Word Counter
Count the words, characters, sentences and paragraphs in any text, plus an estimated reading time — instantly, in your browser.
How it works
words = count of whitespace-separated runs · reading time = words ÷ 200 words-per-minute · sentences = count of runs ending in . ! or ? · paragraphs = blocks separated by a blank line
A word count is simply the number of non-empty runs of characters separated by whitespace, which is how word processors and essay limits define a "word". Characters are counted both with and without whitespace because assignment and social-media limits use different conventions. Reading time divides the word count by 200 — the widely used average silent-reading speed for adults, though speeds range from about 150 to 300 words per minute depending on the material. Sentence and paragraph counts use punctuation and blank lines as boundaries, so they are estimates rather than a grammatical parse.
Worked example
The default two-sentence pangram has 17 words and 85 characters (69 without spaces). At 200 words per minute that is 17 ÷ 200 = 0.085 minutes, or about 5 seconds of reading — trivially short, but the same formula scales: a 1,000-word article works out to 1,000 ÷ 200 = 5 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time is the word count divided by an assumed reading speed of 200 words per minute, the common average for adult silent reading of general text. Dense or technical material reads slower (150 wpm), light material faster (300 wpm), so treat the figure as a ballpark, not a stopwatch.
Does the word count match Microsoft Word?
Almost always. Both count whitespace-separated tokens, so ordinary prose gives identical numbers. Tiny differences can appear around hyphenated terms, em-dashes with no spaces, or standalone symbols, which different tools split slightly differently.
How are sentences and paragraphs counted?
A sentence is counted at each run of text that ends in a period, question mark or exclamation point, and a paragraph at each block separated by a blank line. These are heuristics — abbreviations like "e.g." or decimals like "3.14" can nudge the sentence count — so they are best read as close estimates.
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This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.