Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs instantly — with reading and speaking time estimates as you type.
Everything is counted in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
Your word count
Start typing or paste some text and your word, character, sentence and paragraph counts appear here instantly.
How it works
A word counter does one job extremely well: it tells you how long a piece of writing actually is. Whether you're working to a 500-word news brief, a 2,000-word university essay with a strict ±10% tolerance, or a client blog post priced per word, the count is the number everything else hangs off.
This tool counts as you type, so you can watch a draft grow — or shrink during editing — without breaking your flow.
How it works
Words are counted the same way desktop word processors do it: text is split on any whitespace — spaces, tabs and line breaks — and each remaining chunk counts as one word.
Words = number of whitespace-separated chunksSentences = chunks ending in . ! ? or …Paragraphs = blocks separated by a blank lineReading time = words ÷ 238 words per minute
Hyphenated compounds count as one word, contractions count as one, and numerals count as words. Unique words are counted case-insensitively with punctuation stripped, which is a quick proxy for how varied your vocabulary is.
A worked example
A 1,200-word article with 62 sentences averages roughly 19 words per sentence — slightly long for web writing, where 15–20 reads comfortably and anything consistently above 25 starts to feel heavy. It reads in about five minutes silently, or nine minutes read aloud, which is why a five-minute conference talk needs closer to 650 words, not 1,200.
How to interpret your result
- Words — the headline figure for briefs, essays and per-word pricing.
- Unique words — a rough vocabulary check. Under 30% of total words often signals repetition.
- Average word length — 4.5–5.5 characters is typical English prose; higher suggests dense, formal or jargon-heavy writing.
- Sentences and paragraphs — divide words by sentences to sense-check rhythm and readability.
Common real-world uses
- Meeting an essay, dissertation or coursework limit.
- Pricing copywriting, translation or transcription work per word.
- Sticking to editorial briefs for blogs, newsletters and press releases.
- Estimating how long a speech or presentation will run.
- Checking that an SEO article covers a topic in enough depth.
Related tools: Character Counter · Reading Time Calculator · Text Case Converter · Percentage Change & Difference Calculator