Word Counter
Every essay brief, tweet, Instagram caption and SEO article has a word or character budget, and copying the text into Word just to read the status bar is tedious. This counter tallies words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs and average reading time in real time as you type, and lists the top keywords by density so you can spot accidental repetition or check the keyword you are supposedly targeting.
How to count words
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Paste or type text
Counts update live as you type.
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Pick counting rules
Words split on whitespace, or a strict word regex. Sentences use end-punctuation heuristics.
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Read the live totals
Characters, words, sentences, paragraphs and reading time at a glance.
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Check keyword density
Top 10 words by frequency and percentage of total.
Common target lengths
| Format | Typical length |
|---|---|
| Tweet | Up to 280 characters |
| SMS | 160 characters per message |
| Instagram caption | Up to 2,200 characters (first 125 visible) |
| Meta description | 150-160 characters |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 characters max |
| Essay (college) | 500-1000 words per page |
| Blog post (SEO) | 1,500-2,500 words |
| Book chapter | 3,000-5,000 words |
| Academic abstract | 150-300 words |
Reading time
The counter uses 238 words per minute as the adult silent-reading average (Brysbaert, 2019 meta-analysis). For fiction that tracks well; for technical or academic prose, actual reading speed is often 30-50% slower.
Keyword density
The density panel shows each word’s share of total words. For SEO:
- Target keyword: 1-2% of words is the modern safe range.
- Over 3%: looks like keyword stuffing to search engines.
- Stopword filtering: recommended to focus density on content words.
Counting rules that vary
- Hyphenated words:
well-knowncounts as 1 word under whitespace rules, 2 under strict alphanumeric tokens. The tool defaults to 1. - Numbers:
2026counts as a word in most word processors; the toggle lets you skip digit-only tokens if you prefer. - Emoji: counted as 1 character each but not a word. Some character-limit systems (like SMS) count emoji as 2-4 characters.
- URLs: counted as a single word by default.
Sentence heuristic caveats
Sentences are tricky because Dr., e.g., U.S.A. all contain periods without ending a sentence. The counter uses a context-aware split that handles common abbreviations, but it is not perfect. For dissertation-critical counts, proofread the number.
Frequently Asked Questions
Usually within 1-2 words. Word uses a slightly different tokenisation for hyphenated and apostrophised words. For most practical purposes (essays, blog posts, applications) the numbers agree.
A span ending in ., !, ? (and their doubled variants). Abbreviations like Dr. and Mr. are handled via a curated list, but Prof. Jones said ... may occasionally split incorrectly.
Almost. X treats emoji and some CJK characters as 2 characters each, and URLs are counted as 23 characters regardless of actual length. Use the X-specific mode if you are posting to X.
No. Counting runs in your browser and the text is never transmitted.