Word Counter
Count words, characters and reading time as you type.
Runs in your browser — your text never leaves your device.
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Use your browser's Share menu, then “Add to Home Screen”.
Most used words
About this tool
Word and character limits are everywhere: essays, meta descriptions, social posts, job applications and academic abstracts all come with a ceiling, and most of them count differently. This counter shows the figures that actually matter side by side, updating as you type, including characters both with and without spaces since different platforms measure each. Alongside the raw counts it estimates reading time at 225 words per minute, the usual adult silent reading speed, and speaking time at 150 words per minute, which is a comfortable presentation pace. It also surfaces the words you lean on most, with common filler words such as the and and excluded, which is a quick way to spot repetition before anyone else does. Word counting uses your browser's own text segmentation, so languages that do not put spaces between words, including Chinese and Japanese, are counted properly rather than reported as a single enormous word. Nothing you type is uploaded.
How to use it
- Type or paste your text into the box
- Watch the counts update live as you write
- Check reading time and repeated words before you publish
Frequently asked questions
Do you count characters with or without spaces?
Both, shown separately. Twitter and most social platforms count spaces, while some academic and form limits do not. Checking the wrong one is a common way to submit something that gets rejected.
How is reading time calculated?
At 225 words per minute, which is the widely used average for adult silent reading of general prose. Dense technical material is slower and light fiction is faster, so treat it as a guide rather than a promise.
Does it count Chinese or Japanese correctly?
Yes. It uses the browser's built-in text segmentation rather than splitting on spaces, so languages without word spacing are counted properly. Tools that split on whitespace report an entire Chinese paragraph as one word.
Why are common words missing from the keyword list?
Words like the, and, of and is are filtered out, along with anything under three letters, because they would otherwise dominate every list and tell you nothing. The list is there to reveal which meaningful words you are repeating.
Is my text stored anywhere?
No. Everything is counted in your browser as you type. Nothing is sent to a server, which makes it safe for drafts, confidential documents and unpublished work.