Word Counter

Count words, characters, sentences and estimate reading time instantly.

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How it works

Words are detected by matching runs of non-whitespace characters using the regular expression /\S+/g, which works for any language using whitespace separators. Sentences split on terminal punctuation (.!?) and paragraphs split on blank lines. Reading time uses the widely cited 200 words-per-minute average for adult silent reading. All counting happens in your browser — text never leaves your device, so it is safe for confidential drafts.


              words = text.match(/\S+/g).length
readingMinutes = Math.ceil(words / 200)

Common use cases

  • Hitting an exact essay or assignment word limit (e.g., 500-word college essay).
  • Estimating how long a blog post or speech will take to read aloud.
  • Trimming articles to fit publishing platform constraints (Medium, LinkedIn).

See also: Character Counter .

Frequently asked questions

Does the counter work for languages other than English?

Yes for any language that separates words with whitespace (Spanish, French, German, Vietnamese, Indonesian, etc.). For Chinese, Japanese, and Thai — which do not use spaces between words — character count is more meaningful than word count.

How is reading time calculated?

Total words divided by 200 words per minute, rounded up. 200 wpm is the average silent reading speed for adults reading non-technical prose. Technical material reads slower (~150 wpm); easy fiction reads faster (~250 wpm).

Is my text uploaded to a server?

No. All processing happens locally in your browser using JavaScript. Nothing is sent to a server, logged, or stored anywhere.

What counts as a sentence?

Any run of one or more terminal punctuation marks (period, exclamation, question mark) ends a sentence. Decimal numbers like 3.14 may inflate the count slightly — counter trades perfect grammar parsing for speed and simplicity.