How to use Word Counter
- 1Type in the box, paste your text, or click Paste to insert what is on your clipboard.
- 2Read the live counts: words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, reading time and speaking time.
- 3Optionally enter a word goal to see a progress bar and how many words are left.
- 4Check Keyword density to see your most used words and 2 or 3 word phrases. Turn off Ignore common words to include words like the and and.
How words are counted
A word is any group of letters or numbers separated by spaces, so don't and e-mail count as one word, and stray dashes or emoji on their own are not counted. Chinese and Japanese characters are counted one per word, the same way Google Docs does. Results can differ slightly from Microsoft Word for edge cases like URLs and numbers with spaces.
Reading time, speaking time and readability
- Reading time uses 238 words per minute, the average silent reading speed for adults in English.
- Speaking time uses 140 words per minute, a comfortable pace for speeches and presentations.
- Flesch reading ease and Flesch-Kincaid grade estimate how hard English text is to read, based on sentence length and syllables. 60 to 70 is plain English; most web writing should aim higher.
Keyword density for SEO
The keyword table lists your most frequent words and phrases with their share of the total word count. Use it to check that a page actually covers its main topic, and to spot words you repeat too often. There is no magic percentage; if a phrase stands out far above everything else, the text may read as stuffed.
Your text stays in your browser. It is stored only in this browser's local storage so you can come back to it, and Clear removes it.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read 1,000 words?
About 4 minutes 12 seconds at an average reading speed of 238 words per minute, and about 7 minutes to say out loud at 140 words per minute.
How many words is a 5 minute speech?
Roughly 650 to 750 words at a natural speaking pace. Paste your speech here and check the speaking time.
Does the word counter save my text?
Only in your own browser, so it is still there if you refresh. It is never sent to a server. Click Clear to remove it.
Why is my count different from Microsoft Word?
Tools treat things like dashes, URLs and numbers slightly differently. Differences are usually under 1 percent.
What is a good Flesch reading ease score?
60 or higher is easy for most adults. Web content often aims for 60 to 70; legal and academic writing usually scores lower.