📖 What is Word Counter?
A word counter analyzes your text and reports word count, character count (with and without spaces), sentence count, paragraph count and estimated reading time. Writers use it to hit article length targets, developers use it to check string lengths for database fields or API limits, and students use it for essay requirements.
Paste any text and see live stats instantly. Everything runs in your browser — your text is never uploaded to any server.
💡 Example
Input
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. This classic sentence contains every letter of the English alphabet.
Output
Words: 19 | Characters: 107 | Sentences: 2 | Paragraphs: 1 | Reading time: ~5 sec
🛠️ Common Use Cases
- Checking blog post length for SEO (most guides recommend 1,500–2,500 words)
- Verifying character limits for meta descriptions (155 chars), tweets (280 chars) or SMS (160 chars)
- Meeting essay or article word count requirements
- Checking string lengths for database VARCHAR columns or API field limits
- Estimating reading time for documentation and articles
📝 How Reading Time is Calculated
Average adult reading speed is approximately 200–250 words per minute for non-fiction content. This tool uses 200 WPM as the baseline, which gives a slightly conservative (longer) estimate — better to over-estimate reading time than under-estimate it.
Skim reading is faster (400–700 WPM), and technical content is slower (100–150 WPM). Adjust mentally based on your content type.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
- Confusing characters with bytes — a character count is not the same as byte length. Unicode characters like emoji can use 4 bytes each.
- Including or excluding spaces — some platforms count characters with spaces, others without. This tool shows both.
- Hyphenated words — "well-known" is typically counted as one word in word processors but may count as two in some tools. This tool follows standard word-boundary rules.
- Relying on word count alone for SEO — content quality and relevance matter far more than hitting a specific word count.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Does it count hyphenated words as one or two? ▾
Hyphenated words like "well-known" are counted as one word, following the same convention as Microsoft Word and Google Docs.
How accurate is the reading time estimate? ▾
It uses 200 words per minute, which is the standard baseline for average adult reading speed. Technical or dense content may take 30-50% longer. The estimate is intentionally conservative.
Can I check character limits for social media? ▾
Yes — the character count (with spaces) matches what platforms like X/Twitter (280 chars), Instagram captions (2,200 chars) and meta descriptions (155 chars) use.
Is my data private? ▾
Yes — all processing runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Your data is never sent to any server.
Is this tool free? ▾
Completely free — no login, no usage limits, and it works offline once the page is loaded.
Yes — completely free, no login required, no usage limits.
Is my data private? ▾
Yes — all processing runs in your browser. Your data is never sent to any server.
Does it work offline? ▾
Yes — once the page is loaded, the tool works without an internet connection.