Word Counter Online Free

How to use the word counter

Paste or type into the box above. Every figure updates as you type: words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, and an estimated reading time. Nothing is submitted anywhere, so you can paste a draft you have not published yet without a second thought.

What each number means

Words are counted by splitting on whitespace, which is how word processors and most editors do it. A hyphenated compound counts as one word; "e-mail" is one, "e mail" is two.

Characters with spaces is the figure that matters for social platforms and SMS. Characters without spaces is what many academic and translation briefs specify, because translators are frequently paid per character and spaces are not work.

Reading time assumes 200 words per minute, a reasonable average for adults reading non-technical prose on a screen. Dense or technical material runs slower, closer to 150, so treat the number as a floor rather than a promise.

Limits worth knowing

Meta descriptions are truncated by Google at roughly 155 to 160 characters. Page titles get about 60. A tweet is 280 characters. LinkedIn cuts posts off at 3,000. University essays are usually specified in words with a 10% tolerance either side, and exceeding it is one of the easiest marks to lose.

Frequently asked questions

Does it count numbers as words?

Yes. "2026" is a word by this measure, as it is in Microsoft Word.

Is my text stored or sent anywhere?

No. Counting happens in your browser as you type, and closing the tab discards it.

Why does my count differ slightly from Word?

Different tools disagree about edge cases such as hyphenation, em-dashes and text inside footnotes. Differences of a fraction of a percent on a long document are normal.

Is there a length limit?

Nothing fixed. Full-length manuscripts count fine.