Text Tools
Word & Character Counter
Count words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences and paragraphs, plus reading and speaking time, live as you type.
About the Word & Character Counter
The Word & Character Counter counts words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs and unique words as you type, and estimates reading and speaking time. Coloured bars show whether your text fits common limits, an X post, an SMS, a Google title, a meta description, a YouTube title, an Instagram caption or a LinkedIn post, and a chart shows your most-used words.
What you can do with the Word & Character Counter
- Live counts: Words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs and unique words.
- Reading and speaking time: Know how long your text takes to read or say aloud.
- Platform limit bars: See at a glance if you fit X, SMS, Google title, YouTube, Instagram or LinkedIn limits.
- Top words chart: Spot words you repeat too often.
Common limits it checks
A post on X allows 280 characters, an SMS 160, an Instagram caption 2,200 and a LinkedIn post 3,000. Search engines usually show around 60 characters of a title and 150–160 of a meta description. Each bar turns yellow when you're close to the limit and red with an ✕ when you're over.
Reading and speaking time
Reading time assumes about 200 words per minute, a comfortable average for adults. Speaking time assumes about 130 words per minute, a typical pace for presentations and speeches, so a 650-word speech takes roughly five minutes.
Spot repeated words
The "Most used words" chart lists the words you use most, ignoring small common words. It's a quick way to catch a word you've repeated too often in an essay, or to check the focus keyword in a blog post.
Related tools
Frequently Asked Questions
Does it count spaces as characters?
The Characters box includes spaces; the "No spaces" box shows the count without them.
How is a sentence detected?
By sentence-ending punctuation, full stops, question marks, exclamation marks and ellipses.
Can it tell me if my text fits on X or in a meta description?
Yes. The "Does it fit?" bars show how many characters are left, or how many you're over, for each platform.
How long does it take to read 1,000 words?
At the tool's reading pace of about 200 words a minute, 1,000 words take around 5 minutes to read. Speaking is slower at about 130 words a minute, so the same text takes roughly 7 minutes 42 seconds to say aloud.
How many words do I need for a 5-minute speech?
At a typical speaking pace of 130 words a minute, a 5-minute speech is about 650 words. Paste your draft and check the Speaking time box; trim or add text until it matches the time you have been given.
Does it count Hindi and other Indian language words?
Yes. Words are counted by the spaces and line breaks between them, so text in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil or any other script that uses spaces is counted the same way as English, and mixed Hinglish text works too.
Is a hyphenated word counted as one word or two?
One. Words are split on spaces and line breaks, so "well-known" or "mother-in-law" each count as a single word. If an essay limit treats them differently, write the parts with spaces to see the other count.
How many characters fit in one SMS?
A standard SMS holds 160 characters in plain English letters, which is the limit the SMS bar uses. If your message includes Hindi text or emoji, phones switch to Unicode and the limit drops to 70 characters per message.
How do I check the word limit for an exam answer or college essay?
Paste or type your answer and watch the Words box, which updates as you type. This helps with limits like 150 or 250 words in UPSC mains answers or a 650-word college essay. Sentences and paragraphs are counted too.
What do unique words and average word length tell me?
Unique words counts each different word once, ignoring capitals, so a low number compared with total words means a lot of repetition. Average word length and longest word give a rough sense of how simple or complex your writing is.
How do I find words I repeat too often?
Look at the "Most used words" chart below the counts. It lists your most frequent words and skips common ones like "the" and "and", so overused words such as "very" or "really" stand out and you can replace a few.
Read the guide
Related tools
- Sort Lines, Sort a list alphabetically A→Z or Z→A, or numerically from smallest to largest, ignoring upper/lower case.
- Morse Code Translator, Translate text to International Morse code and decode dots and dashes back into letters.
- Binary Translator, Convert text to binary, hex, decimal or octal bytes (UTF-8) and back again, type in either box.
- Base64 Encoder & Decoder, Encode text to Base64 or decode Base64 strings back to text, with full UTF-8 and emoji support.
- URL Encoder & Decoder, Percent-encode text so it is safe inside a URL or query string, or decode %20-style URLs back to readable text.
- HTML Entity Encoder & Decoder, Escape < > & and quotes into HTML entities so they display as text, or unescape entities back to characters.
Quick Work Studio