Word Counter
Count words, sentences and reading time instantly.
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your data never leaves your device — nothing is uploaded to our servers.
About Word Counter
Word counts disagree between tools more often than people expect, because 'what is a word' is a convention rather than a fact. Hyphenated compounds, contractions, numerals and em-dashes are all counted differently by different software, and a 500-word limit enforced by one system may read as 508 in another. This counter splits on whitespace — the most common convention, and the one Word broadly matches — and updates live as you type, entirely in your browser.
When to use Word Counter
Hitting an assignment limit
Essays and applications with a hard cap, where going over risks being marked down or truncated.
Writing within platform limits
Meta descriptions, ad copy and social posts have character budgets that must be checked exactly.
Tracking a daily writing target
Paste a draft to see progress without opening a full word processor.
Limitations worth knowing
- Counts can differ by a few words from Microsoft Word or Google Docs, which apply their own rules to hyphenated and punctuated tokens.
- Text pasted from a PDF often carries line-break artefacts that split words in two, inflating the count.
- Formatting is not counted — footnotes, captions and headers pasted in are treated as ordinary text.
- Languages without spaces between words, such as Chinese and Japanese, cannot be word-counted by whitespace splitting.
How to word counter
- 1
Paste or type your text into the input area.
- 2
Word, character and related counts update live as you edit.
- 3
Check whether your limit counts characters with or without spaces — the two differ substantially.
- 4
Keep editing in place; nothing needs to be re-run.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my count different from Microsoft Word?+
Because there's no single standard. Word applies its own rules to hyphenated compounds, em-dashes and numbers, so 'state-of-the-art' may be one word or four depending on the tool. Expect small differences, and if you're near a hard limit, check in whichever tool the recipient will use.
Should I count characters with or without spaces?+
It depends who set the limit, and the gap is large — roughly 15–20% of a typical English text is spaces. Publishing and translation work usually counts with spaces; some academic limits exclude them. Both figures are shown, so use whichever your brief specifies.
Is my text sent to a server?+
No. Counting happens in your browser as you type, which is why it updates instantly with no network delay. Your draft never leaves the tab — worth knowing if you're pasting unpublished or confidential writing.
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