Word Counter: Count Words, Characters, Sentences and Reading Time
Chat shortcut: /wordcount
Paste your text and the word counter instantly shows words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs and reading time. Your text never leaves your browser.
No AI No Sign-Up
- Words
- 0
- Characters
- 0
- Characters without spaces
- 0
- Sentences
- 0
- Paragraphs
- 0
- Reading time
- 0 min
When you need the numbers
Almost every text has a limit: a term paper has a word target, a social media post a character cap, a meta description a fixed slot in the search results. The counter shows you all the values at a glance, while you type or after pasting.
Besides words and characters you see sentences and paragraphs, so you can tell whether a text consists of a few long sentences or is well structured. In English, 15 to 20 words per sentence is generally considered comfortable to read; a word averages around five letters.
The reading time is a rough estimate for blog posts, newsletters and presentations: it shows whether a text takes about two minutes to read or ten, rounded to whole minutes.
How it works
- 1
Paste your text
Copy your text into the field or just start typing.
- 2
Check the values
Words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs and reading time appear instantly and update with every change.
- 3
Adjust the text
Shorten or add directly in the field until the values match your target.
Typical uses
Term papers and applications
Check the word target before you submit and spread paragraphs evenly.
Social media
Trim a post to 280 characters or a caption to 2,200 characters; the platform has the final count.
SEO copy and talks
Write page titles and meta descriptions at a fitting length, or estimate speaking time from the word count.
Good to know
- It counts words, characters, characters without spaces, sentences, paragraphs and reading time; the reading time uses 230 words per minute, rounds to whole minutes and shows at least one minute.
- Everything runs in your browser: no upload, no storage, no sign-up, no AI, free.
- Words are split at whitespace (spaces, tabs, line breaks). That suits English and other languages with spaces between words, including accented characters; languages without spaces between words are not counted in a language-appropriate way.
- In the chat you can open the counter with the shortcut /wordcount.
- For orientation, without guarantee: X 280 characters, SMS 160 (GSM character set) or 70 (Unicode), meta description around 160, page title around 60, Instagram caption 2,200. The platform's own count is always what counts.
Frequently asked questions
Is my text stored?
No. The counting runs entirely in your browser; nothing is sent to a server.
Do spaces and line breaks count as characters?
For "characters", yes: spaces, tabs and line breaks are included. "Characters without spaces" leaves out all whitespace. Platforms usually count with spaces.
What counts as a word?
Anything between whitespace, that is between spaces, tabs or line breaks: hyphenated words like "well-known" count as one word, as do numbers and abbreviations.
How is the reading time calculated?
As an estimate with an average of 230 words per minute, rounded to whole minutes and at least one minute. For a talk, figure on 130 to 150 words per minute instead: divide the word count by 140 and you have the approximate speaking time in minutes.
Why does the number differ from Word or Google Docs?
Every program counts slightly differently, for example with hyphens, numbers or multiple spaces. Small differences are normal; with tight limits, the platform's figure is what counts.
How are accented characters and emojis counted?
Accented letters such as é, ñ or ü count as one character each. The counter counts Unicode characters (code points): a simple emoji counts as one, combined emojis such as skin tones, flags or families as several. Platforms sometimes weight this differently, so leave a little reserve there.
Which limits can I use the counter for?
As orientation for anything with a character limit: posts on X (280 characters), SMS (160 in the GSM character set, 70 with Unicode characters such as emojis), meta descriptions (around 160), page titles (around 60) or forms with fixed fields. The counter does not model SMS encoding or platform-specific weighting; the platform's own count is what applies.