What this word counter measures

This tool counts words and characters as you type, and adds the metrics most platforms actually care about: characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, lines, and an estimated reading and speaking time. Word limits drive academic essays and publishing submissions; character limits drive social posts, meta tags, and form fields. Because both numbers update live in the same view, you can paste a draft once and immediately see whether it fits a 280-character tweet, a 160-character meta description, or a 2,500-word article target.

How to Use the Word Counter — Step by Step

Paste or type your text into the large input field on the left. You can paste from anywhere — a Google Doc, Microsoft Word, a website, or any other source. The counter updates live as you type, with no button to press.
Read your statistics in the panel on the right. You'll see words, characters (total and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, and lines — all counted in real time.
Check reading and speaking time in the blue time estimates box. Reading time is calculated at 238 words per minute (average adult reading speed), and speaking time at 130 wpm. This is useful for presentations, video scripts, and podcast outlines.
Review the top keywords section below the statistics. It shows the most frequently used meaningful words in your text, filtered for stop words. This gives you a quick keyword density check without any extra tools.
Copy your stats with the "Copy stats" button if you need to share the word count summary — for example when submitting an assignment or briefing an editor.

Examples

Text type	Typical word count	Character limit to watch	Reading time
Tweet / X post	~40–50 words	280 characters (hard limit)	~10 seconds
LinkedIn post	~150–300 words	700 chars before "see more"	~1–2 min
SEO meta description	~20–30 words	155–160 characters	n/a
University essay (standard)	1,500–3,000 words	No character limit	6–13 min
Blog post (SEO-optimised)	1,500–2,500 words	No character limit	6–11 min
Amazon product title	~15–20 words	200 characters (hard limit)	n/a

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does this match the word count in Microsoft Word or Google Docs?

In almost all cases, yes. This counter treats any run of characters between whitespace as one word — the same rule Word and Docs use, so a clean paragraph gives an identical figure. Small differences can appear with hyphenated terms ("state-of-the-art" counts as one word here) or numbers and symbols sitting on their own, which different editors handle slightly differently.

Why are there two character counts?

The "Characters" total includes spaces, line breaks, and punctuation — that is what platforms like Twitter/X measure against their 280-character cap. "Chars (no spaces)" strips out whitespace and is the figure some publishers and design briefs ask for. Check which one your limit refers to before trusting it; for social media and SMS it is almost always the with-spaces count.

How is reading and speaking time calculated?

Reading time divides your word count by 238 words per minute (a common average for silent adult reading); speaking time uses 130 wpm, closer to a measured presentation pace. Both are rough guides — dense or technical text reads slower, and your own delivery speed will vary — so treat them as a starting estimate for scripts and articles rather than an exact runtime.

How many words fit on an A4 page?

As a rule of thumb: about 400–500 words at 12pt with 1.5 spacing, roughly 250–300 words double-spaced (the usual format for essays), and 600–700 words single-spaced at 11pt. Margins and font choice shift these figures, so paste your text and watch the word count rather than relying on page estimates for a hard limit.