Word & Character Counter

Count words, characters, sentences and reading time as you type. Paste your text and get instant stats — useful for essays, meta descriptions, posts or anywhere a length limit matters.

Need more than the free basics? Hit a word limit and need to trim — or pad — without losing meaning? A tool like QuillBot paraphrases, shortens and expands text for you.

Try QuillBot →

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Why word and character counts matter

Different contexts have hard limits: meta descriptions (~160 characters), tweets (280), essays (word targets), ad copy. Reading time (~200 words per minute) helps you judge whether an article is a quick read or a commitment. Counting as you write keeps you inside the limit instead of cutting after the fact.

Frequently asked questions

Does this count words as I type?

Yes — words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and estimated reading time update live as you type or paste, entirely in your browser.

How is reading time calculated?

Based on an average reading speed of about 200 words per minute. It's an estimate to gauge length, not an exact figure.

What if I need to hit an exact word count?

Write to the count here, then use a paraphrasing tool like QuillBot to trim or expand without changing your meaning.

This tool is free and runs entirely in your browser. The link above is an affiliate link: we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you, and it never changes our honest take.