Character and Word Counter with Reading Time
Type or paste some text to count it.
The result will appear here.
Reading time is estimated at 200 words per minute, a typical silent reading pace: it is an assumption, not a measurement.
About
Paste some text or type it straight into the box and the figures update with every keystroke. You get the number of characters with and without spaces, the number of words, sentences and lines, and an estimated reading time. That helps when you have to stay under a character limit, such as a form field, a social post or a meta description, when you are sizing an essay or an article, or when you want to time a speech. The reading time rests on one stated assumption, 200 words per minute, shown under the results. Your text is analysed inside your browser, never uploaded or stored, and the page keeps working offline once installed.
How to use it
- Paste your text into the box, or just start typing.
- Read the counters that appear right away: characters with and without spaces, words, sentences and lines.
- Check the estimated reading time, based on 200 words per minute.
- Keep editing as much as you like: the numbers follow each change, with no button to press.
Frequently asked questions
Are spaces and line breaks counted?
The main character count includes everything: letters, spaces and line breaks. The count without spaces drops all whitespace, meaning spaces, tabs and line breaks alike.
What counts as a word?
A word is a run of characters between two whitespace gaps that holds at least one letter or digit. So "well-known" and "don't" are one word each, while a lone "?" is not a word. Languages written without spaces, such as Chinese, are not split into words.
How are sentences counted?
A sentence ends with a full stop, an exclamation mark, a question mark or an ellipsis followed by whitespace. A number like 3.14 does not end a sentence, but an abbreviation such as "Dr. Smith" does, so treat the figure as an approximation.
Why does the reading time use 200 words per minute?
It is a round average for ordinary silent reading, not a measurement. Real speed depends on the reader, the language and how dense the text is, so take the result as an order of magnitude.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No. Your browser does all the counting, nothing is sent or kept, and the tool works without a connection once installed.