Free Word Counter
Paste or type any text to instantly see word count, character count, reading time, and more. Runs entirely in your browser, so your text never leaves your device.
- Words
- 0
- Characters
- 0
- No spaces
- 0
- Sentences
- 0
- Paragraphs
- 0
- Reading
- 0min
- Speaking
- 0min
How to use this tool
- 1
Paste or type your text into the box below.
- 2
Stats update in real time as you type.
- 3
Copy any stat by clicking it, or copy the whole text back out with the copy button.
Why this tool exists
A reliable word counter is one of those small tools you reach for constantly, when an essay has a maximum length, when a tweet has to fit in 280 characters, or when you need to estimate how long a script will take to deliver. Most online word counters bury the actual tool under ads and pop-ups; this one doesn't, and it runs locally in your browser so the text you paste never leaves your device.
Beyond the basics like words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, you also get reading time and speaking time estimates. Reading time uses 225 words per minute, which is the average for adult silent reading of non-technical material. Speaking time uses 150 words per minute, a clear public-speaking pace. Both are rounded up to the nearest minute so you can pad your estimate slightly when planning a presentation or pacing a podcast.
Unlike most counters, this one also handles whitespace gracefully. Multiple consecutive spaces, tabs, and line breaks are normalized when counting words, so a copy-paste from a PDF or a slide deck won't inflate the count. Sentence detection handles ellipses, double exclamation points, and question marks. Paragraph detection treats one or more blank lines as a separator, matching what most writing tools consider a paragraph break.
When you'd use this
- Hitting an essay word-count target
- Trimming social posts to a character limit
- Estimating how long a presentation script will take to read aloud
- Checking content length for an SEO meta description