Free Online Word Counter
Count words in real time as you type or paste your text. Get sentences, paragraphs, average word length and reading time — all in your browser, nothing uploaded.
- Real-time word count with reading and speaking time
- Accurate Unicode counting for Japanese, Chinese, Hindi and Arabic
- 100% private — your text never leaves your device
Whether you are trimming an essay to a word limit, billing a translation per word, or planning content length for SEO, an accurate word count is the number everything else depends on.
How to Use the Word Counter
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Paste or type your text
Drop your draft into the box above — the counter updates instantly with every keystroke. -
Read the live word count
The big number is your word total; characters, sentences and paragraphs update alongside it. -
Check structure at a glance
Use sentence and paragraph counts to spot walls of text or fragmented writing before you publish. -
Plan with reading time
Reading and speaking time estimates help you fit articles, speeches and presentations into a time budget.
Who Uses a Word Counter?
Students & academics
Meet essay and thesis word limits precisely — most institutions count words, not characters.
Writers & journalists
Hit editorial budgets and keep articles within the assigned length without guesswork.
Translators
Quote and bill per-word jobs accurately across any source language, including CJK scripts.
SEO & content marketers
Match content length to search intent and compare your word count against ranking pages.
Example: What Gets Counted
Take this short passage:
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. It was faster than anyone expected — 20% faster, in fact.
That is 20 words, 2 sentences and 1 paragraph. Numbers like “20%” count as one word, and hyphenated compounds count as one word each.
Frequently Asked Questions
How the Word Counter Works
Four things happen every time you type a character:
Your text is split into words with the browser's Unicode segmenter — the same rules your operating system uses.
Words, characters, sentences and paragraphs are tallied locally in milliseconds, even for very long documents.
Reading time uses about 200 words per minute; speaking time about 130 — accepted averages for adult readers and speakers.
Everything runs in your browser. The text is never uploaded, stored or logged.
Made for Everyday Writing Tasks
The word counter fits naturally into workflows like:
- Essays, term papers and dissertations with strict word limits
- Blog posts and landing pages with SEO length targets
- Speeches and presentations timed to the minute
- Translation and copywriting jobs billed per word
Tips for Working with Word Limits
Three habits that make word limits painless:
- Write first, trim later — Draft freely, then cut — trimming 10% almost always makes text stronger.
- Watch sentence length — If your word-to-sentence ratio climbs above 25, readers start to struggle.
- Use paragraphs as checkpoints — Aim for 3–5 sentences per paragraph for comfortable on-screen reading.
Privacy First
The word counter runs entirely in your browser using client-side JavaScript. Your text never leaves your device — nothing is uploaded, stored or shared.
Count Words with Confidence
Fast, accurate and private word counting for any language. Need character-level detail too? Pair it with our character counter and readability statistics.