Free Online Word Counter: Count Words, Characters and More

Free online word counter tools solve a problem almost everyone runs into sooner or later: a strict word or character limit, and no easy way to check whether you're under it. An essay that needs to stay under 1,500 words, a tweet with a character cap, a product description with a tight limit, a cover letter that shouldn't run too long. Paste your text into the tool at the top of this page and get an instant count of words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, reading time and more. It runs in your browser, so there's nothing to download and no account to create.

This page explains what the tool counts, who tends to need it, and a few tips for keeping your writing within the limits you're working to.

How to Use Our Free Online Word Counter

You don't need any technical knowledge. Here's the general process:

1. Scroll up to the word counter at the top of this page.
2. Type your text into the box, or click Paste to insert what's on your clipboard. If your browser blocks clipboard access, click inside the box and press Ctrl+V (or long-press on a phone) instead.
3. Watch the counts update instantly as you type or paste.
4. Check the figures you need, such as words or characters, against whatever limit you're working to.
5. Edit your text and watch the numbers change in real time, so you can trim or expand until it fits.
6. When you're done, use Copy Text to copy your text, Copy Details to copy the full set of counts, Download Report to save them as a text file, or Clear to start again.

Because it updates as you go, you can use it while you're actually writing, rather than finishing a draft and only then discovering it's too long.

What Does Our Word Counter Count?

The tool shows a full set of figures at the same time, so you don't need to switch between modes. Here's what each one means:

Words

The total number of words in your text. This is the figure most essay, article and assignment limits are based on.

Characters and characters (no spaces)

The total number of characters, shown both with and without spaces. This matters for platforms with strict character limits, like social media posts, meta descriptions, or form fields. Line breaks are not included in the character total.

Alphabets (letters)

The number of letters in your text, not counting numbers, spaces, or punctuation.

Digits

The number of numeric characters in your text, useful for checking how many figures a piece contains.

Spaces

The number of space characters in your text.

Sentences

How many sentences your text contains, based on full stops, question marks, and exclamation marks. This is a useful check on pacing and readability. Abbreviations that end in a full stop, such as "Dr." or "e.g.", can make the count slightly higher than the true number of sentences.

Paragraphs

How many paragraphs your text has, counted by line breaks. Blank lines are ignored. This is useful for formatted documents and web content.

Unique words and average word length

Unique words counts each different word once, ignoring capital letters, which gives a quick sense of how varied your vocabulary is. Average word length shows the mean number of characters per word.

Reading time and speaking time

Estimates of how long your text takes to read silently (based on about 238 words per minute) and to say aloud (based on about 150 words per minute). These are handy for blog posts, scripts, speeches and presentations where timing matters, but treat them as a rough guide, since real reading and speaking speeds vary from person to person.

Top keywords

A list of the most frequently used words in your text, with how many times each appears and what percentage of your text it makes up. Very short words and common filler words such as "the", "and", and "with" are left out. This helps you spot overused words or check how often a target keyword appears in your writing.

Who Needs a Word Counter?

• Students. Essays, assignments and dissertations almost always come with a word count requirement, and going over or under it can affect your grade.
• Writers and bloggers. Article briefs, guest post guidelines and publication requirements often specify a target word count.
• SEO and content professionals. Meta titles and meta descriptions have practical character limits before they get cut off in search results, and content briefs often set a target length. The top keywords list also gives a quick look at keyword frequency.
• Social media users. Platforms like X have strict character limits, and staying under them without constant guessing saves time.
• Job seekers. Cover letters and personal statements are usually expected to stay within a certain length.
• Translators and editors. Comparing word counts between drafts, or between source and translated text, is a common part of the job.
• Script and speech writers. Speaking time gives a rough guide to how long a script will take to read aloud.

Word Count vs Character Count: What's the Difference?

These two numbers measure different things, and mixing them up can cause real problems if you're working to a strict limit.

Word count counts whole words, regardless of how long or short each one is. A sentence of five short words and a sentence of five long words both count as five words.

Character count counts every letter, number, punctuation mark and space. A single long word can use up far more characters than several short ones. Our tool shows the total both with spaces and without, so you can match whichever version your platform uses.

If you're writing for a platform or field with a character limit, such as a meta description or an SMS message, check the character count rather than the word count. For academic or editorial limits, word count is usually what's specified. When in doubt, check exactly which measurement the guidelines refer to.

Tips for Hitting a Word or Character Limit

Write first, trim second

Get your ideas down without worrying about the limit, then edit down once you can see the full picture. Cutting a finished draft is usually easier than writing to a tight limit from the start.

Cut filler words

Words like "really," "very," "just," and "that" often add length without adding meaning. Removing them is a quick way to shave down a word count.

Combine short sentences

Two short, choppy sentences can often become one clear sentence, which trims both word count and reading time.

Watch your introduction and conclusion

These sections tend to accumulate throat-clearing phrases. Checking them first usually finds easy cuts.

Use the top keywords list

If one word shows up far more often than it should, replacing a few repeats with a synonym, or cutting the sentence altogether, can improve your writing and reduce your word count at the same time.

Check as you go, not just at the end

Running the counter throughout your writing, rather than only once you've finished, means you can adjust gradually instead of making a rushed cut at the last minute.

Does the Tool Store or Share My Text?

The word counter does all of its counting in your browser, and the tool does not send the text you type or paste to a server. Even so, it's good practice to avoid pasting passwords, personal details, or anything genuinely confidential into any online text tool. If you'd like specifics on what data, if any, is collected when you visit the site, check the privacy policy.

The Paste button asks your browser for permission to read your clipboard. If you'd rather not allow that, you can simply press Ctrl+V inside the text box instead.

Free Online Word Counter: Frequently Asked Questions

Is this word counter really free?

Yes. It's free to use, and you don't need to sign up.

Do I need to download anything?

No. The tool runs in your browser, so you can open the page and start straight away.

Does it count words in other languages?

Yes, it recognises letters and numbers from many languages, including accented characters and non-Latin scripts such as Arabic, Cyrillic, and Greek, and it counts words separated by spaces. For languages that don't separate words with spaces, such as Chinese or Japanese, a continuous run of characters is counted as a single word, so the word count will be much lower than you might expect. The character count is more useful for those languages.

What counts as a word?

Any group of letters or numbers separated by spaces or punctuation counts as one word. Hyphenated words like "well-known" and words with apostrophes like "don't" count as one word each. Email addresses and web addresses are also counted as one word each.

Does it count numbers and symbols?

Numbers are counted as words when they stand alone, such as "2026." Punctuation marks and symbols on their own are not counted as words, though punctuation does count toward the character totals.

Can I count words in a document I've already written?

Yes. Paste the text from your document, email or webpage into the tool and it will count it the same way as text you type directly.

Why does my word processor show a different count?

Different tools can count things like hyphenated words, numbers, email addresses, or special characters slightly differently, so small variations between a word counter and your word processor are normal. If you're working to a strict limit, check which tool your requirement is actually based on.

How are reading time and speaking time calculated?

Reading time assumes about 238 words per minute and speaking time assumes about 150 words per minute. They are estimates, so your own pace may be faster or slower.

What does the Download Report button do?

It saves all of your counts, along with your top keywords, as a plain text file called word-count-report.txt. Your original text is not included in the report. If you want a copy of the figures without downloading a file, use Copy Details instead.

Is there a limit to how much text I can check?

The tool does not set a text limit of its own. Because everything is processed in your browser, very large amounts of text may be slower to handle depending on your device.

Does it work on mobile?

Yes. The tool is designed to work on phones and tablets as well as desktops, and it switches to a dark theme automatically if your device is set to dark mode.

Check the Rest of Your Toolkit

If you also work with audio or video, it might be worth testing the rest of your setup too. Take a look at the MechKeyTest homepage for our other free online hardware tools, including a microphone tester and a free webcam test.

Ready to check your word count? Head back to the top of the page, paste in your text, and get your free online word count now.