About the Word Counter
Type or paste text to count words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs and lines, and to see estimated reading and speaking time.
Key features
- Live count of words, characters, sentences and paragraphs
- Characters with and without spaces
- Reading time (238 wpm) and speaking time (140 wpm)
- Unique words and average word length
- Top keywords with stop words filtered out
- Emoji and accented characters counted correctly
Count words and characters instantly
Whether you're writing an essay with a minimum length, a meta description with a character limit, a tweet, a cover letter, or a speech that must fit a time slot, you need accurate counts. The Word Counter updates live as you type or paste, and also estimates how long your text takes to read and speak.
Common length limits
| Where | Limit |
|---|---|
| X (Twitter) post | 280 characters |
| SEO title tag | ~50–60 characters |
| Meta description | ~150–160 characters |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 characters |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 characters |
| Google Ads headline | 30 characters |
| SMS message | 160 characters (GSM-7) |
| College application essay (Common App) | 650 words |
| Abstract (typical) | 150–300 words |
Reading and speaking time
- Reading time uses 238 words per minute, the average silent reading speed for adults reading non-fiction (Brysbaert, 2019).
- Speaking time uses 140 words per minute, a comfortable presentation pace. A 5-minute talk is roughly 700 words.
Top keywords
The keyword panel shows your most-used words (three or more letters), ignoring common stop words like the, and and of. It's a quick way to spot repetition or check that an article focuses on its target topic. For full frequency tables, use the Word Frequency Counter.
Writing tips
- Vary sentence length. A mix of short and long sentences reads more naturally.
- Watch repetition. If a non-topic word appears in the top keywords, find synonyms.
- Aim for clarity. An average word length above 5.5 characters often means complex vocabulary; simpler words improve readability.
Related tools
Clean pasted text with Remove Extra Spaces and Remove Line Breaks, change capitalization with the Case Converter, or find duplicate words with the Repeated Word Counter.
How to use the Word Counter
- Type or paste your text into the input box.
- Choose the options you want.
- The result updates instantly as you type.
- Copy the output or download it as a .txt file.