How are words counted?

Whitespace splits, same idea as Word and Google Docs. “Hello world.” is two words.

Unicode code points. “café” is 4. The character-counter sibling also shows limits and UTF-8 bytes.

Words ÷ 200. That is a silent-reading estimate, not speech. The reading-time calculator lets you change WPM and add speaking time.

No. Paste the copy. Nothing is uploaded.

Runs in your browser · Last updated 5 September 2026

Free Word Counter — Words, Characters, Reading Time

Free word counter. Count words, characters, sentences, and reading time in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.

Text

Words use whitespace splits (Word / Docs style). Reading time is words ÷ 200. Nothing is uploaded.

Words

Characters

137

No spaces

114

Reading time

0.1 min

Sentences

Paragraphs

Unique words

UTF-8 bytes

138

How to use this tool

Paste the draft.
Read words, characters, sentences, and reading time.
Open the character counter if you need a platform limit.

Worked example

The sample is one short paragraph. Words sit in the mid-twenties. Add a blank line and the paragraph count becomes two. Unique words ignore punctuation. For a custom WPM or speaking time, use the reading time calculator. Duplicate list lines belong on remove duplicate lines.

Frequently asked questions

How are words counted?: Whitespace splits, same idea as Word and Google Docs. “Hello world.” is two words.
Characters?: Unicode code points. “café” is 4. The character-counter sibling also shows limits and UTF-8 bytes.
Reading time?: Words ÷ 200. That is a silent-reading estimate, not speech. The reading-time calculator lets you change WPM and add speaking time.
Do you fetch a URL?: No. Paste the copy. Nothing is uploaded.
Is this AI?: No. Counts only.