Word Counter

How the counting works

Words are Unicode-aware — accented letters, digits, and non-Latin scripts all count — and hyphenated or apostrophe words ("state-of-the-art", "it's") count as one word, the convention word processors use. Sentences split on ending punctuation, paragraphs on blank lines, and reading time assumes the 238 words-per-minute average from published reading research. The full conventions, including known edge cases like abbreviations, are on the methodology page.

Need a specific number?

Each count also has a focused page with its own guide: the Character Counter for form fields and limits, the Sentence Counter for rhythm and average sentence length, the Paragraph Counter for structure, and the Reading Time Calculator for "how long is this to read or present aloud?"

Common word-count targets

Typical benchmarks writers work against: tweets and captions are character-limited (not word-limited); a college essay commonly runs 500–650 words for applications; blog posts often target 1,000–2,000 words; a double-spaced manuscript page holds roughly 250 words; and a standard novel runs 70,000–100,000. Targets vary by publisher and assignment — the counter just makes hitting yours effortless.

Everything is processed locally in your browser and never transmitted or stored. See the methodology page.