Word counter

Paste or type any text to get an instant count of words, characters, sentences, and reading time.

Words
0
Characters
0
Sentences
0
Read time
0 sec

Frequently asked questions

How is word count calculated?

Words are counted by splitting text on whitespace characters (spaces, tabs, newlines) and counting non-empty tokens. Hyphenated words like 'well-known' are counted as one word. Numbers, punctuation attached to words, and contractions each count as one word.

How is reading time estimated?

Reading time is calculated by dividing the word count by 238 words per minute — a widely cited average for adult silent reading of general-purpose text. Reading speed varies significantly by content type: technical documentation and academic text is read at ~100–150 wpm; casual content at 250–300 wpm.

Does punctuation count as a character?

Yes. In the 'characters with spaces' count, every character including punctuation, spaces, and line breaks is counted. The 'characters without spaces' count excludes whitespace characters but still includes punctuation marks like commas, full stops, and quotes.

What is the maximum text length this tool can handle?

There is no hard limit — the tool processes text in your browser using JavaScript, so it can handle very large texts. Performance may slow slightly for texts over 100,000 words, but there is no server-side restriction.

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