Word counter
Count words, characters, sentences and reading time. Results update as you type.
Ctrl + L clear | Ctrl + Shift + C copy
About word counting
A word count is the standard measure of text length in writing, publishing and education. Counting words has a surprisingly long commercial history: telegraph companies billed by the word in the 1800s, newspapers paid freelancers per word, and typesetters estimated column space from manuscript word counts long before computers existed. Today word counts govern everything from the 50,000 words of National Novel Writing Month to university essay limits and the terse constraints of social media. A word, for counting purposes, is any run of characters separated by spaces or line breaks — hyphenated compounds like "well-known" count as one.
Where word counts matter
Writers track word counts to hit targets for blog posts, articles and manuscripts. Students stay inside essay limits, where exceeding the allowance is often penalised. SEO professionals size meta descriptions and page titles. Social media managers check posts against platform limits before publishing. Translators and freelance writers quote and invoice by the word, which makes an accurate count a billing tool as much as a writing aid.
Character count vs word count
Character count includes every letter, space, and punctuation mark. Word count counts groups of characters separated by spaces. TextlyPop shows both characters with spaces and characters without spaces so you can see exactly which metric applies to your platform. Twitter uses characters with spaces. SEO title tags are measured in pixels but roughly 60 characters is the safe limit.
Frequently asked questions
How does the word counter work?
The counter splits your text on spaces and line breaks, treating each resulting group of characters as one word, and simultaneously tallies characters, sentences and paragraphs. Everything updates live as you type or paste — there is no count button — and to check a platform limit, pick a preset below the stats and a progress bar shows how close you are, turning orange near the limit and red past it. Contractions like "don't" count as one word and hyphenated compounds like "state-of-the-art" also count as one, matching how word processors such as Microsoft Word count.
Does the word counter count characters with or without spaces?
Both, shown separately in the stats bar, because different platforms measure differently. Twitter/X, Instagram captions and meta descriptions all count spaces, so "characters with spaces" is the number that matters there. "Characters without spaces" is the traditional measure in some academic and translation contexts, particularly in languages like Japanese where spacing conventions differ. Knowing which metric your target uses prevents the frustrating experience of a "600-character" text being rejected by a 600-character field.
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time divides your word count by an assumed reading speed. Research puts the average adult silent-reading speed for non-fiction at roughly 200–240 words per minute, so the Average mode uses 200 WPM; Fast mode uses 300 WPM for skimming-speed readers. Speaking time uses 130 WPM — the comfortable pace for presentations and voiceovers — which makes the tool useful for timing speeches and scripts: a 5-minute talk needs roughly 650 words.
What is the character limit for Twitter / X?
Standard accounts get 280 characters per post — doubled from the original 140 in 2017 — while paid subscribers can post up to 25,000 characters. Links are counted as 23 characters regardless of their real length, and emojis often count as two. Select the Twitter preset under the stats to watch a live progress bar as you type; staying under the limit yourself beats letting the platform truncate your post mid-sentence.
How many words should a blog post or essay be?
It depends on the goal. Most blog posts perform well between 1,000 and 2,000 words, in-depth guides often run 2,500 words or more, and typical school essays range from 500 to 1,500 words. Social media posts are far shorter — usually 40 to 80 words. Paste your draft into the word counter to track your live word count as you write, then use the reading time estimate to judge whether the length suits your audience.