Word Counter
Words, characters, sentences, and reading time.
The Word Counter instantly analyzes any text and gives you word count, character count (with and without spaces), sentence count, paragraph count, and estimated reading time. Paste or type your text and get results in real time as you write. Essential for blog posts with minimum word count requirements, college essays with strict word limits, SEO content that needs to hit 1,500–2,000 words, social media posts with character caps, and any writing task where length matters. Results update live — no submit button needed.
Word Counter
Examples
Blog Post Word Count Check
Verify a 1,500-word blog post meets minimum length for SEO.
→ 1,512 words, ~6 min read, 8,430 characters
College Essay Limit Check
College application essay with a 650-word limit.
→ 647 words, 3,890 characters — within 650-word limit
Twitter Post Check
Check if a tweet draft fits within 280 characters.
→ 45 characters — 235 characters remaining
Tips
- ✓Twitter/X: 280 characters per post (links always count as 23 characters regardless of length).
- ✓Most SEO-optimized blog posts perform best at 1,500–2,500 words.
- ✓Google title tags: 50–60 characters | Meta descriptions: 150–160 characters.
- ✓For college essays: word count is usually more strictly enforced than character count.
- ✓A 5-minute read is approximately 1,000–1,250 words at average reading speed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is word count calculated?
Words are counted by splitting text on whitespace and filtering empty strings. Hyphenated words (e.g., "well-known") count as one word. Numbers and punctuation attached to words (e.g., "$100" or "don't") count as one word each.
How is reading time estimated?
Reading time is estimated at 200–250 words per minute — the average adult silent reading speed. A 1,000-word article takes approximately 4–5 minutes to read. Technical content may be slower; casual content faster.
What counts as a sentence?
Sentences are counted by splitting on sentence-ending punctuation (. ! ?) followed by whitespace. Abbreviations (Dr., Mr., etc.) and decimal numbers are excluded from sentence splits where possible.
What are common word count targets for different content types?
Blog posts: 1,500–2,500 words (optimal for SEO). Long-form articles: 3,000–5,000+. College essay: typically 500–650 words. Executive summary: 200–300 words. Social media: character limits vary by platform.
Does this count words in multiple languages?
Yes for space-separated languages (English, Korean using spaces, etc.). CJK languages (Chinese, Japanese) that do not use word spaces count characters rather than space-delimited words — character count is more meaningful for those languages.
What are the character limits for major platforms?
Twitter/X: 280 characters per tweet (links count as 23). SMS: 160 characters (GSM) or 70 characters (Unicode, for non-Latin text). Instagram bio: 150 characters. Meta description: 150–160 characters. Google title tag: 50–60 characters.