Word Counter

1. 1Type or paste your text into the box.
2. 2The counts update on every keystroke.
3. 3Open the keyword panel to see which words you lean on most.
4. 4Set a target word count and the progress bar tracks it.

Words are counted by splitting on whitespace after trimming, which matches how word processors count and handles hyphenated and apostrophed words as single words. Sentences are found by looking for terminal punctuation followed by a space or end of text, and paragraphs by blank lines.

Sentence detection is approximate by nature — abbreviations like 'Dr.' and 'e.g.' end in full stops without ending a sentence, and no simple rule catches every case. The count is reliable enough for pacing and readability checks, not for anything requiring exactness.

Reading time uses 238 words per minute, the average from research into adult silent reading of non-technical prose. Speaking time uses 130 words per minute, a comfortable presentation pace.

Your text is processed by JavaScript running in this page and is never sent over the network. That matters when you are pasting a draft, a client brief, meeting notes or anything else you would rather not hand to a server.

Checking an essay against a 1,500-word limit

1. Paste the essay into the box.
2. Set the target to 1,500 words.
3. Watch the progress indicator as you edit.

Result: A live count with the words remaining, plus an estimated reading time.