Count words, characters, sentences, and reading time for any text.
The Word Counter counts words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, and paragraphs in any text. It also estimates reading time based on an average adult reading speed of 200–250 words per minute. Word counts are used to meet academic submission requirements (essays, dissertations), check article length for SEO targets, comply with platform limits (LinkedIn posts, grant applications), and track writing progress.
A word is typically any sequence of characters separated by whitespace. Hyphenated compounds like 'well-known' are usually counted as one word by most tools. Numbers, abbreviations, and contractions (don't, can't) each count as one word.
Blog post: 1,000–2,500 words. Long-form SEO article: 2,000–4,000 words. Twitter/X post: 280 characters. LinkedIn post: 150–300 words optimal (max 3,000). Academic essay: varies by requirement. Novel chapter: 2,000–5,000 words typically.
Reading time = word count ÷ average reading speed. Adults read online content at 200–250 words per minute (slower than print due to screen fatigue). A 1,000-word article takes approximately 4–5 minutes to read.