How is a word counted?

Any run of characters separated by whitespace counts as one word, which is how word processors and most editorial style guides count. Hyphenated compounds count as a single word; an em dash between two words does not join them.

Does the character count include spaces?

Both counts are shown. Social platforms and SMS gateways usually count characters including spaces, while some form validators exclude them, so compare the limit you are working against with the right figure.

How is reading time estimated?

The estimate assumes 225 words per minute, a common average for adults reading non-technical prose in English. Dense or technical material realistically reads slower, so treat the figure as a floor.

Is my text stored anywhere?

No. Everything is counted in your browser as you type, and nothing is sent anywhere or kept after you close the tab.

Count words and characters instantly

What this tool does

This word counter updates as you type, giving you words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs and an estimated reading time in one place. It is built for the moment when a brief specifies a limit — a 300-word product description, a 155-character meta description, a 2,000-word article — and you need to know where you stand without leaving the page.

Nothing is submitted anywhere. The text is counted in your browser as you type, so you can work with unpublished drafts and client material safely.

How to use it

Paste or type your text into the box. Every figure recalculates immediately, and clearing the box resets them. There is no upload step and no result to wait for.

Which count actually matters

It depends on who set the limit, and the four common limits are not measured the same way:

Editors and academics count words, and usually mean whitespace-separated tokens, exactly as this tool does. A 1,500-word commission is 1,500 of these.
Meta descriptions are limited by pixel width rather than characters, but roughly 155 characters is where truncation begins in most desktop results — less on mobile.
Social platforms count characters, and several count a link as a fixed length regardless of the real URL, so a long tracking link may cost less than it appears to.
SMS gateways count characters too, but switch from 160 to 70 per message the moment a single non-GSM character appears — one curly quote or emoji can more than double the cost of a campaign.

Why two tools disagree about the same text

If this count differs from the one in your word processor, the cause is almost always one of three conventions:

Hyphenated compounds. state-of-the-art is one word here and in most style guides, but a few tools split on the hyphen and count four.
Numbers and standalone symbols. A date like 12/03/2026 is one token; a lone & between two words may or may not count depending on the tool.
What counts as a sentence. Abbreviations such as Dr. or e.g. end in a full stop, so any counter that splits on punctuation — including this one — will slightly overcount sentences in text that uses them heavily.

None of these differences is a bug in either tool. When a limit is contractual, agree on which tool decides before you write, not after.

Reading time, and what it is worth

The estimate here assumes 225 words per minute, a common average for adults reading non-technical prose in English. Technical or dense material realistically reads slower, and text the reader scans rather than reads goes much faster. Treat the figure as a floor for planning, not a promise to the reader — and if you publish it on the page, remember it sets an expectation you will be judged against.

Counting the version that gets published

When a limit is strict, count the text that will actually go out, including punctuation and spacing. Formatting that looks invisible in an editor — a non-breaking space, a trailing newline, a soft hyphen — still counts as characters in the field that rejects your submission.

Word Counter