Word & Character Counter
Count words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs and reading time in any text — live as you type.
Last updated: April 2026 · Runs in your browser · No sign-up
When to use a word counter
Academic essays, blog posts, meta descriptions and LinkedIn posts all have character or word ceilings. A live counter lets you tighten copy without constantly reopening a word processor.
Typical limits worth knowing
- Google meta description: ~155 characters.
- Twitter/X post: 280 characters.
- LinkedIn headline: 220 characters.
- Ideal blog paragraph: 40–80 words.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are words counted?
Contiguous runs of non-whitespace characters are treated as a word. Hyphenated compounds (e.g. state-of-the-art) count as one word, matching the Unicode word-break defaults most editors use.
Does it count characters with or without spaces?
Both values are shown. 'With spaces' is what Twitter/SMS limits use; 'without spaces' is what most academic word-count rules require.
How is reading time estimated?
By default, 200 words per minute (average adult silent reading). You can adjust the WPM if you're targeting slower or faster readers.
Is there a character limit?
No hard limit. The tool runs in your browser and handles novel-length input without lag on any modern machine.
Does it work for languages other than English?
Yes. Word segmentation follows Unicode rules, so German, French, Spanish and other Latin-script languages work. CJK scripts without spaces fall back to character counts.