Word Counter

The live count updates as you type — words, characters with spaces, characters without, sentences, paragraphs, and an estimated reading time all refresh in real time. No button to click. Most people come here because they're writing something with a limit: an application field, a meta description, a tweet, an academic submission. The characters-without-spaces count is specifically useful for systems that charge per character or apply limits that way, like SMS messages and some form fields.

Reading time is an average — your actual audience may be faster or slower

The estimate uses 200–230 words per minute, which is a reasonable adult silent reading pace for general prose. Technical content reads slower; simple narrative reads faster. If you're writing for a specific context — a conference talk where you'll speak it aloud, a study guide where readers will pause and re-read — the speaking time and study pace estimates are probably more useful. One thing worth knowing: the word count here might differ slightly from Word or Google Docs if your text has hyphenated compounds, em dashes used between words, or contractions. Each tool splits text a little differently. For most purposes the difference is one or two words and it doesn't matter.