0
Words
0
Characters
0
No spaces
0
Sentences
0
Paragraphs
0
Lines
Reading time (200 wpm)
0 sec
Speaking time (130 wpm)
0 sec
Flesch reading ease
Needs 10+ English words
Grade level (Flesch-Kincaid)
Needs 10+ English words
More details
- Unique words
- 0
- Average word length
- 0
- Average sentence length
- 0
- Longest sentence
- 0
- Sentences over 25 words
- 0
- Syllables (English words)
- 0
- Pages (approx.)
- 0
Keyword density
Words and phrases used more than once appear here with their share of your text.
Need the full list or a CSV? Open the Word Frequency Counter.
Character limits for social posts and SEO
X (Twitter) post0 / 280
Bluesky post0 / 300
Threads post0 / 500
Instagram caption0 / 2,200
LinkedIn post0 / 3,000
Facebook post0 / 63,206
YouTube title0 / 100
YouTube description0 / 5,000
TikTok caption0 / 4,000
Pinterest pin description0 / 500
Meta title (guide)0 / 60
Meta description (guide)0 / 160
Google Ads headline0 / 30
Google Ads description0 / 90
SMS (one GSM-7 message)0 / 160
To see exactly which part gets cut, use the Character Counter.
How to use
01
Add your text
Type or paste into the Your text box, press Open file for a .txt, .docx or .pdf, or drop a file on the box. Every number recalculates on each keystroke. Leave Save draft in this browser ticked to keep the text for next time.
02
Read the counts and set a goal
The grid shows Words, Characters, No spaces, Sentences, Paragraphs and Lines, with reading time, speaking time and readability below. Open More details for unique words, sentence lengths and pages. Type a number in Goal to track progress.
03
Check keyword density and limits
Keyword density lists the words or 2 and 3 word phrases you repeat most, with their share of the text. Open Character limits to compare your text with X, Instagram, meta tags and more.
Why Word Counter
- Live counts for words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and lines.
- Keyword density, reading time, speaking time and two readability scores.
- Open .txt, .docx or .pdf files, or count the words on a web page.
- Word or character goals, platform limit bars and draft saving in your browser.
Word count targets for common kinds of writing
Limits vary by publisher, school and platform, so always check the brief you were given. These are widely used targets and hard limits you can compare your count against.
If you only have a character limit, as on X or in SMS, count characters rather than words. English words average around five letters, so 280 characters holds roughly 40 to 55 words.
| Type of writing | Typical length |
|---|---|
| X (Twitter) post | 280 characters, roughly 40 to 55 words |
| Meta description | About 155 to 160 characters |
| Common App personal essay | 250 to 650 words |
| Research abstract | Often 150 to 250 words |
| Short story (SFWA award category) | Under 7,500 words |
| Novelette (SFWA) | 7,500 to 17,499 words |
| Novella (SFWA) | 17,500 to 39,999 words |
| Adult novel | Commonly 80,000 to 100,000 words |
How the counts are worked out
Knowing the rules helps when a number looks off by a few. Every count runs in your browser each time the text changes.
- Words: pieces of text between spaces that contain a letter or digit. Hyphenated words and contractions count once.
- Characters: what you see on screen, so an emoji, an accented letter or a Hindi syllable with its vowel sign counts once.
- Sentences: text ending in a full stop, question mark, exclamation mark, ellipsis, Hindi danda or Urdu full stop followed by a space. Abbreviations such as e.g. can add an extra sentence.
- Paragraphs: blocks separated by a blank line. Lines: every line break, including empty lines.
- Reading and speaking time: words divided by 200 and by 130 words per minute.
- Flesch reading ease: 206.835 minus 1.015 times words per sentence minus 84.6 times syllables per word, with syllables estimated from vowel groups.
- Grade level (Flesch-Kincaid): 0.39 times words per sentence plus 11.8 times syllables per word minus 15.59, roughly the US school grade needed to follow the text.
- Pages: words divided by 500 for single spacing and by 250 for double spacing, a rough guide only.
Common questions
How does this word counter decide what counts as a word?
It splits your text at spaces, tabs and line breaks, then counts each piece that contains at least one letter or digit. So don't and well-known each count as one word, while a lone dash or emoji counts as zero. Chinese, Japanese and Thai, which are written without spaces, are split into words by your browser's built-in dictionary.
Why does my word count differ from Microsoft Word or Google Docs?
Each program has its own rules for dashes, slashes, numbers and symbols. A word processor may count a standalone symbol such as & as a word, and this tool does not. On a long document the gap is usually a handful of words.
Does the word counter work for Hindi or Urdu text?
Yes. Words are split on spaces, so Hindi and Urdu count the same way as English, and vowel signs stay attached to their letters. The Hindi danda and the Urdu full stop both end a sentence in the Sentences count. The Flesch score is English only and stays hidden for other languages.
How are characters counted in the word counter?
Characters are counted the way you see them, so an emoji like a thumbs up with a skin tone counts as 1 and an accented letter counts as 1. No spaces removes spaces, tabs and line breaks first. The Character limits panel compares the total with X, Instagram, meta tags and more.
What is a good Flesch reading ease score?
Scores run from 0 to 100 and higher means easier. 60 to 70 is plain English that most adults read comfortably, and 30 or below reads like academic writing. The score uses average sentence length and syllables per word, so short sentences and short words raise it.
How is speaking time different from reading time?
Reading time assumes silent reading at 200 words per minute. Speaking time assumes 130 words per minute, a relaxed pace for talks and voiceovers. To change either speed, use the Reading Time Calculator.
Can the word counter count a Word document or PDF?
Yes. Press Open file or drop the file on the text box. Word .docx, OpenDocument .odt, PowerPoint .pptx, .rtf, .txt and PDF files with a text layer are read in your browser, including Word footnotes. Scanned PDFs have no text layer, so run them through OCR first.
Does the word counter save my draft?
Only if Save draft in this browser is ticked, and only in your browser's local storage on this device. Your goal is remembered the same way. Nothing is uploaded. Untick the box to stop saving and remove the stored copy.
How many pages is 1,000 words?
As a rough guide, about 2 pages single spaced or 4 pages double spaced, using a 12 point font and normal margins. More details shows this estimate for your text, at 500 words per single spaced page and 250 double spaced. Fonts, spacing and headings change the real figure a lot.
How is keyword density worked out in the word counter?
For single words, it is how often the word appears out of all the words in your text, so 2.0% means 2 of every 100 words. For 2 and 3 word phrases, the phrase's words are counted, so a two word phrase used 5 times in 500 words shows 2.0%. Hide common words keeps the and and out of the list.