Word Counter
Paste or type your text and get live counts of words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs, plus estimated reading and speaking time.
Last updated: October 2026
Your text
How the counts are computed
Every number above comes from simple, transparent rules applied to your text:
- Words: the text is split on whitespace. Any run of spaces, tabs, or line breaks separates words, and empty chunks are ignored. Hyphenated words like well-known and contractions like don't each count as one word.
- Characters: every character counts, including spaces, tabs, and line breaks.
- Characters without spaces: all whitespace is stripped first, then the remaining characters are counted.
- Sentences: the text is split on . ! and ? and non-empty pieces are counted.
- Paragraphs: blocks separated by blank lines or line breaks are counted.
Reading time assumes 200 words per minute, the standard average for silent adult reading. Speaking time assumes 130 words per minute, the typical conversational rate. Both are estimates: dense technical writing reads slower, and a rehearsed speech often lands between 120 and 150 words per minute.
Worked example
Take the sample text "Hello world. This is a test.":
- Words: Hello, world., This, is, a, test. = 6
- Characters: 28 total, including 5 spaces = 28
- Characters without spaces: 28 - 5 = 23
- Sentences: "Hello world" and "This is a test" = 2
- Paragraphs: one block of text = 1
- Reading time: 6 / 200 = 0.03 minutes, about 2 seconds
- Speaking time: 6 / 130 = 0.046 minutes, about 3 seconds
Why word counts matter
Publishing and SEO. Blog posts in the 1,000 to 2,000 word range tend to cover topics thoroughly enough to rank, while product pages often need just 300 to 500 focused words. The reading-time estimate tells you whether a post is a two-minute skim or a ten-minute read, which shapes how you structure it.
School and work limits. Essays, abstracts, and grant applications live or die by word limits. A 250-word abstract is not "about 250 words": going over can mean automatic rejection. Count as you write, not after.
Speeches and scripts. At 130 words per minute, a 5-minute talk needs roughly 650 words and a 20-minute keynote about 2,600. The speaking-time estimate turns a script draft into a schedule you can trust.
Social and platform limits. Some platforms count characters without spaces, others with. Knowing both numbers up front saves a round of trimming.
Translation and editing rates. Translators and editors usually quote per word or per thousand words, and the character-without-spaces count is the basis for some language pairs where words are hard to define. Running the counter before you request a quote means the invoice matches the estimate, and tracking words per hour over a few projects tells you your real writing speed for planning deadlines.
Tips for hitting a target length
Write long, then cut. It is far easier to trim 1,400 words to 1,000 than to stretch 600 words to 1,000 without padding. Draft freely with the counter running, then edit to the target.
Watch the sentences, not just the words. Two drafts can both be 800 words, but one with 40 sentences reads fast and punchy while one with 20 long sentences reads dense. The sentence count is a rough readability signal.
Time your speech out loud. The 130 wpm estimate assumes conversational pace. Pauses for laughter, questions, or demos are not in the math, so rehearse with a timer for anything that matters.
Word counter FAQs
How are words counted?
The text is split on whitespace, so any run of spaces, tabs, or line breaks separates words. Hyphenated compounds like well-known count as one word, and contractions like don't count as one word. Empty chunks are ignored, so extra spaces never inflate the count.
What is the difference between characters and characters without spaces?
Characters counts every character in the text, including spaces, tabs, and line breaks. Characters without spaces strips all whitespace first. The with-spaces figure matches what most editors report, while the without-spaces figure is what some translation services and social platforms use for billing or limits.
How are sentences counted?
The text is split on sentence-ending punctuation: periods, exclamation marks, and question marks. Abbreviations like Mr. or e.g. can create extra splits, so the sentence count is an estimate rather than a perfect linguistic parse. For typical prose it is accurate.
How is reading time estimated?
Word count is divided by 200, the widely used average adult reading speed for silent reading in words per minute. Dense or technical text reads slower, often 100 to 150 words per minute, while light fiction can exceed 250.
How is speaking time estimated?
Word count is divided by 130, the typical conversational speaking rate in words per minute. Prepared speeches often run 120 to 150 words per minute, so a 5-minute talk needs roughly 600 to 750 words.
Is my text sent to a server?
No. All counting happens in your browser with JavaScript. Your text never leaves your device, is not stored, and is not sent anywhere, so it is safe to use for drafts and private documents.
Why does the count differ from Microsoft Word?
Small differences come from edge cases: Word treats hyphenated words and numbers with decimals in specific ways, and counts text in headers, footers, and text boxes that a web counter cannot see. For body text pasted plainly, the counts agree exactly in almost all cases.