Word Counter

Count words & characters online with live reading time.

A word counter is a tool that counts the words and characters in a piece of text as you type or paste it. This one also tracks sentences, paragraphs and lines, plus reading and speaking time, a readability grade and keyword density. Perfect for essays, blog posts, meta descriptions, social captions and anything with a length limit. Runs fully in your browser — nothing is uploaded, no sign-up.

Word Counter features

How to use Word Counter

  1. Type or paste your text

    Start typing directly in this free online word counter or paste text from anywhere — everything is processed instantly in your browser with nothing uploaded.

  2. Watch the live counts

    Words, characters, sentences and paragraphs update in real time as you write, so you always know exactly where you are against any length limit.

  3. Check reading & readability

    See the estimated reading and speaking time plus a readability grade, helping you judge whether your text is the right length and easy to follow.

  4. Review keyword density

    Scan the keyword density list to see which words you lean on most — handy for SEO and for spotting repetition you may want to trim.

  5. Copy or clear

    Copy the finished text to your clipboard in one click, or clear the box to start fresh — the counts reset instantly either way.

Frequently asked questions

How does the word counter count words?

It counts any run of non-space characters as one word, which matches how word processors like Microsoft Word and Google Docs count. Numbers and hyphenated terms count as words too.

What's the difference between characters with and without spaces?

“Characters” counts every character including spaces and line breaks; “characters (no spaces)” excludes all whitespace. Many limits (like SMS or tweets) count with spaces, while some databases count without.

How is reading time calculated?

Reading time assumes an average silent reading speed of about 225 words per minute; speaking time assumes roughly 130 words per minute. They're estimates to help you plan, not exact figures.

What is keyword density?

Keyword density is how often a word appears as a percentage of the total word count. It helps with on-page SEO and shows whether you're repeating a term too much. Common stop-words like “the” are ignored.

Is my text uploaded or stored?

No. All counting and analysis happen entirely in your browser. Your text is never uploaded, logged or stored anywhere.

Does the word counter work on mobile?

Yes. It's fully responsive, so you can count words on a phone, tablet or desktop with no app to install — just open the page and start typing.

Is the word counter free and does it have a limit?

It's completely free with no sign-up and no character limit — paste an entire essay, article or manuscript and it counts everything instantly. Because it runs in your browser, even very long text is handled smoothly.

Can I count characters for a tweet, meta description or SMS?

Yes. The live character count (with and without spaces) is ideal for length-limited text like tweets, X posts, meta descriptions, SMS messages and social captions — you'll see exactly how close you are to the limit as you type.

How many words is a 5-minute speech?

At an average speaking pace of about 130 words per minute, a 5-minute speech is roughly 650 words. Paste your script and the speaking-time estimate updates live, so you can trim or expand it to hit your target time.

Related tools — Text & content tools