Free Online Word Counter

What this word counter does

This is a free online word counter that gives you eight live counts and a full readability breakdown of any text you paste in — words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, reading time, speaking time, Flesch reading-ease score, and a keyword density panel. It also checks your text against eleven common platform character limits — from Twitter’s 280-character cap to Google’s 155-character meta description limit — so you know instantly whether your text fits where you plan to publish it. The counter updates as you type, works completely offline once the page loads, and stores nothing on any server.

How to use the word counter

1. Paste or type your text into the large box above. The counter starts working the moment you type your first character — there is no button to press.
2. Read the eight stat cards across the top. Words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, reading time, speaking time, and the Flesch readability score all update in real time.
3. Check platform limits in the second panel. Each colored progress bar shows how close your text is to the limit for that platform — green means comfortable, yellow means near, red means over.
4. Expand the keywords panel to see your top-10 most-used words and their density percentage. This is invaluable for SEO writing and for spotting words you’re overusing.
5. Copy, download, or clear using the buttons at the bottom. Auto-save is on by default, so accidentally closing the tab won’t lose your work.

Every stat explained

Words

A word is defined as any run of non-whitespace characters, matching the standard behavior of Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and the WordPress editor. Numbers, URLs, and hyphenated compounds each count as one word.

Characters (with and without spaces)

Character counts use full Unicode-aware grapheme counting via Array.from(text), so a single emoji equals one character (not four) — matching how Twitter, Instagram, and modern platforms actually count. The “no spaces” variant strips all whitespace and is useful for platforms that don’t count whitespace toward limits.

Reading and speaking time

Reading time is calculated by dividing your word count by 238 — the average adult silent reading speed established by a 2019 meta-analysis of 190 studies. Speaking time uses 183 words per minute, the widely accepted average for clear public speaking. Both are rounded up to the nearest minute so you always have a safe estimate.

Flesch reading ease

The Flesch Reading Ease score ranges from 0 (very difficult) to 100+ (very easy). A score of 60–70 is standard adult reading (approximately US 8th grade level), 90+ is grade-school easy, and below 30 is technical or academic. Popular blog writing usually aims for 60–80. The formula: 206.835 − 1.015 × (words / sentences) − 84.6 × (syllables / words).

Keyword density

The density panel lists your top 10 most-used words (excluding common stop-words like “the,” “and,” “for”) along with the percentage of your total text each occupies. For SEO writing, your primary keyword should typically appear at 0.5–2% of the total text — enough for Google to understand your topic but not so much that it looks like keyword stuffing.

Real-world use cases

Writers and bloggers — Hit an editor’s minimum or maximum word count with certainty. Reading time helps you decide when a post is running too long. The Flesch score keeps your writing accessible to your audience.

Students — Meet essay word requirements exactly. Most college assignments allow a ±10% window, and the live counter lets you land inside that window without stress. Paste your draft, watch the count, and you’ll never be surprised by a grade penalty for word count.

SEO professionals and marketers — Optimize meta titles to stay under 60 characters and descriptions under 155 characters to prevent Google truncation in search results. Track keyword density so your target keyword appears often enough to matter but not so often that it looks spammy. The platform limit panel covers every major channel you’ll write for.

Social media managers — Fit inside Twitter/X’s 280-character limit, keep Instagram captions under 2,200 characters, and know exactly when your LinkedIn post is running long. All 11 platform limits update as you type.

Translators and copywriters — Word count is often your billing unit. Get an exact number in seconds instead of pasting into Google Docs or Word every time.

Academic authors — Journal submissions almost always have strict word or character caps for abstracts and body text. This tool gives you an accurate count that matches what most journal-submission systems calculate.

Word counter comparison

Pro tips for accurate word counting

• Strip formatting before pasting — hidden characters from Word or PDFs can inflate the count. Paste as plain text (Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Shift+V on Mac).
• Watch the sentence count — if it’s wildly different from what you expect, you probably have runaway punctuation or missing periods. Fix them before submitting.
• Use the platform-limit meters instead of guessing — a “short and punchy” tweet often runs 320 characters. See the exact count before you post.
• Aim for Flesch 60–70 for general audiences — technical writing can go lower, but blog readers drop off fast when scores fall below 50.
• Auto-save runs in your browser only — clearing your browser data will erase it. Use Download .txt for anything important.