About the Word Counter
Whether you're writing an essay with a strict limit, a meta description that must fit in 160 characters, or a social post with a character cap, knowing your counts as you write saves a lot of editing later. This word counter gives you live word, character, sentence and paragraph counts plus an estimated reading time the moment you start typing.
All counting happens in your browser as you type — nothing you write is uploaded, saved or seen by anyone else, so it's safe for drafts and confidential text.
How to use it
- 1Type directly into the box or paste text you've already written.
- 2Watch the word and character counts update live with every keystroke.
- 3Check the sentence and paragraph totals to gauge structure.
- 4Use the estimated reading time to judge how long your piece takes to read.
- 5Edit until your counts fit the limit you're aiming for.
Common uses
- →Staying within an essay, assignment or application word limit.
- →Trimming a meta title or description to the length search engines display.
- →Fitting a post inside a social media character cap.
- →Estimating how long an article will take readers to get through.
- →Checking the length of ad copy, captions or product descriptions.
Tips & good to know
- Reading time assumes an average pace of around 200 words per minute — adjust expectations for technical writing.
- Character counts include spaces, which matters for platforms that count every character.
- Paste as plain text to avoid hidden formatting affecting your counts.
Frequently asked questions
- Does it count characters with or without spaces?
- It shows character counts including spaces, which is what most platforms with a character limit measure.
- Is my text saved or uploaded?
- No. Counting happens live in your browser and nothing you type is stored or transmitted.
- How is reading time calculated?
- It's based on your word count at an average reading speed of roughly 200 words per minute.