Word Counter: Count Words, Characters and Reading Time (Free) | URL to Text

Word Counter

Count words, characters, sentences and reading time as you type. Or count the words on any web page. Free and private.

Text from . Edit it below and the counts update.

Something look wrong, or missing a feature? — we read every message.

What the word counter shows

  • Words and characters, with and without spaces, updated as you type.
  • Sentences and paragraphs, plus the average sentence length, a quick readability check.
  • Reading and speaking time, for blog posts, scripts and speeches.
  • Character limits for X, Instagram, LinkedIn, text messages and Google titles and descriptions.
  • Top keywords and how often each appears, for SEO writing.
  • Any web page: count the words in an article or a competitor's page, without the menus and ads. To keep the text, use URL to Text.

Word Counter FAQ

Is this word counter free? +

Yes, and unlimited. Your text is counted in your browser as you type, so it never leaves your device.

How are words counted? +

A word is any run of letters or numbers, so "don't", "state-of-the-art" and "2026" each count as one, the same way Google Docs and Microsoft Word count them.

Does it count characters with and without spaces? +

Yes. You see both, plus sentences, paragraphs, reading time and speaking time, updated as you type.

Can I count the words on a web page? +

Yes. Switch to "From a web page", paste the address, and we pull out the article text (without menus and ads) and count it.

How is reading time worked out? +

At 238 words a minute, the average adult silent reading speed. Speaking time uses 150 words a minute, a typical pace for a talk.

What are the character limits for X, Instagram and Google? +

An X post is 280 characters, an Instagram caption 2,200, a LinkedIn post 3,000, a text message 160, and Google shows about 60 characters of a page title and 160 of a meta description. The counter shows how close you are to each.

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