Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs in your text.
Your text
.txt / .md file, or paste from the clipboard. ⌘+K to clear.Top keywords
Most-used words after stop-word removal| Word | Count | Share of all words |
|---|---|---|
| Add at least a sentence to see keyword frequency. | ||
How the counts are calculated
Words
Trim leading/trailing whitespace, then split on any run of whitespace (spaces, tabs, newlines). The number of resulting tokens is the word count.
Sentences
Match runs of ., ! or ? followed by whitespace or end-of-text. Really?! counts as one sentence.
Paragraphs
Split on one or more blank lines (\n\s*\n). A single line break is not a paragraph break.
Reading & speaking time
Divide the word count by your selected words-per-minute and round up. You currently have 0 words at 230 wpm.
Grade level (Flesch–Kincaid)
0.39 · (words / sentences) + 11.8 · (syllables / word) − 15.59. Output is the U.S. school grade a reader needs to follow the text.
Currently: 0 words / 0 sentences → grade —
Lexical diversity
Unique words ÷ total words. Higher = more varied vocabulary; lower = more repetition.
Examples
How It Works
Characters are counted two ways: total (including spaces and punctuation) and without spaces. Sentences are detected by terminal punctuation marks (periods, question marks, exclamation marks) followed by a space or end of text, with logic to handle abbreviations. Paragraphs are counted by splitting on blank lines.
Reading time uses 225 words per minute — the average silent reading speed for adults. Speaking time uses 150 WPM, typical for conversational pace. Both are rounded up to the nearest minute. The keyword analysis filters out common stop words (the, and, is, etc.) to surface the most meaningful terms in your text.
Tips & Best Practices
Frequently Asked Questions
How are words counted?
Words are counted by splitting text on whitespace and punctuation boundaries. Hyphenated compound words like 'well-known' count as one word. Numbers and abbreviations are each counted as one word.
What is the reading time estimate based on?
Reading time is calculated using an average reading speed of 225 words per minute for adults. Speaking time uses 150 words per minute. These are averages — actual speeds vary by reader and content complexity.
How are sentences detected?
Sentences are detected by counting terminal punctuation marks (periods, question marks, exclamation marks) followed by a space or end of text. Abbreviations like 'Dr.' and 'U.S.' are handled to avoid false counts.
Does it count characters with or without spaces?
Both counts are provided. 'Characters' includes all characters including spaces and punctuation. 'Characters (no spaces)' excludes whitespace but still includes punctuation and special characters.
What is the average reading speed?
The average adult reads at 200-250 words per minute for general content. Technical or academic text is read slower, around 100-150 WPM. Skimming can reach 400-700 WPM but with reduced comprehension.
How does word count affect SEO?
Longer content (1,500+ words) tends to rank better in search engines because it covers topics more thoroughly. However, quality matters more than length. Google values comprehensive, well-structured content that satisfies user intent over simply hitting a word count target.
What counts as a word?
A word is any sequence of characters separated by whitespace. Hyphenated terms like 'state-of-the-art' count as one word. Numbers (42, 3.14) and abbreviations (NASA, etc.) each count as one word. Empty lines and extra spaces do not add to the count.
How are reading time estimates calculated?
Reading time divides the total word count by 225 words per minute (average adult silent reading speed). Speaking time divides by 150 WPM (average conversational pace). Results are rounded up to the nearest minute.
What is the ideal paragraph length?
For web content, 2-4 sentences (40-80 words) per paragraph is ideal. Short paragraphs improve readability on screens. Academic writing can use longer paragraphs (100-200 words) since readers expect denser content.
How do I check character count for social media?
Paste your text into the counter and check the 'Characters' stat. Twitter/X allows 280 characters, Instagram captions allow 2,200, LinkedIn posts allow 3,000, and meta descriptions should be 150-160 characters for SEO.