What does the word counter measure?
Word limits are everywhere: school essays, university applications, journal abstracts, job cover letters, meta descriptions, social media captions and ad copy. This counter gives you every number you are likely to be asked for, live, while you type or paste.
- Words, counted the way word processors do: hyphenated words such as “state-of-the-art” and contractions such as “it's” count as one word. Letters from any language are supported.
- Characters, with and without spaces. Emoji and accented letters count as one character each.
- Sentences and paragraphs (blocks separated by a blank line).
- Reading time at 238 words per minute, the average adult silent reading speed, and speaking time at 130 words per minute, a comfortable presentation pace.
- Keyword density: the words you use most, ignoring common filler words.
How to use it
- Type in the box, or paste text from any document, email or web page.
- Watch the counts update instantly. There is no button to press and no length limit in practice.
- Check the top keywords to spot words you repeat too often.
- Click Copy stats to copy a summary, or Clear text to start again.
Common length limits
| Where | Typical limit |
|---|---|
| Meta description | About 150–160 characters |
| X (Twitter) post | 280 characters |
| College application essay (US) | 650 words |
| Academic abstract | 150–300 words |
| Cover letter | 250–400 words |
Limits change, so always check the current rules for your platform or institution.
Example
A 1,000-word blog post takes about 4 minutes 12 seconds to read at 238 words per minute, and about 7 minutes 42 seconds to read aloud. If your talk has a five-minute slot, aim for roughly 650 words.
More worked examples
Essay: a 500-word essay takes about 2 minutes 6 seconds to read silently and about 3 minutes 51 seconds to read aloud.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Counting characters without spaces for social posts. Most platforms count spaces too.
- Trusting one tool's count for a strict limit. Programs treat hyphens and numbers differently; leave a small margin.
- Keyword stuffing. A very high keyword density reads badly and can hurt SEO. Compare drafts with the text diff checker.
Sources and methodology
The calculations on this page follow these published standards and references. The code is covered by automated tests against known values.