Count words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs instantly as you type. Free online word counter with reading time estimate.
What is Word Counter?
This word counter gives you a live count of words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, and estimated reading time as you type or paste. It splits on whitespace the same way Microsoft Word and Google Docs do, so the number matches what your teacher, editor, or submission form will see. Useful for essay word-count limits, cover-letter tightening, social-media character caps, SEO meta descriptions, reading-time estimates for blog posts, and anywhere you need to hit a length target without counting by hand. No text leaves your browser.
How to Use
Type or paste your text into the text area
Statistics update instantly as you type — no button needed
See words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, and reading time
Click any stat card to copy that number
Character and word limits across the platforms you actually use
Most people who reach for a word counter are trying to hit a specific cap. The common ones, all up to date as of early 2026:
Platform / purpose
Limit
Notes
Twitter / X post
280 characters
Premium subscribers get 25,000 but the 280-char truncation still matters for what others see first.
Bluesky post
300 characters
Graphemes, not bytes — emoji count as 1.
LinkedIn post
3,000 characters
First 140 show before "see more."
Instagram caption
2,200 characters
First 125 show in feed before truncation.
Google title tag
~60 characters
Google truncates in SERPs around 580 pixels, roughly 60 chars.
Google meta description
150–160 characters
Longer will be cut mid-sentence in search results.
College essay (Common App)
650 words
Hard limit; text pastes are trimmed.
Academic abstract
150–300 words
Journal-specific — check submission guidelines.
Words or characters: which one actually matters?
Two different worlds use different units, and the choice is usually enforced by whoever sets the limit:
Academic and editorial writing uses word count. "5-page paper" or "800-word op-ed" are negotiated in words because character counts depend on font choice and whether names are long or short.
Social media, titles, and SMS use character count. A 280-character tweet is the same size whether it's 40 short words or 20 long ones. This matters for URL-heavy posts.
SEO uses character counts with a pixel ceiling. Google's search result title can show about 60 characters, but what actually matters is the 580-pixel visual width — wide letters like M and W take more pixels, narrow ones like i and l take less.
Print layout sometimes uses lines or column inches, which is why news editors often ask for "200 words plus or minus 20" rather than an exact count.
Reading time: how the 238-words-per-minute estimate is derived
This calculator uses 238 words per minute as the average adult reading speed, which is the widely-cited figure from a 2019 meta-analysis in the Journal of Memory and Language that reviewed over 190 studies. That's for silent reading of English non-fiction by educated adults.
Real reading speed varies more than people expect:
Skimming or reading familiar material: 400–700 wpm
Average silent reading (the default here): 238 wpm
Comprehension-focused reading: 200 wpm
Technical or dense academic text: 100–150 wpm
Reading aloud: 150 wpm (which is why podcast scripts run about 150 words per minute of audio)
If you're estimating a read-aloud script — for a YouTube video, a wedding toast, or a conference talk — divide by 150, not 238. For a Medium article or blog post, 238 is close enough that nobody will notice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does it count words?
It splits text by whitespace and counts non-empty segments, matching how most word processors count.
Does it count special characters?
Yes, the character count includes all characters. A separate count without spaces is also shown.
How is reading time calculated?
Based on an average reading speed of 238 words per minute for adults.
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