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Free Online Word Counter

Count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs, then see reading time, speaking time, keyword density and a readability score — all updated instantly as you type.

100% free forever — no signup, no limits
Word Counter
0 words 0 characters 0 sentences 0 sec reading time
0
Words
0
Characters
0 sec
Reading time
0 sec
Speaking time
More stats
Characters (no spaces)0
Sentences0
Paragraphs0
Lines0
Unique words0
Avg. word length0
Avg. sentence length0
Longest word-
Numbers0
Whitespace chars0
Est. syllables0
Flesch Reading Ease: -
Grade level: -
Keyword density
Exclude common words

Type some text to see your most frequent words.

Find & count a word
Type a word or phrase above.
Case & cleanup tools
Read aloud
1.0x
Settings
238 wpm is the measured average adult silent-reading speed for English (Brysbaert, 2019 meta-analysis of 190 studies).
130 wpm is a common benchmark for formal speech and presentations.
Auto-save my draft as I type

How to count words and check reading time

Get every stat you need in three quick steps.

1

Paste or type your text

Drop in a paragraph, an essay, a script or a whole article - or upload a .txt file.

2

See instant results

Words, characters, sentences, reading time and speaking time update live as you type.

3

Fine-tune with the details

Check keyword density, readability, platform limits and adjust your reading speed.

A word counter built for writers, students and SEOs

Whether you call it a word counter, a character counter, or a letter counter, the job is the same: tell you exactly how long your text is, right now, without guesswork. This free tool counts words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs and lines, then goes further with an instant reading time calculator and speaking time calculator so you know how long your article, essay, script or speech will actually take.

Writers use it to hit an exact essay or article word count. Students use it to check against a teacher's word limit. Speakers use the speaking-time estimate to time a presentation before they ever stand up. SEO writers use the built-in keyword density checker to see which words they are repeating too often - or not enough - and the Flesch Reading Ease score to check how easy a page is to read. Social media managers use the character-limit presets to check a caption against X (Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, SMS and meta-description limits before they hit publish.

Every count updates instantly as you type, so you always see accurate, real-time results without waiting or hitting refresh. Turn on auto-save to keep a backup of your draft while you write, so a stray tab close never costs you your progress. Once you are happy with your stats, export a shareable report as a TXT, PDF, Word document or JPG image - handy for turning in an assignment, attaching to an email, or keeping a record for a client. Need to finish your document elsewhere? Pair this with our PDF Editor to drop the finished text straight into a PDF.

Everything a word counter should do

A complete text-analysis toolkit — free, unlimited and fast.

Words, characters & more

Words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, lines, unique words and the longest word, updated live.

Reading & speaking time

Adjustable words-per-minute for both silent reading and speaking a script aloud.

Keyword density

See your most-repeated words, with a one-click filter for common words like "the" and "and".

Readability score

Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid grade level, calculated as you write.

Built-in platform limits

Check your text against X (Twitter), SMS, Instagram, LinkedIn, meta tags and essay word counts.

Export in any format

Download your full word count report as a TXT, PDF, Word document or JPG image in one click.

More free text & PDF tools

Everything we have built so far — all free, fast and easy to use.

Word Counter — frequently asked questions

Yes, completely. There is no account, no watermark and no limit on how much text you can check or how many times you use it.

No. Just open the page and start typing - there is nothing to install, no account to create, and it is completely free to use as often as you like.

By default we use 238 words per minute, the average adult silent-reading speed for English measured in Brysbaert's 2019 meta-analysis of 190 studies. You can adjust the reading speed in Settings to match your own pace.

By default we use 130 words per minute, a commonly cited benchmark for formal speech and presentations. This is adjustable too, since speaking pace varies a lot by context.

Sentences are counted by splitting on ".", "!" and "?". Paragraphs are counted as blocks of text separated by a blank line. Like any automated counter, unusual punctuation or abbreviations (like "Mr.") can occasionally affect the sentence count slightly.

Keyword density is how often a word appears compared to your total word count. Writers use it to check they are not over-using (or under-using) a target keyword. Turn on "Exclude common words" to filter out words like "the" and "and" so the real keywords stand out.

It is a standard readability formula scored from 0 to 100 - higher means easier to read. We also show the Flesch-Kincaid grade level, an estimate of the US school grade needed to understand the text on the first read.

No. This is a counting and readability tool, not a grammar checker, so it will not flag spelling or grammar mistakes.

Yes. The layout adapts to any screen size, and every feature - including read-aloud and file upload - works on mobile browsers that support it.

Yes. Pick a format from the dropdown next to the Download report button - TXT, PDF, Word (.docx) or JPG - and get a complete, ready-to-share summary of every stat in one click.

No. Paste text of any length - a single sentence or an entire manuscript - there is no word or character cap on how much you can analyze.

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