Quick answer: A word counter splits your text wherever there is a space or a line break and counts the pieces, and it counts characters with and without spaces. This tool also estimates reading time at 238 words per minute and speaking time at 130 words per minute, so a 1,000-word article takes about 4 minutes to read.
Whether you are keeping to an essay limit, writing a meta description, drafting a post for social media or checking the length of a speech, you need to know how long your text really is. This word counter updates as you type and shows everything in one place.
Besides the basic counts, it estimates how long your text takes to read and to say out loud, and lists the words you use most. The keyword table skips very common words so you can spot repetition and see which topic words dominate your writing.
How the counts work
- Words are groups of characters separated by spaces or line breaks.
- Characters include spaces and punctuation. The second figure leaves spaces and line breaks out.
- Sentences are counted by full stops, question marks and exclamation marks followed by a space or the end of the text.
- Paragraphs are blocks of text separated by at least one blank line.
- Reading time assumes 238 words per minute, the average silent reading speed for non-fiction found in a 2019 review of reading research. Speaking time assumes 130 words per minute, a comfortable speech pace.
The length chips below the counts give rough limits: search engines commonly display about 60 characters of a page title and about 160 of a meta description, and a post on X allows 280 characters.
A worked example
Example. A 500-word blog post takes about 2 min 6 sec to read silently and about 3 min 51 sec to read aloud. It is roughly one page of single-spaced text in a word processor.
Common length limits
| Where you are writing | Typical limit |
|---|---|
| Post on X (Twitter) | 280 characters |
| Text message (SMS, standard alphabet) | 160 characters per message |
| Search result title | About 60 characters, or 600 pixels |
| Search result description | About 155 characters |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 characters |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 characters |
| Common App personal essay | 650 words |
Platforms change their limits, so check the current rule before you submit. Reading time here uses 238 words per minute, the average for silent reading of non-fiction.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Checking against the wrong limit. Platforms count differently: some count characters with spaces, some without, and some count words, so read the rule for the place you are submitting to.
- Pasting text with hidden formatting or repeated line breaks and expecting an identical count in every program. Word processors, forms and counters can disagree by a few words.
- Writing to a word target instead of to the reader. Use the count to trim padding or fill a gap, not to stretch a point that is already clear.
Frequently asked questions
Is my text stored or sent anywhere?
No. Everything is counted in your browser. Your text never leaves your device, so it is safe to use with drafts and confidential writing.
Will the count match Microsoft Word or Google Docs?
For normal text it should match closely. Small differences can appear with emoji, hyphenated words, unusual spacing and special characters, because each program has its own rules.
How do I find how many characters are in my text?
The characters figure appears right under the word count. There is a second figure for characters without spaces, which some forms and limits use.
Why does the keyword list ignore some words?
Very common words such as “the”, “and” and “with” would dominate every list, so they are left out. Only words of three or more letters are counted.
People also search for this as: word count tool, character counter, letter counter, how many words is my essay, reading time calculator, sentence counter.
Sources and further reading
- Word count (Wikipedia)
- Brysbaert M. “How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate.” Journal of Memory and Language, 2019
Formulas on this page are checked by automated tests against independent references. See how we test our tools.