Word & Character Counter

Who uses a word and character counter?

Writers checking against a word-count target, students meeting an essay length requirement, and developers validating input length limits (like a tweet, meta description, or SMS character limit) all need a quick way to measure text. This tool gives you character count (with and without spaces), word count, sentence count, and paragraph count, all updating live as you type.

How to use this tool

Just start typing or paste your text into the box; the counts below update automatically with every keystroke. No button to click, and nothing is sent anywhere; the counting happens entirely in your browser.

Common use cases

• Checking an essay or article against a required word count before submitting it.
• Staying under a character limit for a tweet, meta description, or SMS message while drafting.
• Estimating how long a script or speech will take to read aloud.
• Validating that generated or scraped text falls within an expected length range.

Frequently asked questions

How is "word count" calculated?

Text is trimmed, then split on any run of whitespace, so multiple spaces or line breaks between words don't inflate the count. A single word surrounded by spaces still counts as one word.

How is sentence count calculated?

The tool looks for runs of text ending in ., !, or ?. This works well for standard prose but can undercount text with unconventional punctuation, or overcount abbreviations like "Dr." that end in a period without ending a sentence.

What counts as a separate paragraph?

Any block of text separated by a blank line (two consecutive line breaks). A single line break within a block of text doesn't start a new paragraph.