Word Counter
Words, characters, reading time and keyword density.
Details
Keyword density
Most frequent words, ignoring common filler words.
| Word | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Type something first | ||
Common length limits
What gets counted, and how
Words are runs of characters separated by whitespace, which is the same rule Microsoft Word and Google Docs apply — so the number here should match what your teacher, editor or client sees. Hyphenated compounds like state-of-the-art count as one word; a number counts as a word; and CJK text, which has no spaces, is counted per character since that is the convention for Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
Sentences are counted by terminal punctuation, paragraphs by blank lines. Both are estimates — abbreviations such as “e.g.” will occasionally inflate the sentence count — but they are accurate enough to track structure.
Reading and speaking time
Reading time assumes 238 words per minute, the average for silent reading of general prose established by Brysbaert's 2019 meta-analysis of some 190 studies. Speaking time assumes 140 words per minute, a comfortable presentation pace. Technical material reads slower and a rehearsed script is often delivered faster, so treat both as planning figures rather than promises.
Why length limits matter
A lot of writing has a hard ceiling somewhere downstream. A page title over roughly 60 characters gets truncated in Google results; a meta description over about 160 is cut short; a single SMS is 160 characters before it splits into multiple billed messages. The panel above shows where you stand against the most common ones as you type.
Keyword density in context
Density is simply how often a word appears as a share of the total. It is useful as a diagnostic — if a word you never intended to emphasise is at the top of the list, your writing is repetitive. It is not an SEO target. Search engines have been able to detect keyword stuffing for well over a decade, and writing to hit a percentage produces worse text that ranks worse. Aim for a natural 1–2% on your main topic and stop thinking about it.
Frequently asked questions
Is my text uploaded or stored?
No. Everything is counted in your browser as you type, and closing the tab discards it. Nothing is sent anywhere, which makes this safe for unpublished manuscripts, coursework and confidential drafts.
Does the count match Microsoft Word?
For ordinary prose, yes. Small differences appear around unusual punctuation, footnote markers and text with many numerals, because every counter draws the boundary slightly differently. For an essay of a few thousand words, expect agreement within a handful.
How many pages is my text?
The usual academic convention is 250 words per double-spaced page, or about 500 single-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman with one-inch margins. The details panel converts for you, but always check your institution's actual requirement.
Does it handle Chinese, Japanese or Korean?
Yes. Those scripts do not separate words with spaces, so CJK characters are counted individually — the convention publishers and translators use. Mixed-language text counts each part by its own rule.
Can I count words in a file?
Open the document and paste its contents in. Keeping it to pasted text is deliberate: nothing is read from your disk unless you put it there yourself.