Word Counter

Words, characters, sentences and reading time as you type.

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Live counts for words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences and paragraphs, plus reading time at 225 words per minute and speaking time at 140 — the standard figures for silent reading and presentations. Useful for essay limits, meta descriptions, tweet drafts and speech scripts alike. Text stays in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.

Frequently asked questions

How is reading time calculated?

Words ÷ 225 per minute, the commonly used average for adult silent reading. Speaking time uses 140 words per minute, a comfortable presentation pace — slower than conversation, which suits rehearsal planning.

Do spaces and punctuation count as characters?

Both counts are shown: total characters including everything, and characters excluding whitespace. Platform limits vary — Twitter/X counts spaces, most exam word limits don't care about characters at all.

What counts as a sentence?

Text ending in a terminal punctuation mark (. ! ? …) followed by a space or the end of the text. Abbreviations can inflate the count slightly — treat it as a close estimate.