Free Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs instantly. See reading time, speaking time, social media limits, and keyword density. Free, no signup, works entirely in your browser.
How to Count Words Online
1. Paste or type your text into the input box above. The tool accepts any length of text including entire articles, essays, and manuscripts.
2. See all counts instantly. Words, characters, characters without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, and lines update in real-time as you type. Reading time and speaking time are calculated automatically.
3. Check social media limits. The progress bars show exactly how close your text is to the character limit for Twitter/X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, and SEO meta descriptions.
4. Analyze keywords. The top keywords section shows your most-used words with frequency counts and keyword density percentages. Toggle stop words on or off to focus on meaningful content words.
What This Word Counter Measures
Total number of words separated by spaces. Hyphenated words like 'well-known' count as one word.
Total characters including spaces, punctuation, and special characters. Essential for social media limits and SEO.
Character count excluding all whitespace. Useful for translation pricing (many languages charge per character).
Number of sentences, counted by periods, exclamation marks, and question marks followed by a space or end of text.
Paragraphs separated by blank lines. A standard paragraph contains 3-5 sentences.
Estimated at 238 words per minute (average adult non-fiction reading speed). A 1,000-word article takes about 5 minutes.
Estimated at 150 words per minute (average presentation speed). A 10-minute speech needs approximately 1,500 words.
Percentage each keyword appears relative to total words. SEO best practice suggests keeping primary keyword density between 1-3%.
When to Use a Word Counter
Academic writing: Essays, research papers, and dissertations often have strict word count requirements. Paste your draft to check if you meet the minimum or need to trim.
Blog posts and SEO content: Most SEO guides recommend 1,500-2,500 words for in-depth articles. Check your word count and keyword density to optimize for search engines.
Social media: Each platform has different character limits. Check your post against Twitter/X (280), LinkedIn (3,000), or Instagram caption (2,200) limits before posting.
Freelance writing: Many clients pay per word. Use the word counter to track your output and invoice accurately. The character count is useful for translation projects billed by character.
Presentations and speeches: A 5-minute presentation needs roughly 750 words. A 20-minute keynote needs about 3,000 words. Use the speaking time estimate to calibrate your content.
Email and cover letters: Keep cover letters under 400 words and cold emails under 150 words. The word counter helps you stay concise.
Common Word Count References
Twitter/X post: 280 characters maximum. Shorter tweets (under 100 characters) tend to get more engagement.
Blog post (short): 300-600 words. Good for news updates, announcements, and quick tips.
Blog post (standard): 1,000-1,500 words. Suitable for tutorials, how-to guides, and opinion pieces.
Long-form content: 2,000-3,000+ words. Best for comprehensive guides, research, and pillar content. Tends to rank higher in search results.
College essay: 250-650 words (Common App). Graduate school essays typically range from 500-1,000 words.
Novel: 70,000-100,000 words for most genres. Young adult novels average 50,000-80,000 words.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does this word counter work?
Paste or type your text into the input box. The tool instantly counts words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, and lines. It also calculates reading time, speaking time, average word length, and keyword density. All processing happens in your browser — nothing is sent to a server.
Is the character count accurate for social media posts?
Yes. The character count includes all characters including spaces, punctuation, and special characters. The social media limits section shows exactly how close you are to the limit for Twitter/X (280), Instagram captions (2,200), LinkedIn posts (3,000), and more.
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time is calculated at 238 words per minute, which is the average adult reading speed for non-fiction text. The result is rounded up to the nearest minute. For a 500-word article, the estimated reading time would be approximately 3 minutes.
How is speaking time calculated?
Speaking time is calculated at 150 words per minute, which is the average speaking rate for presentations and speeches. A 1,500-word speech would take approximately 10 minutes to deliver.
What are stop words and why are they excluded from keywords?
Stop words are common words like 'the', 'and', 'is', 'in', 'to', etc. that appear in almost every text. Excluding them from keyword analysis shows you the meaningful words that make your content unique. You can toggle stop words on or off in the keyword section.
Can I use this to check my SEO meta description length?
Yes. The social media limits section includes a 'Meta Description (SEO)' counter set to 160 characters, which is the recommended maximum for search engine meta descriptions. Google typically displays up to 155-160 characters in search results.
Does this word counter work on mobile?
Yes. The tool is fully responsive and works on any phone, tablet, or desktop with a modern browser. Paste text from any app and get instant counts.
What counts as a sentence?
A sentence is counted when text ends with a period (.), exclamation mark (!), or question mark (?). Abbreviations like 'U.S.' may count as extra sentences. For most standard text, the sentence count is accurate.
More Free Text Tools
FlipMyCase offers a suite of free browser-based text tools. Count words here, then convert text case with our case converter.