Word Counter
Get an instant count of words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs — plus reading time and keyword density, all in real time.
Keyword Density
Start typing to see your most frequent words.
About the Word Counter
This tool analyzes your text in real time — counting words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, estimating reading time, and showing keyword density. Everything runs locally in your browser; no text is ever uploaded or stored.
How is reading time calculated?
Based on an average adult reading speed of 200-250 words per minute. The figure shown is an estimate and varies with content complexity.
What counts as a sentence?
Any sequence of text ending in a period, question mark, or exclamation mark is counted as one sentence.
How can I use keyword density for SEO?
A keyword density above roughly 3-4% can signal over-optimization to search engines. Use the density table to check that your target keyword appears naturally and not excessively.
About the Word Counter
Our free word counter instantly counts words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, and reading time for any text you paste or type. It updates in real time as you type, making it useful for writing essays, blog posts, social media captions, professional documents, and any content with specific length requirements.
Word count matters in many professional and academic contexts. University essays have strict word limits. Twitter and LinkedIn posts have character limits. SEO-optimised articles typically need a minimum word count. Professional copywriters track characters for headline and meta description limits. Knowing your word count instantly helps you hit your target without counting manually.
What the Word Counter Measures
- Word count — Total number of words. A word is any sequence of characters separated by spaces or punctuation.
- Character count (with spaces) — Total characters including spaces. Important for character-limited fields like Twitter (280 characters) and SMS.
- Character count (without spaces) — Characters excluding spaces. Used for some publishing specifications.
- Sentence count — Number of sentences, detected by terminal punctuation (full stops, question marks, exclamation marks).
- Paragraph count — Number of paragraphs, separated by blank lines.
- Reading time — Estimated time to read the text, calculated at the average adult reading speed of 200–250 words per minute.
Common Use Cases
- Academic writing — Ensure essays, reports, and dissertations meet minimum or maximum word count requirements.
- Social media — Check character count for Twitter posts (280), Instagram captions (2200), LinkedIn posts (3000), and meta descriptions (155).
- SEO content — Most long-form SEO articles perform best at 1,500–3,000 words. Track your progress in real time.
- Cover letters and CVs — Cover letters should typically be 250–400 words. Keep them concise and targeted.
- Email marketing — Track email length to ensure your message is readable within the preview pane.
- Creative writing — Track progress toward daily writing goals (e.g. 1,000 words per day).
Frequently Asked Questions
Does punctuation count as a word?
No. Punctuation marks that stand alone are not counted as words. Only sequences of alphanumeric characters (and hyphens within words) are counted.
Is there a text length limit?
The counter works on text of any length that can fit in your browser's memory — effectively millions of words with no practical limit.
Is my text sent to any server?
No. All counting happens entirely in your browser. Your text is never transmitted to or stored on our servers.
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time is calculated at 200 words per minute, which is the typical average adult silent reading speed. Actual reading speed varies by individual and content complexity.