Online Word Counter

Paste or type your text below to instantly count words, characters, sentences, and more.

What Is a Word Counter?

A word counter is a free online word count tool that analyses text and tells you exactly how many words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs it contains. It is essential for writers, students, bloggers, marketers, and professionals who need to count words in text quickly and meet specific word count requirements for essays, articles, or social media posts.

Our word counter online works instantly in your browser - just paste your text and see the results in real time. No sign-up, no downloads, completely free. Every word, character, and paragraph is counted on your device, and we never send your text to our servers. If you only need to track characters for a tweet or meta description, our character counter is the focused alternative, and you can write longer drafts in the free online notepad.

How to Count Words Online

Simply paste your text into the box above or start typing directly. The counter updates in real time as you write, showing you words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, and lines.

You can also see estimated reading and speaking times, helpful for preparing presentations or estimating how long a blog post will take to read.

Common Word Count Guidelines

  • Twitter/X post: 280 characters
  • Meta description: 155-160 characters
  • Short blog post: 300-600 words
  • Standard blog post: 1,000-1,500 words
  • Long-form article: 2,000-3,000 words
  • College essay: 500-5,000 words
  • Novel: 70,000-100,000 words

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the word counter work?

Simply type or paste your text into the box above. The word counter instantly analyses your text and displays the number of words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, and lines in real time.

Is this word counter free?

Yes, completely free with no sign-up or registration required. Just open the page and start counting.

How is reading time calculated?

Reading time is estimated at 200 words per minute, which is the average adult silent reading speed. Speaking time uses 130 words per minute, the typical pace for presentations.

Can I count words in text from any document?

Yes. Copy text from Word, Google Docs, PDFs, emails, or any web page, paste it into the box above, and our word count tool will count words in the text instantly. There is no file upload and no length limit beyond what your browser can handle.

Need a Full Notepad?

Write, save, and organise your notes with our free online notepad. Or try our character counter and free to-do list.

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