Word Counter
Paste your text to count words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and estimated reading time. Useful for essays, CVs, forms, articles and everyday writing.
Count your words and characters
How the word counter works
The tool estimates word count by looking for word-like groups of letters or numbers. It also calculates character count with and without spaces, then uses your selected reading speed to estimate how long the text may take to read.
reading time = total words ÷ selected words per minute
speaking time = total words ÷ selected speaking words per minuteResults are estimates, because different tools may handle hyphenated words, contractions, symbols and emojis slightly differently. For normal writing, applications, web copy and essays, this gives a practical count you can use quickly.
What this counter shows
| Result | What it means | Useful for |
|---|---|---|
| Words | The estimated number of words in your text. | Essays, articles, forms, descriptions and job applications. |
| Characters | Every character, including spaces, punctuation, symbols and line breaks. | Application limits, social posts and short form fields. |
| Characters without spaces | The text length after removing whitespace. | Comparing strict character limits where spaces may not be counted. |
| Sentences | An estimate based on full stops, question marks and exclamation marks. | Checking whether writing feels too dense or too broken up. |
| Reading time | The number of minutes based on your chosen reading speed. | Blog posts, scripts, speeches and email newsletters. |
Common uses for a word counter
A word counter is useful whenever you need to write within a limit or estimate how long text will take to read. It can help with:
- Checking essays, assignments and personal statement drafts.
- Keeping CV sections, cover letters and application answers concise.
- Estimating article, blog post or email newsletter length.
- Checking meta descriptions, product copy and short website text.
- Preparing scripts, talks or voiceover notes using the speaking time estimate.
For deeper editing, use the Readability Score tool to check whether your writing is easy to read.
Word count vs character count
Word count and character count measure different things. Word count is usually better for essays, articles and long-form writing. Character count is better for strict form limits, short answers, meta descriptions and platforms that limit every typed character.
Need a stricter character limit check?
Use the dedicated character counter to see letters, numbers, spaces and line breaks in more detail.
How to reduce your word count
Start by removing repeated points, filler phrases and sentences that explain what the reader already understands. Then shorten long openings and replace wordy phrases with direct alternatives.
- Change “in order to” to “to”.
- Change “due to the fact that” to “because”.
- Remove repeated examples if one strong example is enough.
- Split long sentences only if the meaning becomes clearer.
After cutting, check your readability score to make sure the text is not just shorter, but clearer.
Word counter FAQs
How do I count words online?
Paste your text into the box above. The word count, character count, sentence count, paragraph count and reading time update automatically.
Does word count include punctuation?
Punctuation is counted as part of the character total, but it is not counted as a separate word. For example, “Hello!” is one word and six characters.
What is the difference between words and characters?
Words are groups of letters or numbers that form readable units. Characters include letters, numbers, spaces, punctuation, emojis and symbols.
How many words is 4,000 characters?
It depends on sentence length, word length and spacing, but 4,000 characters is often roughly 600 to 800 words in normal English prose. Use the counter to test your actual text.
Is my text saved?
This page is designed to count text in your browser. As a general rule, do not paste highly sensitive personal, legal, financial or work-confidential text into any online tool unless you are comfortable doing so.