Word & Character Counter
Count words, characters, sentences and reading time as you type.
How to use Word & Character Counter
-
Type or paste your text
Click into the big text box and start typing, or paste in a draft, essay, tweet or meta description. The stats update the instant you do.
-
Read your live counts
Watch the tiles update in real time for words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, reading time and your longest word.
-
Check the reading time
The reading-time estimate assumes a comfortable ~200 words per minute, so you can gauge how long your piece takes to read at a glance.
-
Copy, clear or load a sample
Copy your text back out with one click, clear the box to start fresh, or load the sample text to see the counter in action.
Key features
- Live word and character counts that update as you type — no button to press
- Characters counted both with and without spaces, plus sentences and paragraphs
- Reading-time estimate based on a comfortable ~200 words per minute
- Finds your longest word and counts emoji as a single character
- Everything stays in your browser — your text is never sent anywhere
- Free, no sign-up and no length limits, with handy copy, clear and load-sample buttons
About Word & Character Counter
A fast, private word and character counter that updates live as you type or paste. See your word count, character count (with and without spaces), sentence count, paragraph count, estimated reading time (based on ~200 words per minute) and your longest word — all computed instantly in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, so it is safe for drafts, essays, tweets, meta descriptions and any text where length matters. Copy, clear or load a sample with one click.
Last updated 20 January 2026.
Frequently asked questions
- Is my text sent to a server?
- No. Every count is calculated right here in your browser as you type, so your text never leaves your device and we never see it.
- How is the word count calculated?
- Your text is split on any run of whitespace, and each resulting chunk counts as one word — the same way most word processors do it.
- How is reading time estimated?
- Reading time is your word count divided by ~200 words per minute, a typical adult silent-reading pace, then rounded to the nearest minute. Anything under a minute shows as "< 1 min".
- What is the difference between characters with and without spaces?
- "Characters" counts every character including spaces, tabs and line breaks, while the without-spaces figure ignores all whitespace — handy for limits like tweets or meta descriptions. Emoji and combined glyphs each count as one character.
- Is there a limit on how much text I can paste?
- There are no artificial limits — paste a sentence or an entire manuscript. Very long text is bounded only by your device’s available memory.
- Does it work on my phone?
- Yes. The counter is fully responsive and runs in any modern mobile or desktop browser, with no app to install.