Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs. See reading time and keyword density.
About this tool
A free, instant word counter for writers, students, content creators, and anyone working to a length target. Paste your text and see live counts for words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, and syllables — plus reading time, speaking time, and the most-frequent keywords in your writing.
The Word Counter pairs naturally with the rest of Text Toolkit. Once your text is pasted, you can switch tabs to the Case Converter, Readability Checker, or Markdown Previewer without losing your work — the shared text buffer keeps everything in sync across tools.
Built for speed: stats update in real time as you type, with no servers involved. Your text never leaves your browser.
How to use the word counter
Paste or type your text into the input. The counters update live — no buttons, no submit step, no delay beyond a tiny debounce that keeps long documents smooth. Below the input you'll see four primary stats (words, characters, sentences, paragraphs), the syllable count, and reading and speaking time estimates. The keyword density panel surfaces the most-frequently-used words, with stop-words ("the", "and", "of") filtered out automatically.
When you switch to another tool — Case Converter, Readability Checker, Markdown Previewer — the text comes with you. That's the shared text buffer the toolkit is built around. Pasting once and switching tools is the workflow this site exists for.
What counts as a word
The word counter treats any sequence of non-whitespace characters as one word. That means:
- Contractions ("don't", "you're") count as one word.
- Hyphenated compounds ("well-known", "mother-in-law") count as one word.
- Numbers ("42", "3.14") count as one word.
- URLs and email addresses count as one word, regardless of length.
- Standalone punctuation ("—", "&") doesn't count as a word.
- Multiple spaces between words are collapsed; one space, two spaces, and a tab all produce the same count.
This matches how Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and most academic style guides count words. It's slightly different from how some legal-document tools count (which sometimes split hyphenated compounds), so if you're writing for a context with a strict character-by-character count rule, verify against the platform's own tool.
Reading time vs speaking time
The counter shows two time estimates:
- Reading time uses 238 words per minute — the average silent-reading speed for adult prose, established across several studies of comprehension-tested reading rates.
- Speaking time uses 150 words per minute — the typical pace for prepared spoken delivery, sitting between conversational speech (170+ wpm) and formal address (130 wpm).
These numbers are averages; your real pace will sit somewhere within a 30 wpm band either side. For a detailed breakdown of how to estimate length for a specific speech, see our guide on how many words is a 5-minute speech.
Common use cases
| Use case | Why the count matters |
|---|---|
| Essay submissions | Most assignments have hard word-count ranges with grade penalties for under- or over-running. |
| Blog drafts | Long-form ranking content typically targets 1,500–2,500 words; aim for the length your topic genuinely requires. |
| Job applications | Cover letters at 300–400 words; LinkedIn "About" sections at 200–300; CV summaries at 50–75. |
| Speech preparation | 150 wpm baseline lets you draft to a target runtime; the speaking-time estimate is built in. |
| Social media drafts | Twitter/X at 280; LinkedIn posts up to 3,000; the character counter is better for these. |
| Translation work | Many translators bill per source word; an accurate word count is the line item in your invoice. |
Privacy
The counter runs entirely in your browser. The text you paste never reaches our servers — it can't, because there isn't one. Your draft is stored locally in your browser's localStorage so it survives a refresh or tab close, and you can clear it from the input at any time.
Frequently asked questions
How many words is a 5-minute speech?
About 750 words at the average speaking pace of 150 words per minute. Conversational pacing runs slightly slower (130–140 wpm); formal presentations average closer to 150–170. The toolkit shows speaking time directly so you can match a target length.What is the average word count for a blog post?
1,500–2,500 words is typical for SEO-focused blog posts; long-form ranking content often runs 2,000–3,000+. News articles average 800–1,200. Aim for the length your topic genuinely requires — search engines reward depth, not padding.How do you count words in an essay?
Most word counters split on whitespace, so contractions ("don't"), hyphenated terms ("well-known"), and URLs each count as one word. Numbers count as words. Multiple spaces are collapsed. Style guides differ on whether to count titles and references — check your assignment requirements.Does the word counter include numbers and symbols?
Yes. Numbers like "42" or "3.14" count as one word each. Standalone symbols (—, &) are typically not counted. Emoji count as characters but not as separate words.What is reading time based on?
Reading time uses 238 words per minute — the average silent-reading speed for adult prose. Speaking time uses 150 wpm, the typical cadence for spoken delivery. Speed varies with complexity: dense academic text reads slower, conversational text reads faster.