Word Counter

Last Updated:

Count words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs in any text. Includes estimated reading time.

Words 0
Characters 0
No Spaces 0
Sentences0
Paragraphs0
Reading Time0 sec

📐 Formula

Words = count of non-empty strings split by whitespace. Reading Time = Word Count ÷ 200 words per minute

How to Use the Word Counter

1

Paste or type your text

Paste any text directly into the input area. The counts update in real time as you type — no button press required.

2

Review the word and character counts

The primary results show total words, characters with spaces, and characters without spaces. Character counts are essential for social media posts, SMS messages, and meta descriptions.

3

Check reading time

Estimated reading time uses 200–250 words per minute (average adult silent reading speed). Academic and technical texts are typically read at 150–200 wpm; light fiction at 250–300 wpm.

4

Use keyword density for SEO

The keyword frequency list shows which words appear most often. For SEO content, your primary keyword should appear naturally — typically 1–2% density. Overuse (keyword stuffing) is penalised by search engines.

Character Limits for Common Platforms

Knowing character limits prevents truncation errors across platforms: Google meta description: 155–160 characters (longer descriptions are cut in search results). Google meta title: 50–60 characters. Twitter/X post: 280 characters. SMS text message: 160 characters (GSM-7 encoding) or 70 characters (Unicode — emojis or special characters switch to this lower limit and long messages split into multiple parts). LinkedIn post: 3,000 characters for personal posts. Instagram caption: 2,200 characters, but only first 125 shown before 'more.' Facebook post: 63,206 characters. YouTube description: 5,000 characters visible, 100 shown in search results.

Word Count Targets for Common Document Types

Blog post: 1,000–1,500 words for general topics; 2,000–3,000 for comprehensive SEO-optimised content on competitive keywords. News article: 300–500 words for breaking news; 800–1,200 for features. Academic essay: varies by assignment, typically 1,000–5,000 words. Short story: 1,000–7,500 words. Novella: 17,500–40,000. Novel: 70,000–100,000 (debut fiction); up to 120,000 for epic fantasy. Cover letter: 250–400 words — one page maximum. Executive summary: 5–10% of the full document's word count.

Reading Speed and Comprehension

Average reading speeds: elementary school students 150–200 wpm; high school 250–300 wpm; college students 300 wpm; average adult 200–250 wpm for non-fiction. Speed reading techniques can push rates to 400–700 wpm but typically reduce comprehension. For professional writing, the readability test matters as much as word count — the Flesch-Kincaid grade level measures sentence and word complexity. Most web content targets Grade 7–9 (readable by a 13–15 year old) for broad accessibility. This does not mean writing is simplistic — it means clarity and directness are prioritised over complexity.

Sources & Methodology

Calculations are based on the most current publicly available data from authoritative government and industry sources:

Frequently Asked Questions

Double-spaced, Times New Roman 12pt (standard academic): ~250 words/page. Single-spaced: ~500 words/page. A novel page: ~250–300 words. A blog post averages 1,000–2,000 words.
The average adult reads about 200–250 words per minute, so 1,000 words takes about 4–5 minutes. This counter uses 200 WPM as a conservative estimate.
Long-form content (1,500–3,000 words) tends to rank better for competitive keywords because it covers topics comprehensively. Shorter posts (500–1,000 words) can rank well for specific, lower-competition queries.
For competitive search terms, 1,500–2,500 words tends to perform best in Google's current algorithm. Longer isn't always better — match the content depth to the topic complexity. Listicles and how-to posts can rank well at 800–1,200 words. Comprehensive guides covering a topic fully perform best at 2,000–4,000 words.
The average adult reads approximately 200–250 words per minute for non-fiction. College students average 300 WPM. Speed readers can reach 400–700 WPM with some comprehension loss. For web content, assume 200–250 WPM when estimating read time — a 1,000-word article takes approximately 4–5 minutes.