Word Counter

Written by the Utiliby editorial team · Last updated October 17, 2026 · Rules and formulas reviewed October 2026

What this free word counter does

Whether you are trimming an essay to a limit, checking a caption before you post or briefing a writer, you need to know how long a piece of text is. This free online word counter and character counter gives you the answer as you type. Paste your text and it reports words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs and lines, plus the number of unique words, the average word and sentence length and the longest word.

Counting is only the start. The same page estimates the reading time, speaking time and handwriting time of your text, shows the words and phrases you repeat most with their keyword density, measures progress against a word goal and against the character limits of popular platforms, and scores readability with five standard formulas. A live chart shows which letters you use most and how long each sentence is, so you can see where a draft drags.

Everything runs in your browser. Your text is never uploaded, stored or shared, which matters for drafts, client work and anything confidential.

How to use the word counter

1. Type or paste your text into the box. You can also open a plain text file from your device, or try the sample.
2. Read the live totals above the tabs: words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, reading time and speaking time.
3. Open the Counts tab for the full breakdown, and change the reading, speaking or handwriting speed to suit your audience.
4. Check keyword density on the second tab. Choose single words, two-word or three-word phrases and decide whether to ignore common words.
5. Set a goal on the third tab and watch the progress ring, or check the text against a platform limit such as an X post or a meta description.
6. Review readability on the fourth tab to see the reading ease score, the grade level and any sentences that run past 25 words.
7. Copy, download or print the report. The printout holds only the report, not the page.

How words, characters, sentences and paragraphs are counted

Different tools disagree by a few words because they define a word differently. This one follows the rules most writers expect. A word is a run of letters or digits. Apostrophes and hyphens inside a run keep it together, so it's and well-known count once, and a number with separators such as 1,200 or 3.50 counts once. Spaces, line breaks, dashes between words and most punctuation separate words. The approach follows the idea of word boundaries in the Unicode text segmentation standard, simplified for everyday use.

Characters are counted as Unicode characters, so an accented letter or a symbol counts as one. Characters with spaces include spaces and line breaks. Characters without spaces leave them out. Sentences end at a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark followed by a space or the end of the text. Abbreviations such as Dr., e.g. and p.m. and decimals such as 3.5 are recognised so they do not split a sentence. A line with no end punctuation, such as a heading, counts as its own sentence. Paragraphs are blocks of text separated by a blank line.

Because definitions differ, the count here can be one or two words away from Microsoft Word or Google Docs on text with unusual symbols, long dashes or numbered lists. When a limit is strict, use the official count for the final check.

Reading time, speaking time and handwriting time

Reading time is the word count divided by a words-per-minute speed. The default of 238 words per minute reflects a large review of reading research, which found that adults read non-fiction silently at about that pace and fiction a little faster. Speed varies with difficulty, purpose and the reader, so the figure is best read as a guide. Blog platforms use a similar calculation to show a read-time estimate on articles.

Speaking time works the same way with a lower speed. A relaxed presentation runs at about 130 words per minute, conversation is faster, and a slow, careful delivery or a talk with pauses and slides runs slower. A 1,000-word script therefore takes about eight minutes to deliver. Handwriting is slower still, at roughly 13 words per minute for most adults, which explains why a handwritten page takes so long. Change any of the three speeds to match your situation.

Keyword density without the myths

The keyword tab lists the words and phrases you repeat most and what share of the text each makes up. It ignores common words such as the and of by default, because they would otherwise fill the table. It is useful for two jobs. The first is editing: a draft that uses the same adjective eleven times needs a thesaurus. The second is checking that a page about a topic actually mentions the terms a reader would look for.

Treat any density target with caution. Google has said for years that there is no ideal keyword density and that it looks at the meaning of the page as a whole. Repeating a phrase to hit a number makes the text worse to read and does not help. A better approach is to cover the topic completely, use the natural variations people search for, and use the keyword table to spot accidental repetition rather than to chase a figure. Two- and three-word phrases are the most useful view, since they show the topics a text is really about.

Word goals and platform character limits

Many writing jobs come with a limit: 650 words for a college application essay, 250 for an abstract, 160 characters for an SMS, around 60 for a page title and 155 to 160 for a meta description. The goal tab tracks your count against a target of your choice with a progress ring, and shows bars for the typical limits of popular platforms so you can see at a glance what is left or over.

Platforms change these numbers and count some content differently. X, for instance, treats every link as a fixed length and gives some characters extra weight, and search engines truncate titles and descriptions by pixel width rather than by characters. Use the limits as a first check and confirm on the platform before you publish.

Readability scores explained

The readability tab applies five well-known formulas. Flesch Reading Ease rewards short sentences and short words and gives a score from 0 to 100, where 60 to 70 is plain English that most adults follow easily. Flesch-Kincaid grade turns the same inputs into a US school grade. The Gunning Fog index and SMOG focus on long words of three or more syllables. The Coleman-Liau index and the Automated Readability Index use letters per word rather than syllables, which makes them less sensitive to syllable-counting errors.

Each formula is a rough guide. They cannot judge logic, tone or vocabulary, and they ignore layout. Specialist writing can be perfectly clear to its audience and still score as difficult. What they do well is flag the common causes of heavy prose, which are long sentences and long words. The sentence chart marks each sentence in green, amber or red by length, so you can find the ones to split. Public writing guidance recommends plain language for general audiences, and a grade level between 7 and 9 suits most web content.

Tips for writers, students and marketers

• Count before you polish. Check the length early so you do not spend an hour tightening a section you will cut.
• Write to the limit, then trim. Aim slightly above the target, then cut weak words, repeated phrases and filler openings.
• Use the paragraph and sentence counts. Walls of text and sentences above 25 words are the most common readability problems.
• Check repeated phrases. If your keyword table is dominated by one phrase, vary the wording.
• Time your talk. Divide your word count by 130 and add time for slides and questions.
• Check the character count for adverts and meta tags before you paste into the platform, where text may be cut without warning.
• Keep the official count for submissions. Use this tool to get close, then confirm in the submission portal.

Common mistakes when counting words

• Counting the title, references or captions by accident. Decide whether the limit includes them and paste only what counts.
• Trusting one number. Tools differ by a few words. Leave a small margin under a strict limit.
• Mixing up characters with and without spaces. Social platforms and meta tags count spaces.
• Chasing keyword density. A natural, complete answer beats a target percentage.
• Applying English readability formulas to other languages. The formulas were built for English text.
• Treating reading time as exact. It is an average, and your reader may be faster or slower.

Limits and privacy

The counter uses standard conventions, so the number may differ slightly from other tools. Syllable counts for the readability formulas are estimated from spelling, so they are approximate. Reading and speaking times are averages. Character limits for platforms are typical published values that can change. Your text is processed on your device and never uploaded, and it is cleared when you close or refresh the page.

Related free tools

Use these free online tools together with this one:

• Plan a talk or a read-time badge with the reading time and speech length calculator.
• Convert a word count into pages with the words to pages calculator.
• Polish the text after you count it with the grammar and style checker.
• Change capitalisation in one click with the text case converter.
• See exactly what changed between two drafts with the text compare tool.
• Count syllables line by line for poems with the syllable counter.
• Check limits for every network with the social media character limits checker.
• Draft a post with the tweet character counter.
• Write ad copy to length with the Google Ads character counter.
• Build title and description tags with the meta tag generator.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and further reading

• Brysbaert, M. (2019), How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate, Journal of Memory and Language.
• Unicode Consortium, UAX #29: Unicode Text Segmentation.
• Google Search Central, Control your snippets in search results.
• Google Search Central, Influencing your title links in search results.
• X Developer Platform, Counting characters.
• U.S. General Services Administration, Plain language guidelines.

Sources were consulted in October 2026. Standards and rules can change, so always check the official page for your situation.