Count words and characters

How to use it#

1. Paste or type your text into the box.
2. Read the counts as they update: words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and reading time.
3. Clear it when you are done.

Which count actually applies to you#

Character limits usually come from software: a meta description truncates around 160 characters, a tweet caps at 280, an SMS segment at 160. These count every space, so the with-spaces figure is the one to watch.

Word limits usually come from people: essays, applications, abstracts. Graders and editors mean whitespace-separated words, which is what this counts. If a piece has both kinds of limit, aim to come in under whichever is tighter.

How the reading time is worked out#

Reading time here is words divided by 200 and rounded up, which is the middle of the commonly cited 200 to 250 words per minute range for adult silent reading of ordinary prose.

Treat it as a rough signal. Dense technical writing runs slower and a familiar narrative faster, and someone skimming for a single fact is not really reading at all. It will tell you whether this is a two-minute post or a ten-minute one. It will not time a speech: read aloud, the rate is closer to 130.

Why the counts can differ from Word#

Word processors each make their own decisions. Some count a hyphenated compound as one word, some as two; some include footnotes and headings, some do not. Two tools disagreeing by a percent or so on a long document is normal.

This counter uses the simple, predictable rule: a word is a run of characters separated by whitespace. Emoji and accented letters count as one character each, not the two or four bytes they actually occupy.