apostrophes and hyphens are kept, so "don't" and "well-known" count as a single word each.
Does it include punctuation in the character count?
Yes — the 'Characters' count is the raw length including punctuation and spaces. 'Characters (no spaces)' strips whitespace only.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No. All counting happens locally in your browser — nothing is transmitted.