Word counter
Type or paste text and see the word, character, sentence and paragraph counts, reading time and your most used words instantly.
Free · no signup Runs in your browser
How do I count the words in my text?
Type or paste your text into the box and the word count appears at once, along with characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, reading time and the words you use most. Words are counted the way most word processors do: a run of characters separated by spaces. Text in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai, which has no spaces, is counted with the browser's Unicode word rules.
Why count words
Essays, applications, articles and captions all come with limits, and a word processor is not always at hand. A counter that works on any pasted text answers the question straight away, and the extra figures help with the other limits that usually travel with it: characters for a form field, paragraphs for a structure, and reading time for a speech or a post.
Reading time uses published research rather than a guess. A review of 190 studies by Marc Brysbaert (2019) found that adults read English non-fiction silently at about 238 words a minute, and about 183 words a minute when reading aloud. You can change the silent reading speed if your audience reads faster or slower.
It runs in your browser. What you type is never sent anywhere, and there is no sign-up.
How it works in detail
Words are counted the way most word processors do, as groups of characters separated by spaces or line breaks, so 'well-known' is one word and '3.5' is one word. For scripts written without spaces (Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai) the browser's Intl.Segmenter finds the word boundaries by the Unicode text segmentation rules. Characters are counted with and without spaces, and an emoji counts as one. Sentences are found by splitting at a full stop, question mark, exclamation mark or ellipsis followed by a space or the end of the text, and paragraphs are blocks separated by a blank line. Reading time divides the words by 238 words a minute for silent reading and by 183 for reading aloud, the averages for English non-fiction from Brysbaert (2019); you can change the silent reading speed. The words you use most are listed with their counts.
How to use it
- Type or paste your text into the box. The counts update as you type.
- Read the words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and reading time.
- Change the silent reading speed if you want a time that fits your readers; the aloud time uses 183 words a minute.
- Check the list of most-used words to spot repetition.
- Use the count against your limit, such as an essay length or a meta description.
What changes and what stays the same
What the tool does to your text, and what it leaves alone.
| Aspect | What happens |
|---|---|
| Your text | Not changed; the tool only counts |
| Hyphenated words and numbers | Count as one word each |
| Emoji | Count as one character |
| Sentences | Found by punctuation, so abbreviations such as 'e.g.' can add a sentence |
| Formatting | Not counted, because the box holds plain text |
| Privacy | The text stays in your browser: it is not uploaded, saved or logged |
When to use it
- Staying inside an essay, abstract or application word limit
- Checking an article's length before you publish
- Timing a speech or a presentation
- Spotting overused words in a draft
Problems you may run into
Most problems come from the text you paste, not from the tool.
| What you see | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| My word processor gives a different count | Programs treat dashes, slashes and numbers a little differently | Differences of a few words are normal; use the count your reader or teacher uses |
| The sentence count is too high | Abbreviations and decimal points can look like sentence ends | Treat sentences as an estimate |
| The count includes things I do not want | Headings, references and captions are counted | Delete those parts, or subtract them |
| Characters differ from another tool | Some tools count line breaks or emoji differently | Check whether you need characters with or without spaces |
| Reading time looks long | The default is a silent reading speed, and your readers may read faster or slower | Change the speed in the box |
| Nothing appears after I paste | The box is empty or the text was copied as an image | Copy the text again from the source and paste it into the box |
Mistakes it helps you avoid
- Trusting a different program's count exactly: each treats hyphens, numbers and symbols a little differently.
- Counting characters when the limit is in words, or the reverse.
- Forgetting that headings, citations and captions may or may not count towards a limit.
- Reading too much into sentence counts: abbreviations such as 'e.g.' can add extra sentences.
How it works
Everything happens in your browser as you type.
words = groups of characters separated by spaces or line breaks (Unicode word rules for Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai)characters = every character you typed, counting an emoji as onesentences = text split at . ! ? or … when a space or the end followsparagraphs = blocks of text separated by a blank linereading time = words ÷ 238 words a minute silent, words ÷ 183 aloud
Words are split on whitespace, which is how most word processors count, so 'well-known' is one word and '3.5' is one word. For scripts written without spaces the browser's Intl.Segmenter finds word boundaries using the Unicode text-segmentation rules (UAX #29). Reading speeds are the averages from Brysbaert (2019): 238 words a minute for silent reading of English non-fiction and 183 for reading aloud; fiction is read slightly faster (260).
Example: a 500-word article
You have written a 500-word article and want to know how long it takes to read.
- Words500
- Silent reading: 500 ÷ 2382 min 6 sec
- Reading aloud: 500 ÷ 1832 min 44 sec
A reader needs about two minutes, and about two minutes forty-four seconds if reading aloud
Real readers vary, so the speed can be changed.
Terms on this page
- Word
- A group of characters between spaces; the usual way word processors count.
- Reading time
- Words divided by an average reading speed.
Common questions
How does the word counter count words?
It counts runs of characters separated by spaces or line breaks, as most word processors do. For Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai it uses the browser's Unicode word boundaries.
Why is my count different in Microsoft Word or Google Docs?
Programs differ in how they treat hyphens, numbers, symbols and text boxes. The difference is usually a handful of words.
How is reading time worked out?
From your word count at 238 words a minute for silent reading, the average for adult English non-fiction in a review of 190 studies, and 183 words a minute when reading aloud.
Is my text saved or sent anywhere?
No. The counting happens in your browser and nothing you type leaves your device.
Is there a length limit?
No fixed limit, but very long texts may be slower to count on an older phone.
Where these numbers come from
- Brysbaert (2019), How many words do we read per minute? Journal of Memory and Language 109 A review of 190 studies: adults read English non-fiction silently at 238 words per minute and fiction at 260; reading aloud averages 183.
- Unicode Consortium — UAX #29, Unicode Text Segmentation How word boundaries are defined for scripts written without spaces.
- MDN Web Docs — Intl.Segmenter The browser feature used to count words in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai.
Last verified 2026-10-25 The method on this page is checked against the sources above at least once a year. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
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