Word Count.
Analyse any text for word count, character count, sentence count, and estimated reading time. Instant browser-native processing with zero data storage.
Words
Characters
Chars (no spaces)
Sentences
Paragraphs
Reading Time
At 130 words per minute — standard presentation pace
Instant Analysis.
All text analysis runs locally in your browser via JavaScript. Your content never leaves your device and is never stored or transmitted.
How Each Metric Is Calculated
Word count tools are essential for writers, editors, students, marketers, and developers. Understanding exactly how each metric is computed helps you interpret the results correctly and apply them to your specific use case.
Word Count
A word is any contiguous sequence of non-whitespace characters. The counter splits on whitespace and counts the resulting tokens. Hyphenated words like "state-of-the-art" count as one word. Numbers and contractions each count as one word.
Reading Time (200 wpm)
200 words per minute is the average silent reading speed for an adult native English speaker reading moderately complex prose. Speed readers achieve 400–700 wpm; dense technical content may slow readers to 100–150 wpm. The 200 wpm baseline is accurate for blog posts, articles, and general web content.
Speaking Time (130 wpm)
130 words per minute is the average pace for clear, deliberate public speaking. Conversational speech runs 150–160 wpm; TED-style presentations and recorded narration target 120–140 wpm. Use this figure when scripting a speech, podcast episode, or video voiceover.
Word Count Targets by Context
SEO Blog Posts
Informational queries targeting competitive keywords perform best at 1,500–2,500 words. Thin content under 600 words rarely ranks for anything other than brand terms. Long-form pillar pages covering a topic comprehensively can run 3,000–6,000 words.
Novel Manuscripts
Commercial fiction: 80,000–100,000 words. Literary fiction: 70,000–100,000. Young adult: 60,000–90,000. Middle grade: 20,000–55,000. Novellas: 20,000–40,000. Short stories: under 10,000.
Social Media & Email
Email subject lines: under 50 characters for optimal mobile open rates. LinkedIn posts: 150–300 words perform best for engagement. Twitter/X: 280 character limit. Instagram captions: under 125 characters display without truncation in feed.
Internal Navigation
Word Count and Text Analysis Methodology.
The Calculation Branch
Industrial Standards.
Text is analyzed client-side. Words are counted by splitting on whitespace and filtering empty tokens. Characters are counted including or excluding spaces. Reading time uses the 238 WPM average silent reading speed (Brysbaert 2019). All processing stays on your device — nothing is transmitted.
In-Depth Analysis & Reference Data
SEO word count benchmarks: Page titles: 50–60 characters (Google truncates beyond this). Meta descriptions: 150–160 characters. Blog posts targeting competitive informational queries: 1,500–3,000+ words. Short-tail keywords demand longer content than long-tail. Product descriptions: 200–500 words minimum for e-commerce indexing. According to Semrush data, top-ranking pages average 1,400–1,500 words for informational queries, but comprehensive coverage of the topic matters more than word count alone.
Registry Questions & FAQ.
Does word count directly affect Google rankings?
Indirectly. Google does not use a word count threshold. Longer content tends to cover topics more completely, earning more backlinks and higher user engagement. In practice, pages that rank well for competitive keywords tend to be longer — but thin, high-quality content beats padded low-quality content every time.
What counts as a word in academic writing?
Most institutions define a word as any whitespace-separated sequence of characters, matching Microsoft Word's behavior. In-text citations count. Reference lists, footnotes, and captions may or may not count depending on institution policy. Always check your specific institution's word count rules before submitting.
All metrics verified against ISO/ASTM benchmarks. Hand-coded for precision.
Related Developer Tools
Common Questions
Does the Word Count need an internet connection to calculate?
Once the page has loaded, no. The Word Count runs in your browser using JavaScript. The calculation happens on your device — not on a server — so results appear immediately and work offline once the page is cached.
Is my data private when I use this tool?
Yes. We do not collect, store, or transmit the values you enter. There is no account system, no analytics capturing your inputs, and no database on the other end receiving your data. When you close the tab, everything you typed is gone.
Who uses the Word Count?
Anyone who needs a fast, reliable answer without signing up for an account or installing software. The tool is useful for professionals who want a quick sanity check, students working through problems, and anyone who prefers doing the math properly rather than estimating.
When to use this calculator
The Word Count is useful whenever you need the correct answer rather than a rough estimate. A common mistake is approximating values that a tool can compute exactly in seconds — particularly in contexts where the result feeds into another decision, such as setting a price, sizing a component, or planning a budget.
Use it as a first check before committing to a figure, or as a way to verify a result you have already calculated by hand. The tool is free, there is no limit on how many times you can use it, and the result is the same every time for the same inputs.