Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences and estimate reading time.
What word counters measure
A word counter analyses text and reports multiple metrics simultaneously. Words are sequences of non-whitespace characters separated by spaces or line breaks. Characters include every individual symbol including spaces; characters without spaces exclude them. Reading time is estimated from average adult reading speed.
Words = number of whitespace-separated tokens
Characters = total character count (including spaces)
Reading time ≈ Words ÷ 238 (average adult reads ~238 words/minute)
Speaking time ≈ Words ÷ 130 (average speaker delivers ~130 words/minute)Word count targets by content type
| Content type | Typical range | Reading time |
|---|---|---|
| Tweet / X post | up to 280 chars | — |
| LinkedIn post | 150–300 words | 1 min |
| News article | 400–800 words | 2–3 min |
| Blog post (standard) | 1,000–1,500 words | 4–6 min |
| Long-form SEO article | 2,000–3,500 words | 8–15 min |
| Short story | 1,000–7,500 words | 4–30 min |
| Novella | 17,500–40,000 words | 1.5–3 hrs |
| Novel | 70,000–120,000 words | 5–8 hrs |
| Academic paper | 3,000–8,000 words | 12–33 min |
| PhD thesis | 80,000–100,000 words | 5–7 hrs |
Why word count matters for SEO
Search engines use content length as one signal of comprehensiveness. Studies consistently show that top-ranking pages for competitive queries average 1,500–2,500 words. However, length should serve the reader, not keyword density targets. A well-structured 800-word article that fully answers a specific question often outperforms a padded 3,000-word piece on the same topic.
Platform character limits at a glance
Twitter/X post: 280 characters
Instagram caption: 2,200 characters (30 hashtags max)
LinkedIn post: 3,000 characters
Facebook post: 63,206 characters (but 40–80 optimal)
YouTube title: 100 characters (60 visible)
YouTube description: 5,000 characters
Email subject: 60–70 characters (40-50 recommended)
Meta description: 155–160 characters
WhatsApp message: 65,536 characters per messageFrequently asked questions
Does the word counter work in real time?
Yes. It counts words, characters, sentences and paragraphs instantly as you type or paste text — no button needed.
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time is estimated by dividing the word count by an average adult reading speed of about 200–250 words per minute.
Is my text stored or sent anywhere?
No. All counting happens in your browser, so your text stays completely private.
What counts as a word?
A word is any sequence of characters separated by spaces or line breaks. Numbers and hyphenated terms each count as one word.
Counts words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, and estimates reading time at 200 words per minute. Also shows the most frequently used words (3+ letters) in your text.