How can I count words online for free?

Paste your text into the word counter above — it instantly shows words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, and reading time. Free, no signup, and your text never leaves your browser.

What is a good character counter for essays?

A good character counter shows characters with and without spaces, since different platforms count differently. This tool reports both, plus words, sentences, and paragraphs in one pass.

Is there a free word count tool for essays?

Yes — this essay word counter is free with no signup. Paste your essay to check it against word limits, see sentence and paragraph counts, and get an estimated reading time.

How does a text word counter handle reading time?

This text word counter estimates reading time at about 160 English words per minute, rounded up to the next whole minute. It is an average — dense or technical text takes longer for most readers.

Does the word counter work for non-English text?

Partially: the engine counts CJK characters individually and English-style words by token, which works well for mixed text. Character counts (with/without spaces) are exact for any script; word boundaries in scripts without spaces are approximate.

Word Counter — Free Online Word Count Tool

What is Word counter?

Word Counter — Free online word counter — count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs in your essay or article, with an estimated reading time. No signup.

A thin adapter around the vendored word-counter engine (eryouhao/word-counter, MIT): words are counted by its wordCount() function (CJK characters counted individually, English by token), and reading time by its timeCalc() at 160 English words per minute (ceil, minimum 1 minute for any non-empty text). Characters with/without spaces, sentence counts (split on . ! ?), and paragraph counts (split on blank lines) are plain mechanical counts computed in the adapter — they are formatting conveniences, not the engine. Pure client-side, nothing uploaded.

Why use this word counter?

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Built for word counter

Free online word counter — count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs in your essay or article, with an estimated reading time. No signup.

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Transparent & honest

Words are counted by the vendored engine (English tokens + individual CJK characters); scripts without spaces may be counted approximately.

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Private by design

Everything runs in your browser. Your inputs never leave your device.

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Works everywhere

Fully responsive — perfect on desktop, tablet, and mobile. No app needed.

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Regularly updated

Regularly maintained and reviewed to ensure accuracy.

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Free forever

No accounts, no limits, no watermarks. Use Word Counter as much as you need.

How to use Word Counter

1Paste your essay, article, or any text into the "Your text" box.
2Run the tool to get words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, and paragraphs.
3Read the estimated reading time — based on ~160 English words per minute.
4Use the word count to check essay limits or the character counts for meta descriptions and posts.
5Edit your text and re-run any time — every result is computed fresh in your browser.

What can you do with Word Counter?

Count words online free — Free online word counter — count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs in your essay or article, with an estimated reading time.
Free word count tool for essays — Free online word counter — count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs in your essay or article, with an estimated reading time.
Text word counter reading time — Free online word counter — count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs in your essay or article, with an estimated reading time.
Word counter non-english text — Free online word counter — count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs in your essay or article, with an estimated reading time.

Good to know

Words are counted by the vendored engine (English tokens + individual CJK characters); scripts without spaces may be counted approximately.
Reading time assumes ~160 English words per minute — dense or technical text takes longer for most readers.
Sentences are split on . ! ? and paragraphs on blank lines — abbreviations and stylistic line breaks can skew these simple counts.

How it works

A thin adapter around the vendored word-counter engine (eryouhao/word-counter, MIT): words are counted by its wordCount() function (CJK characters counted individually, English by token), and reading time by its timeCalc() at 160 English words per minute (ceil, minimum 1 minute for any non-empty text). Characters with/without spaces, sentence counts (split on . ! ?), and paragraph counts (split on blank lines) are plain mechanical counts computed in the adapter — they are formatting conveniences, not the engine. Pure client-side, nothing uploaded.

Examples

Short paragraph

Status: ok — 17 words, 2 sentences, 1 paragraph, 1 min read.

Multi-paragraph essay excerpt

Status: ok — 11 words, 2 paragraphs.

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Word Counter