Word Counter & Text Analyzer
Type or paste your text to instantly count words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs. Includes reading time, speaking time, and keyword analysis.
By Alex van den Berg · Last reviewed · How we test our tools
Top Keywords
Sentence Analysis
Ideal prose varies sentence length. Aim for a mix of short (< 15 words), medium (15–30), and occasional long sentences.
Common word count targets
Blog posts & articles
- Short post: 300–500 words
- Standard post: 800–1,200 words
- Long-form / SEO: 1,500–2,500 words
- Pillar content: 3,000+ words
Academic writing
- Essay (undergraduate): 1,000–3,000 words
- Dissertation: 10,000–15,000 words
- PhD thesis: 80,000–100,000 words
- Research abstract: 150–300 words
Creative writing
- Flash fiction: 100–1,000 words
- Short story: 1,500–7,500 words
- Novella: 17,500–40,000 words
- Novel: 50,000–110,000 words
Why word counts differ between tools
Paste the same essay into Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and an online counter and you will often get three slightly different numbers. That is not a bug — there is no single official definition of a "word". Each tool makes its own decisions on the edge cases:
- Hyphenated compounds. Is "state-of-the-art" one word or four? Most tools (including this one) treat anything without spaces as one word; some style-guide counters split on hyphens.
- Numbers and symbols. "3.14159" and "&" may or may not count. This counter treats any whitespace-separated token as a word.
- Em-dashes. "night—day" with no spaces reads as one token to most counters, two words to a human.
- Footnotes, citations, and captions. Academic word limits often exclude references and appendices — but the counter in your writing app usually includes them unless you select only the body text.
The practical rule: differences of 1–2% between tools are normal. If you are up against a hard limit — a university submission portal, a grant application, a legal filing — check your text in the same tool the gatekeeper uses, and leave a small buffer.
Character limits that actually matter
Many platforms limit characters, not words. Use the "Characters" stat above to check your text against these common ceilings:
| Platform / field | Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| X (Twitter) post | 280 | URLs count as 23 characters regardless of length |
| SMS message | 160 | Longer texts are split and billed as multiple segments |
| Google title tag | ~60 | Truncated by pixel width, not characters — keep key words first |
| Google meta description | ~155–160 | Google may rewrite it, but a tight summary improves click-through |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 | Only the first ~125 characters show before "more" |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 | First ~200 characters appear above the fold |
| YouTube title | 100 | Titles over ~70 characters truncate in most placements |
| Google Ads headline | 30 | Per headline; responsive search ads take up to 15 of them |
Over the limit? How to cut words without losing meaning
Most drafts can lose 10–20% of their words and get stronger. Work through these passes in order:
- Delete throat-clearing openers. "It is important to note that", "In today's world", "Basically" — cut them and the sentence usually stands on its own.
- Replace phrases with words. "Due to the fact that" → "because". "In the event that" → "if". "Has the ability to" → "can".
- Cut doubled qualifiers. "Completely finished", "absolutely essential", "end result" — one of the two words is doing no work.
- Turn passive into active. "The report was written by the team" (7 words) → "The team wrote the report" (5 words).
- Check the long sentences. Use the sentence analysis panel above: sentences over 30 words usually hide two ideas that read better separated.
Under the limit instead? Never pad with filler. Add substance: a concrete example, a counter-argument, a data point, or a brief definition of a term your reader may not know.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time is based on the average adult reading speed of 200 words per minute (wpm). Research from various studies places average silent reading speed between 200–250 wpm for most adults. Speaking time uses 130 wpm, a common pace for presentations and podcasts. Handwriting time uses 20 wpm. These are approximations — complex technical content is read more slowly; light fiction faster.
What counts as a word?
This counter splits text on whitespace and counts non-empty tokens. Hyphenated words like "well-known" count as one word. Numbers, URLs, and email addresses each count as one word. Punctuation attached to a word (e.g. "Hello,") is counted as part of that word.
Why do different tools give different word counts?
Tools disagree on edge cases: whether hyphenated compounds are one word or two, whether numbers and standalone symbols count, and how em-dashes between words are handled. Differences of 1–2% between Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and online counters are normal. If a hard limit matters, verify with the same tool your examiner or editor will use — see the full explanation in "Why word counts differ between tools" above.
Does this word counter store my text?
No. All analysis runs locally in your browser using JavaScript — your text is never uploaded, stored, or sent to any server. You can verify this by loading the page and then disconnecting from the internet: the counter keeps working. Closing the tab erases everything.
Why are common words excluded from the keyword list?
Articles, prepositions, and conjunctions (a, the, and, but, for, of, in…) appear in nearly all text and carry no meaningful information about your content's topic. These "stop words" are excluded from keyword analysis so the list shows your content's actual themes. The keyword density percentage is calculated against total word count including stop words.
How many words should an SEO blog post have?
There is no universal answer — Google has stated that word count alone is not a ranking factor. However, comprehensive content naturally tends to be longer. For competitive topics, 1,500–2,500 words is a common target. For conversational or local queries, 500–800 well-focused words often outperforms padded long-form content. Quality and relevance matter far more than hitting an arbitrary number.
What is a good keyword density?
Keyword density (the percentage of times a target word appears in your text) should typically be 1–3% for your primary keyword. Above 3% risks appearing to Google as "keyword stuffing," which can hurt rankings. More important than density is natural usage — use semantic variants and related terms rather than repeating the exact keyword.
Sources & further reading
- Brysbaert, M. (2019). "How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate." Journal of Memory and Language — the basis for the ~200–260 wpm silent reading estimate. doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2019.104047
- Google Search Central — "Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content" (word count is not a ranking factor). developers.google.com
- X Help Center — "How to post" (280-character limit and link counting). help.x.com