Word Counter — Free Online Tool

📝 Word Counter

Whether you're hitting a strict word limit for an essay, an application, or an SEO meta description, or just want to know how long a piece of writing will take to read aloud, this word counter tracks everything live as you type or paste text — words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and estimated reading time.

Nothing you type is uploaded anywhere; all counting happens directly in your browser, so it works just as well for sensitive drafts as for public content.

How to use the Word Counter

Paste or type your text into the box.
Watch the word, character, sentence and paragraph counts update live.
Check the estimated reading time based on an average reading speed.

How the counts are calculated

Words are counted by splitting text on whitespace and filtering out empty entries. Sentences are estimated by counting sequences ending in '.', '!' or '?'. Paragraphs are counted as blocks of text separated by blank lines. Reading time is estimated using an average adult silent-reading speed of roughly 200–230 words per minute.

Frequently asked questions

Is my text sent to a server?

No — all counting runs locally in your browser using JavaScript. Your text never leaves your device or gets uploaded anywhere, so it's safe to use for private drafts, essays or confidential content.

How accurate is the reading time estimate?

It's a reasonable average based on typical adult silent-reading speed, but actual reading time varies with content complexity, font size and individual reading pace — treat it as a helpful estimate, not an exact figure.

Does it count numbers and punctuation as words?

Standalone numbers are counted as words since they're separated by whitespace like any other word. Punctuation attached to words (like a comma or period) isn't counted separately, but isolated punctuation marks with whitespace around them may be.